What is OneNote?
Microsoft OneNote is a digital notebook that allows you to gather your notes and information and store them in a single place with the added benefits of search and sync capabilities that will let you retrieve your information quickly.
- Type information in your notebook or insert it from other apps and web pages.
- Take handwritten notes or draw your ideas.
- Use highlighting and tags for easy follow-up.
- Share notebooks to collaborate with others.
- Access your notebooks from any device.
It isn’t a word processing program, e-mail system, or other productivity program… OneNote will work seamlessly text, pictures, digital handwriting, audio and video recordings, and more — all in one digital ‘notebook’ on your computer.
You can use OneNote to collaborate and “share” notebooks space with others online or offline so you can work and share information with others so you stay on top of tasks, schedules, team information, and more.
OneNote also retains the the familiar look and feel of the Microsoft Office making it easy to start using the program right away with minimal wasted time and training.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Many users find that using an external keyboard with keyboard shortcuts for OneNote on Windows helps them work more efficiently. For users with mobility or vision disabilities, keyboard shortcuts can be easier than using the touchscreen and are an essential alternative to using a mouse. This article itemizes the keyboard shortcuts for OneNote on Windows.
Notes:
- The shortcuts in this topic refer to the US keyboard layout. Keys for other layouts might not correspond exactly to the keys on a US keyboard.
- Commands that require you to press and release multiple keys together are indicated with a plus sign (+). Commands that require you to press multiple keys in order are indicated by a comma sign (,).
Taking and Formatting Notes
Typing and editing notes
| TO DO THIS | PRESS |
| Open a new OneNote window. | Ctrl+M |
| Open a small OneNote window to create a side note. | Ctrl+Shift+M or Windows+Alt+N |
| Dock the OneNote window. | Ctrl+Alt+D |
| Undo the last action. | Ctrl+Z |
| Redo the last action. | Ctrl+Y |
| Select all items on the current page. Note: Press Ctrl+A more than once to increase the scope of the selection. |
Ctrl+A |
| Cut the selected text or item. | Ctrl+X |
| Copy the selected text or item to the Clipboard. | Ctrl+C |
| Paste the contents of the Clipboard. | Ctrl+V |
| Move to the beginning of the line. | Home |
| Move to the end of the line. | End |
| Move one character to the left. | Left Arrow |
| Move one character to the right. | Right Arrow |
| Move one word to the left. | Ctrl+Left Arrow |
| Move one word to the right. | Ctrl+Right Arrow |
| Delete one character to the left. | Backspace |
| Delete one character to the right. | Delete |
| Delete one word to the left. | Ctrl+Backspace |
| Delete one word to the right. | Ctrl+Delete |
| Insert a line break without starting a new paragraph. | Shift+Enter |
| Check spelling. | F7 |
| Open the thesaurus for the currently selected word. | Shift+F7 |
| Bring up the context menu for any note, tab, or any other object that currently has focus. | Shift+F10 |
| Execute the action suggested on the Information Bar if it appears at the top of a page. | Ctrl+Shift+W |
Formatting notes
| TO DO THIS | PRESS |
| Highlight selected text. | Ctrl+Shift+H or Ctrl+Alt+H |
| Insert a link. | Ctrl+K |
| Copy the formatting of selected text (Format Painter). | Ctrl+Shift+C |
| Paste the formatting to selected text (Format Painter). | Ctrl+Shift+V |
| Open a link. Note: The cursor must be placed anywhere within the formatted link text. |
Enter |
| Apply or remove bold formatting from the selected text. | Ctrl+B |
| Apply or remove italic formatting from the selected text. | Ctrl+I |
| Apply or remove the underline from the selected text. | Ctrl+U |
| Apply or remove strikethrough from the selected text. | Ctrl+Hyphen |
| Apply or remove superscript formatting from the selected text. | Ctrl+Shift+= |
| Apply or remove subscript formatting from the selected text. | Ctrl+= |
| Apply or remove bulleted list formatting from the selected paragraph. | Ctrl+Period |
| Apply or remove numbered list formatting from the selected paragraph. | Ctrl+Slash |
| Apply a Heading 1 style to the current note. | Ctrl+Alt+1 |
| Apply a Heading 2 style to the current note. | Ctrl+Alt+2 |
| Apply a Heading 3 style to the current note. | Ctrl+Alt+3 |
| Apply a Heading 4 style to the current note. | Ctrl+Alt+4 |
| Apply a Heading 5 style to the current note. | Ctrl+Alt+5 |
| Apply a Heading 6 style to the current note. | Ctrl+Alt+6 |
| Apply the Normal style to the current note. | Ctrl+Shift+N |
| Indent a paragraph from the left. | Alt+Shift+Right Arrow |
| Remove a paragraph indent from the left. | Alt+Shift+Left Arrow |
| Right-align the selected paragraph. | Ctrl+R |
| Left-align the selected paragraph. | Ctrl+L |
| Increase the font size of selected text. | Ctrl+Shift+> |
| Decrease the font size of selected text. | Ctrl+Shift+< |
| Clear all formatting applied to the selected text. | Ctrl+Shift+N |
| Show or hide rule lines on the current page. | Ctrl+Shift+R |
Adding items to a page
| TO DO THIS | PRESS |
| Insert a document or file on the current page. | Alt+N, F |
| Insert a document or file as a printout on the current page. | Alt+N, O |
| Show or hide document printouts on the current page (when running OneNote in High Contrast mode). | Alt+Shift+P |
| Insert a picture from a file. | Alt+N, P |
| Insert a picture from a scanner or a camera. | Alt+N, S |
| Insert a screen clipping. Note: The OneNote icon must be active in the notification area, at the far right of the Windows taskbar. |
Windows logo key+Shift+S |
| Insert the current date. | Alt+Shift+D |
| Insert the current date and time. | Alt+Shift+F |
| Insert the current time. | Alt+Shift+T |
| Insert a line break. | Shift+Enter |
| Start a math equation or convert selected text to a math equation. | Alt+= |
| Insert a Euro (€) symbol. | Ctrl+Alt+E |
| Create a table by adding a second column to already typed text. | Tab |
| Create another column in a table with a single row. | Tab |
| Create another row when at the end cell of a table. Note: Press Enter a second time to finish the table. |
Enter |
| Create a row below the current row in a table. | Ctrl+Enter |
| Create another paragraph in the same cell in a table. | Alt+Enter |
| Create a column to the right of the current column in a table. | Ctrl+Alt+R |
| Create a row above the current one in a table (when the cursor is at the beginning of any row). | Enter |
| Delete the current empty row in a table (when the cursor is at the beginning of the row). | DEL (press twice) |
Selecting notes and objects
| TO DO THIS | PRESS |
| Select all items on the current page. Press Ctrl+A more than once to increase the scope of the selection. |
Ctrl+A |
| Select to the end of the line. | Shift+End |
| Select the whole line (when the cursor is at the beginning of the line). | Shift+Down Arrow |
| Jump to the title of the page and select it. | Ctrl+Shift+T |
| Cancel the selected outline or page. | Esc |
| Move the current paragraph or several selected paragraphs up. | Alt+Shift+Up Arrow |
| Move the current paragraph or several selected paragraphs down. | Alt+Shift+Down Arrow |
| Move the current paragraph or several selected paragraphs left (decreasing the indent). | Alt+Shift+Left Arrow |
| Move the current paragraph or several selected paragraphs right (increasing the indent). | Alt+Shift+Right Arrow |
| Select the current paragraph and its subordinate paragraphs. | Ctrl+Shift+Hyphen |
| Delete the selected note or object. | Delete |
| Move to the beginning of the line. | Home |
| Move to the end of the line. | End |
| Move one character to the left. | Left Arrow |
| Move one character to the right. | Right Arrow |
| Go back to the last page visited. | Alt+Left Arrow |
| Go forward to the next page visited. | Alt+Right Arrow |
| Start playback of a selected audio or video recording. | Ctrl+Alt+P or Ctrl+Alt+S |
| Rewind the current audio or video recording by a few seconds. | Ctrl+Alt+Y |
| Fast-forward the current audio or video recording by a few seconds. | Ctrl+Alt+U |
Tagging notes
| TO DO THIS | PRESS |
| Apply, mark, or clear the To Do tag. | Ctrl+1 |
| Apply or clear the Important tag. | Ctrl+2 |
| Apply or clear the Question tag. | Ctrl+3 |
| Apply or clear the Remember for later tag. | Ctrl+4 |
| Apply or clear the Definition tag. | Ctrl+5 |
| Apply or clear a custom tag. | Ctrl+6 |
| Apply or clear a custom tag. | Ctrl+7 |
| Apply or clear a custom tag. | Ctrl+8 |
| Apply or clear a custom tag. | Ctrl+9 |
| Remove all note tags from the selected notes. | Ctrl+0 |
Using outlines
| TO DO THIS | PRESS |
| Show through Level 1. | Alt+Shift+1 |
| Expand to Level 2. | Alt+Shift+2 |
| Expand to Level 3. | Alt+Shift+3 |
| Expand to Level 4. | Alt+Shift+4 |
| Expand to Level 5. | Alt+Shift+5 |
| Expand to Level 6. | Alt+Shift+6 |
| Expand to Level 7. | Alt+Shift+7 |
| Expand to Level 8. | Alt+Shift+8 |
| Expand to Level 9. | Alt+Shift+9 |
| Expand all levels. | Alt+Shift+0 |
| Increase indent by one level. | Tab |
| Decrease indent by one level. | Shift+Tab |
| Expand a collapsed outline. | Alt+Shift+Plus Sign |
| Collapse an expanded outline. | Alt+Shift+Minus Sign |
Specifying language settings
Note: To change the writing direction for your notes, you must first enable right-to-left languages in the Microsoft Office Language Preferences tool.
| TO DO THIS | PRESS |
| Set writing direction left to right. | Ctrl+Left Shift |
| Set writing direction right to left. | Ctrl+Right Shift |
| Increase indent by one level in right-to-left text. | Tab |
| Decrease indent by one level in right-to-left text. | Shift+Tab |
Organizing and Managing Your Notebook
Working with pages and side notes
| TO DO THIS | PRESS |
| Enable or disable full page view. | F11 |
| Open a new OneNote window. | Ctrl+M |
| Open a small OneNote window to create a side note. | Ctrl+Shift+M |
| Expand or collapse the tabs of a page group. | Ctrl+Shift+* |
| Print the current page. | Ctrl+P |
| Add a new page at the end of the selected section. | Ctrl+N |
| Increase the width of the page tabs bar. | Ctrl+Shift+[ |
| Decrease the width of the page tabs bar. | Ctrl+Shift+] |
| Create a new page below the current page tab at the same level. | Ctrl+Alt+N |
| Decrease indent level of the current page tab label. | Ctrl+Alt+[ |
| Increase indent level of the current page tab label. | Ctrl+Alt+] |
| Create a new subpage below the current page. | Ctrl+Shift+Alt+N |
| Select all items. Press Ctrl+A several times to increase the scope of the selection. |
Ctrl+A |
| Select the current page. | Ctrl+Shift+A If the selected page is part of a group, press Ctrl+A to select all of the pages in the group. |
| Move the selected page tab up. | Alt+Shift+Up Arrow |
| Move the selected page tab down. | Alt+Shift+Down Arrow |
| Move the insertion point to the page title. | Ctrl+Shift+T |
| Go to the first page in the currently visible set of page tabs. | Alt+PAGE Up |
| Go to the last page in the currently visible set of page tabs. | Alt+PAGE Down |
| Scroll up in the current page. | PAGE Up |
| Scroll down in the current page. | PAGE Down |
| Scroll to the top of the current page. | Ctrl+Home |
| Scroll to the bottom of the current page. | Ctrl+End |
| Go to the next paragraph. | Ctrl+Down Arrow |
| Go to the previous paragraph. | Ctrl+Up Arrow |
| Go to the next note container. | Alt+Down Arrow |
| Go to the beginning of the line. | Home |
| Go to the end of the line. | End |
| Move one character to the left. | Left Arrow |
| Move one character to the right. | Right Arrow |
| Go back to the last page visited. | Alt+Left Arrow |
| Go forward to the next page visited. | Alt+Right Arrow |
| Zoom in. | Alt+Ctrl+Plus Sign (on the numeric keypad) or Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Plus Sign |
| Zoom out. | Alt+Ctrl+Minus Sign (on the numeric keypad) or Alt+Ctrl+Shift+Hyphen |
| Save changes. Note: While OneNote is running, your notes are automatically saved whenever you change them. Manually saving notes is not necessary. |
Ctrl+S |
Working with notebooks and sections
| TO DO THIS | PRESS |
| Open OneNote. | Windows+Shift+N |
| Open a notebook. | Ctrl+O |
| Send to OneNote Tool | Windows+N |
| Create a new section. | Ctrl+T |
| Open a section. | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+O |
| Go to the next section. | Ctrl+Tab |
| Go to the previous section. | Ctrl+Shift+Tab |
| Go to the next page in the section. | Ctrl+PAGE Down |
| Go to the previous page in the section. | Ctrl+PAGE Up |
| Go to the first page in the section. | Alt+Home |
| Go to the last page in the section. | Alt+End |
| Go to the first page in the currently visible set of page tabs. | Alt+PAGE Up |
| Go to the last page of the currently visible set of page tabs. | Alt+PAGE Down |
| Move or copy the current page. | Ctrl+Alt+M |
| Put focus on the current page tab. | Ctrl+Alt+G |
| Select the current page tab. | Ctrl+SHFT+A |
| Put focus on the current section tab. | Ctrl+Shift+G |
| Move the current section. | Ctrl+Shift+G, and then Shift+F10, M |
| Switch to a different notebook on the Navigation bar. | Ctrl+G, then press Down Arrow or Up Arrow keys to select a different notebook, and then press Enter. |
Searching notes
| TO DO THIS | PRESS |
| Move the insertion point to the Search box to search all notebooks. | Ctrl+E |
| While searching all notebooks, preview the next result. | Down Arrow |
| While searching all notebooks, go to the selected result and dismiss Search. | Enter |
| Change the search scope. | Ctrl+E, Tab, Space |
| Open the Search Results pane. | Alt+O after searching |
| Search only the current page. Note: You can switch between searching everywhere and searching only the current page at any point by pressing Ctrl+E or Ctrl+F. |
Ctrl+F |
| While searching the current page, move to the next result. | Enter or F3 |
| While searching the current page, move to the previous result. | Shift+F3 |
| Dismiss Search and return to the page. | Esc |
Sharing Notes
Sharing notes with other people
| TO DO THIS | PRESS |
| Send the selected pages in an e-mail message. | Ctrl+Shift+E |
Sharing notes with other programs
| TO DO THIS | PRESS |
| Send the selected pages in an e-mail message. | Ctrl+Shift+E |
| Create a Today Outlook task from the currently selected note. | Ctrl+Shift+1 |
| Create a Tomorrow Outlook task from the currently selected note. | Ctrl+Shift+2 |
| Create a This Week Outlook task from the currently selected note. | Ctrl+Shift+3 |
| Create a Next Week Outlook task from the currently selected note. | Ctrl+Shift+4 |
| Create a No Date Outlook task from the currently selected note. | Ctrl+Shift+5 |
| Open the selected Outlook task. | Ctrl+Shift+K |
| Mark the selected Outlook task as complete. | Ctrl+Shift+9 |
| Delete the selected Outlook task. | Ctrl+Shift+0 |
| Sync changes in the current shared notebook. | Shift+F9 |
| Sync changes in all shared notebooks. | F9 |
| Mark the current page as Unread. | Ctrl+Q |
Protecting Notes
Password-protecting sections
| TO DO THIS | PRESS |
| Lock all password-protected sections. | Ctrl+Alt+L |