Unlocking OneNote’s Hidden Potential: 20 Productivity Tips You’ve Likely Overlooked

I got a text the other day from a lawyer I know. He’s a tech-forward guy, always looking for a new and better way to do things. For the past few years, he’s been vexed by a piece of law practice that has resisted innovation: note taking. 

Despite the rise of apps and e-ink hardware options that have attempted to give lawyers better tools for note taking, for many of us note taking still looks pretty much like it did 10 or even 20 years ago. Too many flipped pages of yellow legal pads still sit on our desks, locking valuable information into dead paper silos where they can’t be easily found, worked with, indexed or recalled. 

After going back and forth with this lawyer a bunch of times, offering solutions – none of which seemed to fit – we decided to noodle on it for a while. After a few days of letting it simmer on the back burner, I realized the problem is this is one of those times where we are sitting around waiting for the mountain to come to Mohammed. And you know how that went.

We have an amazing note taking tool already. Almost all of us are already paying for it and never using it. It’s Microsoft OneNote. The reason we’re not using it nearly as much as we should in order to exploit its full potential is that we need to put down our pens and start to think about our keyboards as our main note taking input. 

I know, that’s a tough pill to swallow for many of us, myself included. But if we can make ourselves go to the mountain on this issue, the benefits are pretty incredible. When used thoughtfully, OneNote offers hidden features that can radically streamline your workflow, enhance your focus, and make even the most daunting tasks more manageable. In this article, I’ll dive into a bunch of lesser-known OneNote functionalities that, when applied correctly, can fundamentally change how you work.

Handwriting Recognition

Can’t quite get rid of the idea of hand-written notes? OneNote capitalizes offers its “Ink to Text” feature. This allows you to convert your handwritten notes into neatly typed text with just a few clicks. The feature is especially beneficial for users of devices like the Surface Pro, where the stylus feels natural for jotting down quick ideas or notes. This not only preserves the speed and spontaneity of handwritten notes but also adds the structure and organization of typed content, making it a perfect accompaniment for lawyers. 

Using Audio with Your Notes 

One of OneNote’s most powerful features is its ability to record audio while syncing it to your notes. As you take notes during a meeting or other event, OneNote timestamps the text, linking it directly to the corresponding moment in the audio recording. Later, when you review your notes, clicking on any section instantly plays back the audio from that exact time. This functionality eliminates the need to frantically type out every word during discussions, allowing you to focus on key points while capturing the rest in audio. It’s an invaluable tool for knowledge workers who need to revisit detailed meetings or students striving to grasp complex lectures without missing a single insight.

Grabbing Ideas on the Fly with Quick Notes

Capturing fleeting ideas and random thoughts often derails productivity, but OneNote’s Quick Notes feature solves this problem elegantly. With a simple keyboard shortcut (Windows + N), you can instantly open a blank note to capture those sudden bursts of inspiration without losing focus on your main task. These notes are saved to a dedicated “Quick Notes” section, ensuring you can organize them later without disrupting your flow. Whether you’re in a meeting or in the middle of deep work, this feature ensures that no idea slips through the cracks, while keeping your immediate priorities intact. Best of all, Quick Notes sync across devices, making them available whenever and wherever you need them.

Emailing Directly into OneNote

Managing information flow from email can often feel overwhelming, but OneNote’s “Email to OneNote” feature makes it seamless. By forwarding an email to me@onenote.com, the content is automatically added to your notebook in a pre-determined section. This is particularly useful for professionals dealing with high volumes of emails, allowing important messages, project updates, and even attachments to be stored in one central location. You no longer have to manually organize critical information—OneNote handles it for you, ensuring that your notes, emails, and documents are accessible and easy to retrieve.

Password Protect Your Notes

We handle a lot of confidential information, and OneNote’s password protection feature helps us keep that information secure and meet our ethical duties. You can password-protect entire sections of your notebook, safeguarding them from prying eyes. Once locked, these sections are accessible only by entering the password, and they automatically re-lock after a period of inactivity. This added layer of security is crucial for professionals who need to store confidential documents digitally but can’t afford to compromise privacy. However, there’s no password recovery option, so this feature should be used thoughtfully and with care.

Organizing Notes with Tags

Tagging is one of the most underutilized technologies in organizing legal data. OneNote’s tagging system offers a powerful way to categorize your notes, and by customizing tags, you can build a system that perfectly aligns with your workflow. Whether you create tags for “Urgent,” “Follow-up,” or even various facets, facts or elements of a matter. This feature allows for quick filtering and retrieval of important items. Tags can be applied to individual lines of text or entire sections, offering versatility in how you manage tasks or information. Over time, this custom tagging system becomes a personalized architecture, streamlining your ability to stay organized and productive.

Collaborating Across the Firm

OneNote also supports multi-user collaboration, making it ideal for working on matters with associate attorneys and key support staff. By sharing a notebook, multiple users can contribute and edit content simultaneously. Changes are highlighted, and built-in version control ensures that everyone’s work is tracked. This feature fosters transparency and structure in team environments, allowing members to work together seamlessly without worrying about overwriting each other’s notes. It also syncs changes across devices in real time, ensuring that work continues smoothly, whether in the office or remotely.

Creating and Using Templates 

Once you take the time to develop systems in your firm, consistency is key, and OneNote’s page templates offer a streamlined way to maintain that consistency. Whether you’re organizing meeting notes, project timelines, or brainstorming sessions, templates provide a pre-set structure that ensures you capture consistent information. These templates can be customized to fit your specific needs and set as the default for particular sections or notebooks. For project managers or team leaders, using templates guarantees that everyone follows the same documentation process, creating a unified approach across the team.

Version History

Any lawyer who works on documents – and that’s all of us – knows the intrinsic value of version history. OneNote’s version history feature allows you to view and restore previous versions of your notes, ensuring that no critical information is lost. Each version is time-stamped, so you can see when changes were made and by whom. This feature acts as a safeguard, especially in teams where multiple people may be editing the same notebook. It’s also helpful for solo users who want to backtrack or revisit earlier ideas without worrying about permanently losing content.

Making Use of Limited Screen Space

OneNote’s “Dock to Desktop” feature offers a practical solution for multitaskers. By docking the app to one side of your screen, you can keep your notes visible while working in other applications. This is particularly useful for referencing notes while writing reports, coding, or participating in video conferences. Unlike switching back and forth between apps, docking keeps OneNote front and center, ensuring that important information is always within reach without disrupting your workflow.

Deep Integration with Outlook 

For lawyers living in the Microsoft ecosystem, OneNote’s integration with Outlook offers a seamless way to manage meetings and tasks. Meeting details from Outlook can be sent directly to OneNote, where a structured template is automatically created. You can also turn notes from these meetings into Outlook tasks, with reminders and deadlines, ensuring that nothing gets overlooked. By syncing notes with tasks, OneNote becomes an active part of your productivity system, not just a repository for information.

Time Stamping

OneNote’s time-stamping feature ensures that your notes remain organized chronologically. You can easily insert a date and time stamp into your notes, which is particularly helpful for tracking meeting minutes, project milestones, or brainstorming sessions. By keeping a chronological log of your work, you add an additional layer of discipline to your note-taking process, ensuring that important events or decisions are clearly documented.

Linking to Other Notes

Once you start to have a lot of notes in OneNote, the ability to link back to other notes becomes invaluable. When taking notes while working in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or even your web browser, OneNote links your notes to the source document or webpage. This allows you to revisit the original source with a single click, ensuring that critical information is always at your fingertips. Linked Notes are particularly useful for research.

Integration with Outlook Tasks

OneNote also excels at turning notes into actionable tasks. By right-clicking on any note, you can convert it into an Outlook task, complete with deadlines and reminders. These tasks sync across platforms, ensuring that they’re tracked and updated in both OneNote and Outlook. This integration streamlines the transition from notetaking to execution, making sure that no important task gets lost in the shuffle. By embedding your to-do list directly into your note-taking process, you ensure that every key action is accounted for and actively managed. This turns OneNote into a proactive tool that bridges the gap between ideation and task management, helping you maintain control over your workload with minimal effort.

Auto Syncing to the Cloud 

OneNote’s auto-syncing feature is another essential tool for those who work across multiple devices. Whenever you make changes on one device, they are automatically synced to the cloud and updated across all your other devices in real-time. This feature is particularly valuable for professionals who switch between desktops, tablets, and smartphones throughout the day. Additionally, you can force manual syncs when necessary to ensure that critical updates are reflected immediately. The offline functionality is also robust, allowing you to work without an internet connection and sync changes later. This reliability makes OneNote a trusted companion in environments where consistency and up-to-date information are crucial.

A Better Way to “Print”

Some of us are just never going to kick the printing habit. OneNote’s “Print to OneNote” feature simplifies document management. Instead of printing physical copies, you can “print” documents like PDFs, Word files, and PowerPoint presentations directly into your OneNote notebooks. Once inside OneNote, these documents can be annotated with text, highlights, or even ink drawings. This feature centralizes your files, allowing you to keep everything from meeting agendas to contracts in one organized place. The added bonus is that OneNote’s powerful search functionality extends to these printed documents, making it easy to retrieve key information later.

In today’s world, where demands on our attention and productivity are ever-increasing, it’s critical to leverage tools that help us manage complexity without adding unnecessary friction. Microsoft OneNote, with its deep but often hidden features, is one such tool. When used strategically, it’s more than just a place to store your thoughts—it becomes a comprehensive system for managing information, tasks, and collaboration. 

The real power of OneNote comes when it is used intentionally. Instead of treating it as a digital version of the old yellow legal pads, think of it as a multi-functional platform that can help you focus, stay organized, and get more done. By mastering these hidden capabilities, you can transform OneNote from a simple note-taking app into a robust productivity engine tailored to support your most important work.