Get the most out of OneNote with these little-known features

If you’re a OneNote fan, you’re aware of the many ways it can streamline and boost note-taking and content generation. But even the most experienced OneNote users among us might not be benefitting from all it has to offer, which is why we’ve singled out some of our favorite features that you may not be aware of – or wish existed but didn’t know they already did. Check them out, supercharge your productivity, and let us know what you think! 

Clip web content with Web Clipper 

With OneNote Web Clipper, you can easily capture and save online content directly to your OneNote notebook, saving time on manual copying and preserving the content in its original format. By simply adding the OneNote Web Clipper extension to any supported desktop browser such as Microsoft Edge, you can instantly begin clipping articles, recipes, YouTube videos, or other types of web pages, and neatly organize them into your notes for reference later. 

Save and showcase files with print to OneNote 

The print to OneNote feature enables you to send any type of file, including documents, spreadsheets, emails, drawings or diagrams, web pages, and PDFs, directly to a OneNote notebook as a printout. This can be particularly useful for students saving lecture notes, professionals archiving important reports or correspondence, and anyone else wanting to keep a digital copy of physical documents for easy access and annotation. Simply select Print on the file and then choose OneNote (Desktop) or OneNote (Desktop) - Protected in the Printer list to add it as an image in your chosen notebook or page. 

 

Availability: This feature is only available to OneNote on Windows users. 

Recover lost or important edits with version history 

Made a mistake or written over crucial content in OneNote? You can restore previous versions of your notes, ensuring that all important information is not lost for good. Perhaps most crucially, this feature gives you peace of mind that should someone else have access to your notebook and make edits, you can still go back to earlier versions if you don’t like what they’ve added. Try it out the next time you want to track progress on a school essay, or revisit old versions of a work project, or revert back to an earlier draft. 

Under History, you can locate a version of your notebook based on timeframe or author, view all previous page versions, and delete certain versions you no longer need. 

 

Availability: This feature is only available to OneNote on Windows, OneNote for Mac, and OneNote for the web users. 

Store and revert deleted information with Recycle Bin 

The Recycle Bin in OneNote is a feature that temporarily stores deleted notes and sections, allowing users to recover content that’s valuable or has been accidentally removed. Items in the Recycle Bin can be restored to a specific location in your notebook or permanently deleted, providing an additional layer of security against unintentional data loss. For instance, you can bring back mistakenly deleted project plans, or pull-out discarded meeting notes, from the last 60 days. 

 

Availability:   OneNote on Windows (History > Notebook Recycle Bin), OneNote for Mac and OneNote for the web (View > Deleted Notes).

Extract and search text from images 

Turn images of printed pages, receipts, business cards, or screenshots into editable, searchable text—no typing required. Simply insert your image, right‑click it, and choose Copy Text from Picture to pull the words into your notes. Or just type a keyword into the search bar, and OneNote will find matches hidden inside your images. 

 

Availability: OneNote on Windows

Tag and summarize with custom tags 

Beyond the built‑in To‑Do, Question, and Important tags, you can create your own—think “Review,” “Idea,” or “Client Action.” Then, under Home > Find Tags, OneNote will pull every instance of that tag into a handy summary pane. It’s perfect for triaging follow‑ups after a brainstorming session or quickly compiling all your “Research” snippets across dozens of pages. 

 Availability: OneNote on Windows 

Dock OneNote to the desktop 

Need to jot notes while you work in other apps? Hit View > Dock to Desktop and OneNote shrinks to a resizable sidebar that stays on top—ideal for taking live meeting notes or scribbling down ideas while you browse. You can also have this window docked to any of the four edges of the screen by simply dragging it to that edge. When you’re done, click the double-sided arrow button to pop it back into the full app. 

 

Availability: OneNote on Windows 

Feedback 

We want to hear from you about how these features and others can make working with OneNote more effective. If you have any requests or suggestions, select Help > Feedback.