My Strategy to Switch from OneNote 2016 to OneNote for Windows 10

This post is inspired by an inspiring tweet from Craig McBain (@CVSTech) where he shared a big step he took recently to use OneNote 2016 less, and the OneNote for Windows 10 App more.

What He Did: “unpinning OneNote 2016 from my taskbar and pinning the OneNote app”

It is a big step, and a great idea!

I totally endorse it as a fantastic Step 1 because it is the best way to figure out what is missing/what you miss from OneNote 2016.

Tip: Remember to check that you have the same notebooks open in both versions of the program before unpinning so you don’t run back to OneNote 2016 because “you forgot” and need to get to that information quickly.

With this in mind, I’m sharing my (evolving) strategy below. I will update it as I continue down the process to consciously uncouple myself from OneNote 2016 and embrace OneNote for Windows 10!

 

My Strategy to Switch from OneNote 2016 to OneNote for Windows 10:

  1. Unpin OneNote 2016 from Taskbar.
  2. Create a page and track all features that are “missing”.
  3. Check the Microsoft road map to see if any of those features I desire are in the works.
  4. Connect with the community to find out if there are solutions, workaround, or plans.
  5. Change Windows 10 Default App settings back to OneNote for Windows 10.
  6. Delete OneNote 2016

 

Where are you on your journey to the best version of OneNote?

I invite you to share any and all tips or tricks to share with others on the same journey in the comments below!

 

Completely opposed to OneNote for Windows 10?

I am not opposed to conflicting view points in the comments below – I want to hear your passion! So please share any feedback about missing features in the comments below.
(Constructive language only please. I will NOT approve comments with hateful statements about myself or Microsoft.
Foul-mouthed troll language belongs under a bridge.)

4 responses to “My Strategy to Switch from OneNote 2016 to OneNote for Windows 10

  1. I’m not opposed to MS deprecating OneNote 2016 and replacing it with a universal app. The thing I am extremely frustrated and annoyed about is that they would announce it prior to all the same functionality being available in the app!

    I’ll pay for a version of the app with the same functionality.

    The other big annoyance is that they have been bringing in new features into the app prior to the same functions as the 2016 version!

    I am also yet to find a FULL roadmap so we can rest easy knowing features with which we use and are familiar with will be made available. There has been no commitment from MS to say that the app will eventually have all the same level of functionality.

    Finally, I am annoyed that in order for me to even have a chance of the same features, I have to go to uservoice and put them up for voting!

    I LOVE OneNote and without it our school would not operate effectively in a 1:1 environment. OneNote is not only the method of curriculum resource delivery but also the medium for student note taking and operation. MS have done such AMAZING things for education with OneNote (and Teams etc) but I have been really disappointed by the way they have decided to handle this.

  2. Your tips are a good start. I’ve been using OneNote for ove 13 years and I love it and so my entire team at work. I have not seen any posts about making Windows 10 OneNote integrate with Office Outlook 2016 yet. I heavily relay in taking meeting notes and tasks (using Outlook Tasks flags) that go back and forth between them. When I use the add calendar item in Windows 10 OneNote it does not see Office Outlook 2016. Have you seen anything related to this?

    Thanks

  3. I’d be curious to see your page from step 2. So far, I miss having a screen clipper button – I use it so often in 2016 that it’s in my quick launch bar. I can’t see me ever uninstalling 2016! ?

  4. I’m in an ongoing multi conversion from Evernote to Onenote 2016 to Onenote UWA. I have almost fully embraced the Onenote app by now, but there is still one thing that is an issue for me. Perhaps you have found a workaround. In ON2016 I can list my latest edits across all notebooks and it shows results no matter where I made changes…in the onenote app, it has the recent notes section as an alternative, unfortunately, it is clueless if I have added new notes on my phone or on another pc…it only shows notes that I have added or changed on my local device.

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