Microsoft OneNote (Windows Desktop App)

When OneNote is rolled out without guidance, teams end up with scattered personal notebooks, confusion over where content is actually stored, and meeting notes that never make it back to colleagues. This foundational course gives IT Directors and Training Managers a standard way to onboard end users and new IT practitioners onto the Windows desktop app, which is the specific version the course is built around.

Role fit: This course is designed for end users, new IT professionals, and experienced users who want to confirm their Microsoft skills. It is a good fit for help desk staff who support OneNote, and for any department that runs on shared notes.

Time investment: About 4.1 hours across five skills. The OneNote Quick Start! skill introduces the Windows desktop app, notebook structure, interface tips, Quick Notes, and Sticky Notes, giving Team Leads a clear starting point for assigning the course.

Change-management notes: The course covers where notebooks live, whether locally or in OneDrive, SharePoint, or Teams. It also shows how to check that a notebook is ready to share, and how to package notebooks for handoff. These are the habits that cut down on lost content and on support tickets of the “where did my notes go?” kind. Learners also see how OneNote connects with Outlook meetings and Excel content, and how to use pen and touch on touch-enabled devices.

Hands-on learning checks at the end of each skill reinforce what learners have practiced. Training Managers can add the course to Playlists for onboarding plans and use Team Reporting to track completion across the team.

IT teams assign this course so end users stop losing information in scattered, hard-to-find notebooks and start working from shared, searchable OneNote content. The training follows practical workplace scenarios rather than abstract feature tours, so new hires and existing staff reach a consistent working standard sooner.

• Fewer "where did my notes go?" tickets: Learners see exactly where a notebook is stored, whether locally on the PC or in OneDrive, SharePoint, or Teams. Clear storage habits help reduce lost-content escalations to the help desk.
• Better use of Office content: Staff learn how OneNote works alongside existing files, including linking to an Excel spreadsheet and bringing outside material into a notebook instead of trying to force OneNote to behave like Word.
• Reusable, searchable reference material: Teams insert existing documents, such as a large PDF exam content outline, as file printouts. They then search inside that content, along with text in screenshots, to find what they need quickly.
• Cleaner handoffs and collaboration: Learners package an entire notebook for transfer to another machine or colleague. They also send pages as PDFs through Outlook, track who changed what with author initials, and use the Share button to set permissions before collaborating.

For teams using tablets or pen-enabled devices, the course also covers touch-friendly OneNote workflows, handwriting notes, and using templates such as ruled pages. This helps field and mobile staff capture notes without relying on a keyboard.

Knowledge

• How OneNote notebooks are structured into sections, pages, and subpages, and where a notebook is stored (locally on the PC, OneDrive, SharePoint, or Teams)
• Which content types a OneNote page supports, including formatted text, to-do tags, pictures, screenshots with searchable text, PDF printouts with searchable text, and embedded video links
• How OneNote works with other Office apps and services, including sending a page as a PDF through Outlook and preparing notebooks for sharing through OneDrive or SharePoint
• How to package a notebook as a single file for transfer, and what a notebook needs before it can be shared
• How author tracking and the History tab show who changed content in a shared notebook
• How Windows touch, pen, and ink settings affect OneNote on touch-enabled devices

Ability

• Create and organize a notebook with sections, pages, and subpages, and confirm where it is saved
• Build structured pages with heading styles, indented checklists marked with to-do tags, and playable embedded video
• Create meeting notes on a OneNote page and insert searchable PDF printouts for reference and study
• Export a notebook package, import notebooks or sections from others, and send a page as a PDF through Outlook
• Prepare a notebook for sharing, send a link, set permissions for individual people, and show or hide author initials
• Use touch gestures and a pen to navigate, handwrite, highlight, and annotate pages from the Draw tab