4 Top Tips on how to make the most of OneNote

Corbel, who offer IT Support to businesses in the Ipswich area, have created this article to help anybody that gets bogged down with all the notes that have to be taken as part of their role on a day-to-day basis. Using traditional methods such as paper and pen can take a long time, be lost, and sometimes resemble chicken scratches when you look back. OneNote can help you change all of that.

OneNote is a tool that comes with most Microsoft 365 plans and can be used for free. It makes information taking, storage, and sharing easy peasy. Read our article to learn how you can use Microsoft OneNote to streamline team collaboration. 

OneNote is not just a great tool for notetaking. It’s also a useful tool that allows you to perform numerous functions for easy information handling.

Some of its main advantages are:

Collaborating in Real-Time

OneNote is part of Microsoft’s fully-cloud based Office 365 suite. This allows OneNote consumers to share files with other members of their team or customers in real-time.  Numerous individuals can edit and view their notes simultaneously, allowing for a smooth collaboration anytime.

A fantastic thing about real-time editing is that you can track all changes to the file. You can even reinstate the previous version of a document in case of mishaps.

Businesses across Ipswich and Suffolk that run in several locations can take advantage of this aspect as well. No matter where your team is located across the country, they can work on the same task together.

Simply put, there’s no need to swap emails and waste time waiting for someone to reply – leaders can have an easy time collaborating with their team quickly without ever leaving the office or their home working environment.

Securing Confidential Information

Undertaking business online and sharing confidential data comes with cyber security risks. This is particularly true for notebook software. Fortunately, Microsoft OneNote comes with a set of security measures that safeguard your data from being uncovered to third parties.

For instance, you can lock segments with passwords while having all your information always protected with 3DES encryption. And if your password-protected data remains un-used for a long time, Microsoft OneNote will routinely lock them to prevent data leaks.

Integration with Other Applications

Just like other Office 365 suite applications, Microsoft OneNote has fabulous integration options. You can synchronise OneNote with Microsoft Outlook to send email communication directly to the app and vice versa.

Furthermore, you can also integrate this software with non-Microsoft apps. Some noteworthy plugins include Dropbox, Evernote, Slack and many others. All your essential apps will be synchronized, allowing your business to be more productive each day.

Managing projects

Microsoft OneNote has loads of uses for business. However, it’s especially relevant for project management.

Project managers regularly deal with issues such as team member confusions, communication delays, or project bottlenecks. But thanks to Microsoft’s note-taking application, many of these challenges are quickly resolved.

Project management can become simpler because OneNote makes it easy for the manager to track each team member’s achievements. They can update timelines, check off completed tasks, or assign new ones with ease.

Take OneNote to the next Level

If you have never used OneNote before or are an existing user but want to maximise your usage of the application, you may be interested to learn about some pointers to help you get the most out of the software.

How to create quick notes

Quick Note is a great element that lets you write down a idea when you’re out having lunch or away from the office at a meeting or conference.

Imagine being in the shop and remembering you haven’t answered an important email. You can take your phone, open the One Note app, and create a Quick Note reminding you of this task.

The next time you open OneNote on your computer, you’ll see the message there.

This functionality is like Sticky Notes, as it lets you jot down any thought or idea in a matter of moments. All your notes will be saved in the “Unfiled Notes” section of your “Quick Notes” notebook, a location where all your notes are saved by default.

Searching All of your notes

Searching for notes becomes more difficult as time goes by. If you’re an enthusiastic user, you can find yourself storing hundreds of notes in a matter of months. But don’t worry, as there are loads of options to organize your notes as well as search for it. 

OneNote has a built-in search option to make note finding seamless. 

To retrieve notes all you need to do is click on the magnifying glass or hit “Ctrl” (or “Command” for Mac) + “F” on your keyboard and search for a phrase or word. The App will search over all your handwritten typed and even picture notes.

You can further limit the search by selecting the drop-down arrow and picking the desired option. You’ll see all matching results highlighted in your notes. 

As you find the note you needed, you can close the search by pressing “X” on the right-hand corner.

Making the most of Pre-Existing Templates

OneNote is devised to have a blank canvas for each new note. And it’s what gives your team a whole lot of flexibility. However, you can find this tactic to be too basic sometimes. So, why not add some style, shape, and colour to the software?

Thankfully, there are loads of pre-made templates to select. You can download a template with decorative backgrounds, planners, to-do list and much more.

Hint – you can only use the templates on brand-new OneNote files. The notes that already include text won’t work since most templates require content to appear in a specific place on the page. 

If you need to add a template to your existing note, simply create a new one, then copy the existing text over.

How to make the most of your Smartphone by Scanning Documents

On occasion, you may need to take notes from a scanned document.  That’s not a problem for OneNote. You can use the Microsoft Lens: PDF Scanner App (available for Android and iOS) to take high-quality images of multiple documents using your phone and uploading them to OneNote.

The World is your Oyster with Notetaking

Digital note-taking tools have enabled thousands of employees and managers to become more productive. OneNote is one such App that seems to have it all – plentiful features, flexibility, and ease of use.

Whether you’re a business owner who wants to boost your team’s performance or a project manager that needs improved management of the project timeline, OneNote has something to offer.

Corbel are an IT Support and services company who partner with customers in the Ipswich, Felixstowe and Suffolk area for all their IT Support, Business Continuity and Cyber Security requirements. As IT experts, they know the true value of making sure that IT is an enabler in your business and dedicated to ensuring you are getting the best out of your technology.