Pick any color with the new Eyedropper tool in OneNote

(Originally published on June 6, 2024 by Victoria Chen)

Hi, Microsoft 365 Insiders! My name is Victoria Chen and I’m a Product Manager on the Office AI team. I’m excited to share that we have added a new Eyedropper tool in OneNote on Windows that enables you to pick any color from your notes and create a customized set of pens to unleash your creativity!

Pick any color with the new Eyedropper tool in OneNote

With the new Eyedropper tool in OneNote, you can easily choose a color from any image, shape, or inked notes found in the app. The tool also allows you to build your own personalized set of pens in the drawing toolbox.

Pen tool menu and with custom colors in OneNote

How it works

1. Select the pen icon in the drawing toolbox.

   Pen dropdown menu in OneNote

2. Select the Eyedropper tool in the dropdown menu.

   Eyedropper tool on the Pen menu of OneNote

3. Use the Eyedropper tool to pick any color from your canvas and save it in the Recent Colors section of the dropdown menu for later use.

Scenarios to try

• Suppose you’re taking notes during a lecture. You want to annotate your notes using a different color, but you’re not sure what shade of blue you were using for previous annotations. Use the Eyedropper tool to quickly find out which shade of blue you used and keep your notes consistent.
• Say you want to create a personalized set of pens for a special project. Download an image of a color wheel, insert it into OneNote, and use the Eyedropper tool to customize a set of colors for your project.

Availability

This feature is available to Microsoft 365 Insiders running Version 2403 (Build 17407.17509) or later.

NOTE: You must use a device running Windows 10 or later to access this feature.

Don’t have it yet? It’s probably us, not you.

Features are released over some time to ensure things are working smoothly. We highlight features that you may not have because they’re slowly releasing to larger numbers of Insiders. Sometimes we remove elements to further improve them based on your feedback. Though this is rare, we also reserve the option to pull a feature entirely out of the product, even if you, as an Insider, have had the opportunity to try it.

Feedback

We want to hear from you! Please click Help > Feedback in the OneNote client on Windows to submit your thoughts about this feature.

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