OneNote is Free, so Now's the Time to Learn How to Use It

Microsoft now offers its OneNote app free for computers, smartphones and tablets. This app lets you take and format notes on a number of platforms, including Windows, Mac, Windows RT, Windows Phone, iOS, Android and Symbian. Because it's a free app, more people have the opportunity to use Microsoft OneNote for personal, business and educational reasons, so they must learn to use this app in an optimal way.

Whether you use Microsoft OneNote as part of the Office Suite or as a standalone app, you must first know how to take and format notes with the program. A detailed tutorial usually helps, but many people also know how to use these programs intuitively. The program's layout will be familiar to you if you use Microsoft Word. However, with its availability as a free app, OneNote users have more options in how they use it.

Microsoft OneNote lets you write notes, thoughts, ideas, scribbles, reminders and all kinds of other information. This program differs from other word processing programs in that it allows you to write, type and draw notes in the form of graphics, images and texts on a free-form canvas. It also lets you add, delete and move anything you want on the page in a way that suits to you.

With the type notes function, you can make typewritten notes in a note container for each block of text. Use a stylus or pen-input device to handwrite notes anywhere on the page when you choose the pen option under the writing tools toolbar. Clicking the top edge of the note container and dragging it to a different part of the page allows you to move your note.

Microsoft OneNote also lets you perform other functions such as creating extra space in your note. Click the area where you want more space and drag it in the direction you want more space. You can also add space at the edges of the page or between lines of text.

Clicking the new page button allows you to create a fresh page easily and quickly, but the program prompts you to create a title for the page. When you use multiple pages, you can change the order of the pages to keep your notes organized in the way that best suits you. Microsoft OneNote automatically saves your work continuously, but you may manually save your work in a different location.

Note-taking programs expand the possibilities of conventional word processing programs. Offering Microsoft OneNote free gives more people the opportunity to take and organize notes on a variety of devices. Learning to use this program opens up your options and makes it easier for you to keep your important thoughts, notes and other information intact.

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