How many people would you say use Microsoft Office?

Well, according to Microsoft, it’s over one billion. The vast majority of users tend to stick with the big three programs – Word, Excel and PowerPoint – but there are other programs included in most versions of Office that are equally useful. One such program is the note app OneNote.

So what is so great about OneNote? Here are five things you may not know about this program:

1. It can do math!

If you are in a meeting where figures are flying fast and furious, or you are struggling with some math and have OneNote open, you can use this program to help. Simply enter the numbers into any blank line in a note, add an = sign and hit the spacebar: e.g., (4587×2)-(3900×4)=. The answer should pop up right beside the formula. If it doesn’t, try using different symbols like the asterisk instead of x.

You can also insert more complex equations by clicking on the Insert tab, selecting Equation followed by Insert New Equation. You can then select, draw or even type the symbols to create your equation.

2. There are some great templates

By default, new notes are created using a white background, or ‘paper’ as it is called in OneNote. However, you don’t have to stick with a white background, as there are actually a plethora of templates you can choose from in order to make your notes stand out.

To change the template click on the Insert tab and select Page Templates. A menu will open on the right side of the screen with the different templates to apply to the note. For some users, the templates may be too much. Try looking at the Insert tab and you will be able to select the page color and the lines.

3. It’s also a great recorder for meetings

If you are in an important meeting and don’t want to miss anything, you can actually use OneNote to record proceedings. The first thing you will want to do is to create a new note and enter the details of the meeting. Then press the Insert tab and select Record Audio. After the meeting is finished, you can stop the recording and it should be saved in the note.

While the audio is recording, you can make small notes that should put a play button beside it. When you press the play button, it should start the recording at the time you made the note.

4. You can access it on almost any device

Many times when you are heading to meetings or appointments, you probably don’t want to take your laptop with you so you can take notes. Luckily, OneNote is available as an app for Windows Phone, Android, iPhone and iPad devices. If you log in with your Microsoft account, any notes you create will be synced and available on any device. Check out the OneNote site for links to the apps that you can download and install on your device.

5. It’s easy to share notes with your colleagues

So many business tasks are now collaborative, you will likely need to share notes from time-to-time. With some note apps this can be a bit of a chore, but on OneNote it’s actually quite easy: Simply press File followed by Share and then Get a Sharing Link. This will generate a link that you can send to people you want to collaborate with. When you press Get a Sharing Link you will be able to set whether people will be allowed to just view or edit your note.

If you choose to allow others to edit your notes, they will be allowed to change everything and have changes sync across all versions of the note in their own version of the OneNote app or in their browser. This makes it a great tool for collaboration.

Looking to learn more about using OneNote in your office? Contact us today to see how our solutions can help.