Tips for Navigating OneNote 2013

Microsoft OneNote 2013 looks different from previous versions, so we’ve greater a guide to help you minimize the learning curve.

Below you’ll find a few tips for navigating around OneNote 2013.

Keep your notes in the cloud

If you’re brand new to OneNote, you’ll be asked to connect to the cloud, where OneNote will create your first notebook. You can use your Microsoft account (for example, MSN, Hotmail, or Messenger) to use with OneNote. If you don’t already have an account, you can create one for free.

Keeping your notebooks in the cloud means you can access them from just about anywhere, such as any other computers you use, your phone, a tablet, or even a Web browser.

What happened to the Share tab?

If you’re upgrading to OneNote 2013 from an older version, you probably have a least one notebook stored on your computer. You can easily move these notes online so you can access them from anywhere. Click File > Share to begin.

OneDrive is the best and easiest option for your personal notes. If you’re working in an organization that uses SharePoint to collaborate online, you can click the Add a Place button to set up your existing SharePoint account.

Any OneNote notebooks that you store online are kept private unless you give other people permission to view the folders in which your notebooks are stored.

Save time with templates

OneNote templates can give the pages in your notebook a consistent look by applying colorful, decorative backgrounds. Templates can also save you time by adding functional content to pages, such as to-do lists, calendars and planners, and forms that you can fill out or customize.

You can browse through the built-in collection of templates by clicking Insert > Page Templates.

In the Templates task pane, click to expand any of the categories, and then click each template name to view it. When you’ve found a template you like, you can begin taking notes on its page.

You can customize any of the built-in templates to suit your needs, or download more free templates. If you like, you can even create your very own template designs from any of your notebook pages.

Things you might be looking for

Use the list below to find some of the more common tools and commands in OneNote 2013.

For our full guide to OneNote 2013, click here.