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OneNote

OneNote

Overview

What is OneNote?

Microsoft's OneNote is a digital note-taking app, supporting photos, annotating, web page clipping, emailing, and synchronizing notes across devices.

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Learn from top reviewers

Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

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Pricing

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Microsoft OneNote

Free

Cloud

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Demos

Onetastic for OneNote

YouTube

Demo oneNote

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Office 2010 - OneNote 2010 demo för skola

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Microsoft OneNote 2010 Demo - Organize your Notes

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SharePoint 2010 Create OneNote Documentation Library

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OneNote Demo - Windows 8 RT Surface

YouTube
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Product Details

What is OneNote?

OneNote Competitors

OneNote Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

Microsoft's OneNote is a digital note-taking app, supporting photos, annotating, web page clipping, emailing, and synchronizing notes across devices.

Evernote are common alternatives for OneNote.

Reviewers rate Performance highest, with a score of 8.8.

The most common users of OneNote are from Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews From Top Reviewers

(1-5 of 26)

OneNote the Last Note-taking Software You'll Need

Rating: 10 out of 10
May 25, 2019
Vetted Review
Verified User
OneNote
1 year of experience
OneNote is used by several of the sales agents in my department as a digital file folder. It becomes home to all the important information needed for a sale: web research, budget projections, proposals, important emails from clients, brochures for the client, and anything essential to the travel project we are working on. It is a wonderful way to combine information from different programs into one location. For example, you can easily read emails and a printout of a spreadsheet without leaving the program.
  • Data Gathering - It is extremely easy and efficient to get information into OneNote. Outlook has a button to send emails directly to the program, there are browser add-ons to clip research, and you can print to OneNote from any program. Once in the program, filing the information into the right note/tab is a sinch.
  • It is not complicated. Several of my tech-challenged coworkers, use this program with ease. I even hear comments about how much they like it.
Cons
  • The styling and formatting options of the notes are limited.
  • Sizing an embedded spreadsheet is challenging.
  • Table columns auto size unnecessarily.
OneNote is great for projects. It can hold information in notes, notebooks and various tabs. This helps keeps projects organized and the information you need just a click away. It is also easy to share information with teammates. The online, desktop and mobile versions are handy when you need a cross-platform solution for your note taking needs.

OneNote: One Place for Everything Important

Rating: 10 out of 10
February 27, 2015
ME
Vetted Review
Verified User
OneNote
4 years of experience
We use OneNote across our organization for various purposes. Primarily, we use it manage work assignments and travel. We use it to collaborate with our business partners and conduct research projects as well. For us, the biggest bang for the buck is its portability to various platforms and devices, Mac, Android, phone, tablet, computer.
  • Portability to popular platforms - When I travel, my entire itinerary is visible at a glance on my Android Ap. My right hand person is a Mac guy. So, he can use what he likes and I can use what I like and we both know what's going on with a project or assignment.
  • Content agnostic - There's virtually no type of content that can't be included in a OneNote notebook. I send e-mail messages there, insert PowerPoint slides, capture audio and video, as well as cell phone camera content on my Android phone. You can type, draw, capture screenshots. Nothing is off the table.
  • Nimble - We can start collaborating on an idea with a partner on a single page in a single section, then grow that notebook to be the project repository, and finally the location for all finished work.
  • Affordability - Free is a pretty good price!
Cons
  • I would love to see OneNote offer an option to sort pages within a notebook.
  • The look and feel of the online version is substantially different from the desktop app. Would be nice if they were more alike.
  • Tags are a great way to get an additional "layer" of organization. However, searching for tags is a little clumsy. Would love that to be a little more elegant.
This tool is ideal for managing projects, organizing travel, collecting research and collaborating.

OneNote and Surface Pro - No more paper notebook

Rating: 10 out of 10
August 20, 2014
EB
Vetted Review
Verified User
OneNote
1 year of experience
I have a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 and thoroughly enjoy OneNote. I picked up two desktop licenses for the additional functionality over the free version, one license is for my Surface and one for my workstation. The handwriting capability of the Pro 3 is marvelous, especially within OneNote. The OneNote Desktop application can search handwritten content.

The terrific search capability, combined with the handwriting recognition, allows me to finally dispose of my binder full of notes that I can't search. Too much information was being lost and had to be recreated each time I needed it. Export capabilities give a range of formats for sharing and backing up data. The master files are stored on my OneDrive account. Notebooks can also be shared with your individual personal and business Live.com accounts or with other Live.com users.

I use OneNote 2013 as a standalone application and do not use MS Office, we use LibreOffice for all documents, presentations, and spreadsheets. So, there is some integration with Outlook that I am not taking advantage of.
  • Great handwriting recognition when used with Microsoft Surface Pro.
  • Excellent search capability, even finds handwritten notes.
  • Can convert handwritten text to printed text when selected.
Cons
  • The OneNote Windows 8 app has some great features that are optimized for the touch screen interface of Surface. The OneNote 2013 Desktop lacks this, but the quicktools do help.
OneNote combined with Microsoft Surface can effectively replace my paper note pad, dramatically enhancing the value of my notes.

OneNote for Education

Rating: 10 out of 10
September 26, 2019
AW
Vetted Review
Verified User
OneNote
6 years of experience
OneNote is currently being used by our entire organization. We use OneNote Class Notebooks to interact with our students both inside and outside of class. I post content, assignments, assessments, remediation and extension for my students to access. I also interact with my students by providing feedback in their notebooks. We also use OneNote as a way for faculty to collaborate.
  • I love that OneNote syncs between all my devices, so no matter what - I am able to access my information.
  • The collaboration between myself and my students in invaluable. My students have instant access to my content, notes, etc.
  • As a department, we are able to share information almost instantly to collaborate even when we can't meet in person.
Cons
  • I would like to see the desktop version of OneNote continue to be supported.
OneNote is great for collaboration - and for situations where you want to write and type.

OneNote Review

Rating: 7 out of 10
December 05, 2019
JH
Vetted Review
Verified User
OneNote
3 years of experience
I use OneNote mainly for copying web addresses and articles into one location. I have multiple tags all for different uses. I find that sometimes when I am researching an issue for a client, instead of printing out the article I tag it under various topics in OneNote. In addition, while I am searching for information on one topic I may run across another topic that sparks my interest. So OneNote has become the one place where I can not only place research topics for current use but also store ideas and resources for future problem solving or brainstorming.
  • OneNote is a great tool for storing ideas that can be accessed for future use.
  • OneNote works great for storing "how to's" about workflow and work ideas that I don't use often. I don't have to worry about remembering where it is or how to do it.
  • OneNote is an excellent tool for having all you want or need in one place. I use it for both personal and work.
Cons
  • Since I use Office 365, I sometimes have difficulty with the sync feature. It doesn't always seem to sync immediately between the desktop and the cloud versions.
  • Sometimes the different types of ways to save a web page or document don't display properly. It may be the difference between the desktop and the online Office 365 versions.
OneNote works for copying web addresses and web articles. If you like to have all your resources in one place and want to organize them by topic or otherwise, OneNote is perfect. I have used OneNote only slightly for entering fresh data and ideas and it seems to work well. I just love that instead of having to copy or print documents or webpages all over the place I can have everything in one place.
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