On the surface, Microsoft OneNote seems to be a pretty basic program – it’s just a quick place to jot notes. In actuality, OneNote offers functions far beyond that of a digital scratchpad. For this week’s tip, we’ll review some of these functions.

Applying Tags

OneNote features a set of preconfigured tags that can add additional context to your notes. By default, pressing Ctrl+1 adds a checkbox, allowing you to create a simple to-do list. Other shortcuts can add other tags, like Ctrl+2 adding a star, or Ctrl+3 adding a question mark.

You can also customize these tags and reassign these shortcuts. If using OneNote Desktop 2016, all you have to do is access the Home tab and select Customize Tabs. From there, you can add new tags and reorder them, so the ones you will use most often are in the top nine, and accessible via keyboard shortcuts.

Embedding Files

If you need to be sure that you can access a particular file, especially in the context of one of your projects, OneNote offers a useful tool in its capability to embed files into the notes you take.

Once you’ve activated the Store attachments in cloud option (found in Settings > Options in Microsoft Outlook) any file you attach to a OneNote page from Outlook is also uploaded to OneDrive and linked to with a live preview.

Creating Subpages

After you’ve used OneNote for a while, there’s a good chance that your notes will become somewhat difficult to manage. Using subpages to generate a hierarchy can make this a lot easier – and organizing your notes is super simple. All you have to do to turn one of your pages into a subpage is to click and drag it under the page you want it associated with, then pulling it right to indent the title.

A/V Capture

When your notes need that added touch of context, OneNote’s ability to record and incorporate audio and video becomes particularly handy. By clicking Insert and then selecting either Audio or Video, the selected media type will automatically begin recording. Once you’re satisfied with what you’ve captured, you can stop the recording by pressing Stop on the Audio & Video tab.

Content Search

Again, once you’ve used OneNote for a while, you’re apt to accumulate quite a few notes – enough to make it challenging to find something specific. To simplify things, OneNote offers a built-in search function that allows you to scan your notebooks for the word or phrase you are trying to find, greatly simplifying the process of finding what you need.

What other OneNote tips do you know about? Share them in the comments!