Quick Start Guide
New to OneNote for Mac? Use this guide to learn the basics.
OneNote for Mac
Get quick access to tools and commands
See what OneNote for Mac can do by clicking the
ribbon tabs and exploring new and familiar tools.
Share your notes
Share your notebooks or
invite others to edit.
Tag important information
Categorize or prioritize important details
by applying tags to selected notes.
Quick Access Toolbar
Keep popular commands
right at your fingertips.
Type anywhere on the page
OneNote’s flexible canvas
isn’t limited to the constraints
that many other apps have.
Capture your ideas freely
Type, create tables, insert
shapes and photos, or write
and draw freehand.
Select a paragraph
Click to select notes or
Control-click for more
options.
Resize note containers
Drag the edge to make notes
fit the page or drag the entire
frame to move it.
Notebook pages
Click the page titles to switch
between pages in the current
notebook section.
Notebook sections
Click these tabs to switch
between sections in the
current notebook.
OneNote for Mac
Access your notes anywhere
What good are notes, plans, and ideas if they’re trapped on a hard drive? Always
keep your notebooks available by signing in with your free Microsoft account
when you first start OneNote on your Mac. There’s even a free OneNote app
for your iPhone and iPad or Android devices to help you stay in sync on the go.
Never run out of paper
Want to create a new notebook? Click + Notebook or File > New Notebook on
the menu bar.
To create a new section in the notebook, click + Section, or File > New Section.
You can also create section groups. Click File > New Section Group.
To create a new page in the current section of your notebook, click + Page, or
File > New Page.
Save your work automatically
OneNote automatically saves all your changes as you work — so you never have
to. Even when you close the app, or your Mac goes to sleep, your notes are
always saved so you can continue right where you left off.
A syncing icon appears over each notebook icon when an automatic sync is in
progress. You can also sync notebooks at will. Control-click a notebook’s title to
initiate a manual sync.
When you first launch OneNote, a default notebook with the Quick Notes section
is created for you. Select a color, and then enter a name and where to create it.
Tag selected notes
The Tags gallery on the Home tab lets you visually prioritize or categorize
selected notes. Tagged notes are marked with icons that prompt you to follow
up on important action items or to check off completed tasks on your to-do lists.
Organize information in tables
When you don’t need a full spreadsheet, use simple OneNote tables to make
sense of information.
Start on a new line of text by typing a word, phrase, or number, and then press
the Tab key to create the next column. Press Return to create a new row.
Or, you can click Insert > Table on the menu bar.
Once your table is created and selected, the Table tab on the ribbon shows
additional commands.
Create wiki-style hyperlinks
Turn your notebook into a functional wiki by creating links to specific sections,
pages or paragraphs.
Hold the Control key while clicking the tab of the section or page, or clicking a
paragraph that you would like to link to. Next, click Copy Link to Section or
Copy Link to Page or Copy Link to Paragraph, and then paste the link wherever
you want it.
OneNote for Mac
Copy text from pictures
OneNote can recognize text in pictures. On any page, insert a picture containing
legible text (a receipt, for example), hold the Control key while clicking the picture,
click Copy Text from Picture, and then paste the copied text where you want it.
Share notes with others
Click the Share icon in the top right corner to invite others to edit your current
notebook, to copy a link to its cloud location, or to send the current page as a
message or PDF attachment from your preferred email service.
Get help with OneNote
On the menu bar, click Help to search for the OneNote features and commands
that you need help with, or click OneNote Help to browse through popular
content. To let us know if the information we’ve provided has been useful to
you, use the feedback form at the bottom of each of our Help articles.
Get other Quick Start Guides
Visit http://aka.ms/office-mac-guides to download our free Quick Start Guides
for Mac versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
If you have any feedback about our guides, please submit your comments at the
bottom of the download page. Thank you!
Send us your feedback
Love OneNote for Mac? Have an idea for improvement? Click the smiley face icon
in the upper right corner of the app window to send your feedback directly to the
OneNote development team.
OneNote for Mac
OneNote for Mac
