3 Amazing Time-Saving Tips with Microsoft OneNote

Microsoft's Note-taking application is something of an enigma. Most of the time, Microsoft Office users have OneNote installed and don't even realize it or use it. This handly little secret has some pretty powerful features. Here are three tips that will change the way you take phone calls and write notes on your PC.

Jot Down Notes Instantly
Have you ever been on the phone scrambling to find a pen, or open up a more sluggish application like Microsoft Word, just to take down a number or a few notes? OneNote has the capability to give you a note window to type into within seconds (or nearly instantly, depending on how fast your PC is). You simply need to open OneNote for the first time (if you haven't already). It's usually under the Start Menu > All Programs > Microsoft Office > OneNote.

Once OneNote has been opened once, a purple OneNote icon will appear in your taskbar on the right-hand side of your screen. You can right-click this icon and access a few shortcuts, like New Quick Note. This brings up a note window that automatically saves everything you type into your Unfiled category in OneNote, so you can access and organize it later. You can also use Windows key + Alt + N to quickly bring up this window and type away.

Take Screenshots
Again, you need to have opened OneNote at least once for this to start working, but you can quickly take screenshots and save them to your OneNote notes or paste them somewhere else (in a Word Document, an email, etc). Use Windows key + Shift + S to start the process. Your screen will gray out, letting you select the area of your monitor you want to take a snapshot of. Drag your mouse while holding down the left mouse button and OneNote will ask you what notebook to store the image in. You can also select Copy to Clipboard and simply paste the screenshot into an email or other document.

Incredibly Fast Note Collaboration
Thanks to Microsoft's simple integration to their cloud service OneDrive, you can easily package up a notebook and share it with other collaborators. Keep in mind, you are sharing an entire notebook (which is a collection of notes) as opposed to a single note. Open OneNote and click File. On the Info tab, you'll see your various notebooks. Under each notebook is the ability to Invite people to this notebook.

Here's the catch - you need to log into a Microsoft account for this to work, as do the people you want to collaborate with. This is just a tiny sliver of what Office 365 brings to the table; the service offers fantastic sharing and collaboration features, as well as cloud-access which means you can get to your data and documents from anywhere and any device.

If you want to learn more about Office 365 for your business, or need help setting up workflows and organizing the way you manage documents, reach out to Directive at 607.433.2200.