Microsoft OneNote: Free Digital Notebook for Windows and Mac

OneNote works like a ring binder on your screen. A notebook holds sections, each section holds pages, and you can click anywhere on a page to start typing, drawing or pasting.

How OneNote is organized

• Notebooks: One per project, client or class.
• Sections: Coloured tabs inside a notebook, such as “Meetings” or “Invoices”.
• Pages: Free-form canvases that accept text, tables, images, file printouts and handwriting.

Tags such as “To Do” or “Important” mark lines you want to find again, and the search covers every notebook you have open.

Installing OneNote

1. The Download button opens Microsoft’s official OneNote download page.
2. On Windows, OneNote is also part of Microsoft 365 installations; on a Mac it comes from the Mac App Store.
3. Sign in with a Microsoft account. OneNote creates a notebook in your OneDrive, so notes appear on your phone and in the browser too.

Free use and storage

OneNote itself costs nothing. Notebooks are stored in OneDrive, so the space they use counts toward your OneDrive storage; the free Microsoft account includes a small allowance, and a Microsoft 365 subscription adds much more. Notes with many images or recordings fill that space faster.

Who it suits

OneNote is a strong fit for meeting notes, research with screenshots and handwritten notes on a pen-enabled laptop. If you prefer plain Markdown files kept on your own disk, Obsidian or Joplin take a different, file-based approach.