Top Microsoft OneNote Alternatives

Note-taking applications are a boon to increase productivity and to note down thoughts which we may forget after some time. People should be able to write their ideas, express feelings, and vent their creative desires in the note-taking application. OneNote is a popular application from Microsoft that helps users to do the same. It has been bundled with the latest Windows 10 PCs and is also part of the Office package. Its simple UI enables users to stay focused and minimize distractions while taking notes.

Organize your ideas

OneNote helps you to organize your thoughts and ideas by dividing everything into sections and pages. Its simple UI enables navigating through the pages and finding information easy. The search function can efficiently find information from each page and section, thus enabling faster lookups. Color-code each section or pages to distinguish each of them and maintain a virtual notebook for work-related and family-related note-making.

It also supports different styles of text formatting and insertion of non-textual content, including videos, voice notes, and images.

Get notes on all platforms

It can synchronize content across multiple platforms, including your Windows PC, Android phones, and Apple devices – thus offering a seamless note-taking experience. It enables users to have a continuity for the content, as users can start note-taking on a machine at work which is logged in to their Microsoft account, and then resume the same note on their home computing devices.

Users can revise notes using highlighting and creating annotations with ink. Use the stylus pen on supported devices to draw and paint on the notes and have it synced on all of the other platforms.

Collaborate and share notes

With OneNote's cloud features, users are able to share their notes with their colleagues and collaborate on lists and ideas that require more than one person's participation. Discuss over the internet and easily edit notes simultaneously over the cloud. OneNote with Office 365 online features enable such collaborative features to the users.

Features simplified

The popularity of OneNote is based on its ease of use and minimalistic user interface. It helps users to organize the content they have in mind and provide them with a clear flow of thoughts that can be noted down. They can tag and highlight important parts of note to find them later. Using the stylus on a compatible device like Microsoft Surface devices or Samsung Note series phones, it is possible to draw and paint on the notes.

Embed videos and voice notes between text to make it more exciting and use the Web Clipper tool to extract text from online sources. Finally, they can share notes and collaborate with the team members.