How to use OneNote for meeting and class notes

If you have access to Microsoft 365, take advantage of OneNote to take notes. You can easily organize your notes or share them with coworkers, classmates, or friends.

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Taking meeting notes with OneNote

When you schedule a meeting in Outlook, you can easily create notes for that meeting. To get started:

• Go to your Outlook calendar and click the meeting.
• At the top of the window, click Send to OneNote.
• You’ll have the option to share notes with the meeting or take notes on your own. Select the option you prefer. If the meeting is for a collaborative project, you may want to share the notes with the meeting members so they can add to your notes or access them later.
• Select the location in OneNote where you would like to save your meeting notes. From here, you can create a new location to keep your notes if you wish.
• Once you select the location where you want your meeting notes to save, OneNote will open.

The benefit of creating meeting notes from your Outlook calendar is that information like the title of the meeting, date, time, link to the Outlook item, the names of the meeting participants, and their emails automatically populate at the top of the notes page. If you don’t have the meeting in your Outlook calendar, you can still easily take meeting notes in OneNote. To create meeting notes in OneNote without Outlook:

• Open OneNote on your computer.
• Select the notebook where you want to take your meeting notes.
• Click Add Page to create a fresh note page.
• Your new page will automatically be named “Untitled page.” To rename it, right-click the page and select Rename. Make sure to give it a name that is relevant to the meeting so that you can easily find it later—for example, “Science Project Group Meeting 2/15.”
• Make sure to include relevant information about the meeting at the top of the note page, for example, a quick sentence about the purpose of the meeting. If you must reference your meeting notes later, you’ll better understand exactly what you were taking notes for.
• To start taking bulleted notes, go to the Home tab, then click Bullets.

Taking class notes with OneNote

If you’re a student, taking organized class notes is crucial for your academic success. If you want to use OneNote for class, keep your notes organized by creating a new notebook for each class. For example, create a notebook specifically for your biology class and a different notebook for your chemistry class. To create a new notebook:

• Click the File tab.
• Click the New button. Select where you want to save your notebook. Saving your notebook in OneDrive is the best place because your notes will always be backed up in the cloud.
• Choose a name for your notebook, then click Create Notebook. Now you’re ready to start taking notes with OneNote!

To take notes with OneNote for each class:

• Select the notebook that you want to use.
• Rename the page on the right side—you may want to include the date in the name of your new page (for example, “Lecture 2/15”).
• Make sure to include any important information at the top of your notes–for example, the topic being discussed or the lecturer’s name.
• Under the Home tab, click Bullets to start taking bulleted notes.

You can also add new sections to your notebook. This can come in handy if your class moves on to a new unit. Each section looks like a tabbed file folder, so you can easily switch between different sections. To create a new section in your OneNote notebook:

• Locate the tabs at the top OneNote.
• Click the plus sign to create a new section.
• To rename each section, right-click a tab, then click Rename.

Tips for taking notes in OneNote

• If you have a Windows computer, consider turning on Focus. This will mute any notifications so you can focus on taking great notes.
• Don’t write down every single word discussed in your class or meeting. Only write down the most important facts. It’s okay to paraphrase.
• Consider using abbreviations for faster and more efficient notetaking. For example, write “GW” in your notebook instead of “George Washington.”

Using OneNote is a great way to create organized and effective notes. Now that you know how to navigate OneNote, you can prepare to take notes in your next class or meeting with ease.