Multiple Accounts in the OneNote Windows 10 App is Here!

A key reason I would always use OneNote 2016 is the ability to be logged in to multiple accounts at once.

I discovered you could not use multiple accounts in the OneNote Windows 10 App in late 2016 when preparing for a presentation and had setup a new Microsoft account ([email protected]) to show the entire process of getting setup from beginning to end. It shocked me, however those days are behind us now.

I tried out another new feature that appeared for me in the OneNote Windows 10 App today (OneNote Version 17.7766.57671.0) –  the ability to add multiple Microsoft accounts. See:

Up until now I used the OneNote Window 10 App for personal notebooks stored in my personal OneDrive. When I wanted to switch between my personal notebooks and my demo notebooks, I’d have to remove the account and login again – which was a pain and could glitch out at times. (I’d always be restarting the App to get the switch between accounts to work).

I used OneNote 2016 primarily for work – team notebooks in SharePoint libraries, and private work notebooks in OneDrive for Business. I only had two personal notebooks stored in my personal OneDrive open in OneNote 2016 that I used for specific types of actions that can only be performed in the 2016 version of OneNote.

Now, I’m excited to have a mix of personal, demo, and work notebooks open in the App to utilize some of the App-specific functionality in them. 🙂

Want to take a look – check it out:

Notice in the Open More Notebooks menu there is now an Add Account button at the centre bottom of the menu:

 

You can also add accounts and see which accounts you’ve already added in the App’s settings:

Go to Settings > Accounts.

Click on Accounts > Add account.

You can then choose to add a Microsoft or Work or school (Office 365) account.

 

Removing accounts is simple, once you find the button which is tucked away and isn’t an obvious button.

In the Settings > Accounts menu > select the account you want to remove.

Click on Sign out.

Click Remove on the Remove this account? pop-up then restart the App.

All the Notebooks tied to that account no longer appear in the Open More Notebooks menu.

Also, Notebooks tied to that account that were open are auto-closed when the account is removed.

To me, this is a HUGE bonus as having to right-click and close a batch of Notebooks was time consuming before (you’re likely not going to be doing this often, but for doing demos and training videos, having a clutter-free interface devoid of personal information is important).

However I’d suggest making sure you do a sync before yanking an account with notebooks you’ve made very recent edits in – just to be safe.