I
just got a new Windows PC, and noticed an application called OneNote that I had
never noticed before. I open it up, and it’s not clear what it’s for or how I
would use it. Should I remove it?
Actually, OneNote is part of
Microsoft Office (and has been for the past several versions). It started its
existence as a simple note-taking application, but has blossomed into an
incredibly useful “brain dump, keep track of everything in your life”
application. You can use it for making notes, outlining, and tracking any bit
of important information. You can set up multiple virtual “notebooks” for
organizational purposes, and because it’s part of Microsoft Office, Microsoft
supplies hooks all over Windows and in other applications for sending data to OneNote
(such as the ability to clip part of a Web page and send the clipping to a note
in OneNote).
Your notes aren’t just stuck on
your computer, either. You can download the OneNote app for your phone or
tablet, and gain access to all your saved information there, as well. Recently,
Microsoft updated its OneNote apps so that you can not only view saved notes,
but you can create new content on mobile devices, as well.
And that’s not even a tiny portion
of what OneNote can do to organize your online life. You can scan directly from
some scanners into a OneNote note, and you can forward email to a special email
address that adds the email as a note.
You can draw directly into OneNote notes, to keep sketches handy (think
maps)! OneNote indexes everything you enter, so it’s easy to find things you
toss in there, later, when you need them.
As you can tell, we’re big, big
proponents of applications like OneNote. (We say “like” because Doug uses
OneNote and Ken uses a competitor, EverNote, which he’ll swear is better
because it’s not tied to a particular platform. Doug will tell you that OneNote
has apps for just about every platform, but Ken will tell you it’s not really
the same thing.) In any case, if you ever thought about having a digital filing
cabinet for anything you might need to find later, OneNote (or EverNote) makes
a great tool. Both tools provide solid security models (and support two-factor
authentication), so your data is as safe as it can be in the “cloud.” (Do
consider backing up the data in OneNote occasionally, especially if you use it
to store data that is crucial to your life or business.)
We use OneNote (and EverNote) for
all sorts of things. Ken stores copies of his drivers license, credit cards,
product manuals, online tips, technical information, and much more in
EverNote—OneNote could (and does) store the exact same sorts of things. We love
these apps, and couldn’t recommend them more highly. For more information,
check out these links: http://www.onenote.com,
http://www.evernote.com.
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