Question: Q: How do I access a OneNote notebook created on a PC? I used to use a PC running Windows 7 and OneNote 2007. I now have a MAcBook Pro. The sync process in OneNote for Mac will save your notebook files in a special system location on your Mac — which shouldn't need to be known by the user. On OneDrive, your notebooks.
Microsoft OneNote is one of the best note-taking apps out there. I mean, the app is packed with features, available across platforms, and is free to use. That said, despite bringing so many good qualities, the app is not for everyone. For example, the app is too complex for beginners and requires you to create a Microsoft account if you want to sync your notes across devices, which some users might not be comfortable with. My biggest complaint with OneNote is that it just takes too much space on my devices and is too heavy on resources. I mean, a note-taking app should not tax my devices so much. So, for these reasons or some of your own, if you are looking for a OneNote alternative, you have come to the right place, as we are bringing you the top 10 best OneNote alternatives that you can use.
Best OneNote Alternatives 1. Evernote Evernote is probably the most popular note-taking app and the best OneNote alternative out there.
The app brings all the features that you can think of and is one of the most complete note-taking apps you can find. One of the best things about using Evernote is that it is an app which you can trust to be around for decades. That allows you to completely invest yourself in the app and structure it just the way you want to, as you know that you won’t have to redo it just a few years down the line. Coming to the features of the app, I love how it allows us to organize our notes into different notebooks.
You can even create stacks of notebooks which is great if you have as many notes as I do. One of my most favorite features about Evernote is that it makes it really easy to share your notes with your classmates, friends or, colleagues to help you collaborate on notes. Evernote by far has the best collaboration feature out of any note-taking app that I have used.
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Apart from personal usage, Evernote is also great for business use as it allows team members to collaborate on ideas, share research material, manage projects and more. Recently, Evernote launched a new “Spaces” feature which makes it really easy for team members to collaborate with each other.
As you can see, there’s a lot to like here, and I have just scratched the surface. There are tons of other features such as a web-clipper which allows you to easily save web links and articles, the ability to input your notes in text, audio, or pictures, optical character recognition which allows you to search for text inside images, password protected notes, and much more.
The bottom line is if you want the best OneNote alternative, Evernote is for you. Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Web, watchOS, Android Wear, Chrome OS Price: Evernote Basic (Free), Evernote Premium ($69.99/year), Evernote Business ($14.99/user/month) 2. Simplenote Simplenote, as its name suggest, is a very simple note-taking app which just works. If you are someone who is looking for a simple note-taking app which offers an intuitive and easy-to-navigate UI, Simplenote is the one for you.
I personally am a fan of Simplenote, just for the fact that how easy it is to use and how my notes are instantly synced across devices without having to do anything. Simplenote allows you to easily create notes, reminders, to-do list, and more. I love Simplenote’s clean user interface which is a breath of fresh air when compared to the complex and clunky user interface of OneNote. I also love the fact that it comes with a dark mode. For me, Simplenote is a place where I can brainstorm ideas as it gives me a distraction-free environemt which allows me ideas to flow. One of the biggest advantages of Simplenote is that unlike OneNote which is heavy on system resources, it is only a few MBs in size and doesn’t tax your device. This allows you to easily run this app even on devices which are a few years old.
When it comes to organizing notes, Simplenote brings a tagging system. Your tags act as a folder and since a note can have multiple tags, it can exist in multiple folders.
I love this non-hierarchical organization as it makes it really easy to organize your notes. Finally, it’s also one of the few apps which bring a native Linux app. Also, did I tell you that you get all these features for absolutely free. Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux(.deb), Linux(.tar.gz), Android, iOS, Web Price: Free. Laverna If you are concerned about your privacy and do not trust private companies like Mircorsoft with your data, Laverna is the right note-taking app for you.
Laverna is an open-source note-taking app which focuses on user privacy as it brings an end-to-end encryption and password protected vault which holds all your notes. The app is really easy to use and allows you to create simple text-based notes which are synced across devices using a Dropbox or a RemoteStorage account. I love its no frills and simple user interface which never gets in the way of your note-taking. That said, the simplicity also means that Laverna is not as feature rich as OneNote.
For example, you cannot add image or voice notes here. Laverna does make up for it shortcomings by bringing features which are unique to it.
One of my favorite features of Laverna that is not present in OneNote is its support for markdown editing. The markdown editing feature allows me to format my text without having to lift my finger off the keyboard.
If you have read my previous articles, you know that I love markdown editing and I am happy that its here. If you are just starting to learn markdown, you will be happy to know that Laverna shows a real-time preview of texts so you can easily correct any formatting error. Other features include the ability to create to-do lists, code highlighting, and more. Supported Platforms: Windows x32, Windows x64, macOS, Linux x32, Linux x64, Android (coming soon) Price: Free 4.
Google Keep Google Keep brings a unique approach to note-taking and I quite like it. The best part about using Google Keep is that it displays all your notes in an easy to view colored-card interface which not only makes the notes look beautiful, but also allows you to easily scan the content of your notes without having to open them. The ability to color code notes is a boon for me as it allows me to easily find notes that I am looking for. For example, all the red notes in my Google Keep are the ones that I need to urgently get to. Just like OneNote is good for a Microsoft product user, Google Keep being a Google product, ties in nicely with other Google products and services. For example, the has a sidebar which hosts Google Keep among other things. That allows me to transfer emails to notes or draft emails inside notes and then just copy and paste them inside emails.
The app also lets you easily create to-do lists, normal lists, reminders, attach photos, and more. Finally, Google Keep also brings a web-clipper companion app just like OneNote which allows you to save articles and links from the web. I love Google Keep, and if you give it a try, I think you will love it too. Supported Platforms: Android, iOS, Web, and Chrome OS Price: Free 5.
Zoho Notebook Zoho Notebook is yet another feature-packed note-taking app which is available across devices and is a capable alternative to OneNote. What I love about Zoho Notebook is that despite bringing a big feature set, it remains of the best looking note-taking apps in the market. I mean, if Evernote and Google Keep had a baby, it would be Zoho Notebook. The app lets you easily create Notebooks with covers which actually look like a real notebook. Inside, you can create text-notes, voice-notes, add pictures, and more. It also has a web clipping tool which lets you save articles and links from the web.
Just like Google Keep, the app allows you to color-code notes which I love. You can also stack your notes and swipe between them to access them. The ability to stack notes is pretty cool as it allows me to keep the overall user interface quite clean. I also love the fact that Zoho gives me multiple view options and I can choose the one that I love the most. One of my favorite OneNote feature that comes with Zoho Notebook is the ability to sync my notes across unlimited devices without costing me a penny. With Evernote, you can only sync your notes across two devices for free and if you want more, you will have to get the premium version, which is not the case here.
You should definitely try out Zoho Notebook and see if it fits your needs or not. Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Web Price: Free 6. Bear If you are strictly using Apple devices, Bear is probably the best note-taking app that you can get. In fact, the app is so good looking that it won Apple’s best-designed app award back in 2017. Its markdown editing feature combined with a clean and modern UI makes it really easy to capture your thoughts.
One of my favorite features of Bear is its tagging system. Unlike OneNote where tags feel like an afterthought, tagging is the main core of Bear. Bear allows users to easily organize notes using a series of tags which act like folders. That means, just like on Simplenote, your notes can live inside multiple folders.
My other favorite feature of Bear is that it allows you to use markdown editing which makes it really easy to format your notes. Bear is also a polished app which means that it launches faster, never crashes, syncs instantaneously, and it just feels really good to use. Finally, Bear also allows you to easily export notes in various formats including PDF, JPG, HTML, RTF, and more.
Once you use Bear, it’s really hard to go back. I have fallen in love with its clean design and fluid performance and it certainly deserves a place on this list. Supported Platforms: macOS, iOS, watchOS Price: Free, $14.99/month 7. Elephant Elephant is the open-source version of the popular Evernote application.
The app feels exactly like Evernote and follows almost similar organizational structure as Evernote. Just like Evernote, you can create individual notes, save them inside notebooks, and create a stack of notebooks. However, unlike Evernote, your notes are saved on your device and note synced on the cloud. Depending on your preference, that might be a good or bad thing.
People who want their notes to be available across devices will be happy to know that they can do so by using third-party services such as Dropbox, Github, and more. The sync might not be as effortless as it is in OneNote, however, it’s there if you need it.
The only major drawback of using Elephant is that, unlike OneNote, it doesn’t come with mobile apps which might be deal-breaker for many users. Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux Price: Free 8. Turtl Just like Laverna, Turtl is a note-taking app which focuses on privacy. Turtl acts as a vault where you can keep your notes, research, passwords, bookmarks, dream logs, photos, documents, and anything else you want to be kept safe.
When you create an account on Turtl, it uses your password to create a cryptographic key and uses it to encrypt all your data which can then only be accessed by using your password. One of the best things about using Turtl is that despite being a secured vault, it allows you to easily share your notes with anyone that you want to.
Finally, Turtl lets you organize your notes inside notebooks which it calls “Boards”. Turtl also allows users to keep a board inside a board thereby giving them more organizational powers. I accept that Turtl is not as powerful as OneNote, however, it is not made for users looking for features, instead, it’s for users who want privacy. If you love your privacy, you should definitely give this one a try.
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS (coming soon) Price: Free 9. Keep It Another note-taking app which is only available for macOS and iOS devices is “Keep It” which is developed by the guys at “Reinvented Software”, who also developed the now defunct “Together 3” note-taking app for Mac. Just like OneNote, Keep It is a very powerful note-taking app which allows you to easily create and organize notes. However, unlike OneNote, Keep It is very light and doesn’t hog up all your device’s resources.
Notes on Keep It can contain checklists, bulleted and numbered lists, images, links and other attachments. All your notes are synced across devices using iCloud and can also be shared using the same. Where the app really shines is when it comes to organizational structure. Not only you can organize notes in folders but you can also create bundles, levels, and lists, each of which bring a different organizational scheme.
I really love Keep It, and urge you to give it a try if you own a Mac and iPhone. Supported Platforms: macOS, iOS Price: $49.99 10. CintaNotes If note-taking for you means creating a knowledge base where you can keep everything that you want and make it easily searchable, CintaNotes is for you. The premise of using CintaNotes is that not only you are typing notes, but you are capturing notes from the web, PDFs, ebooks, and any place else by just highlighting the text that you need and using a simple keyboard combo. In that regard, CintaNotes is much more than OneNote. One of the biggest features of CinatNotes is that you can link notes with each other thereby creating your own personal wiki of notes, something, you can not do with OneNote. Searching notes is also pretty easy as Cintanotes supports sophisticated search query syntax which is a lot more powerful than what OneNote offers.
There is a lot more that CintaNotes does which OneNote along with other note-taking apps on this list can’t do including things like allowing you to configure different hotkeys, dividing notebooks into sections, hierarchical tags, auto-tagging rules, and more. CintaNotes is more than just for your notes, it’s basically a repository for all your data which can be accessed anytime that you want to. Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Web Price: Free, $39/year, $119 for lifetime SEE ALSO: OneNote Alternatives: Best Note-Taking Apps You Should Use That ends our list of the best note-taking apps that you can replace Microsoft OneNote for you. I have tried to include apps which should meet the needs of most of the readers. Whether you are looking for a feature-packed note-taking app or a simple one, you will find it here.
Do check the list out and let us know which is your favorite note-taking app amongst them all. Also, if you are already using an app that you love but isn’t on the list, share with us by writing in the comments section below.
This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. Imagine you’re about to start a unit that will include the following activities:. Some direct instruction. This will come in the form of brief lectures from you, some videos, and a few PDFs that introduce key concepts.
Student note-taking from the direct instruction. Guided practice and application of the key concepts and skills that were taught in the direct instruction. Some of this work will be individual, and some will be done in small groups. A cumulative project that will require groups of students to gather research and create a multimedia presentation. Now imagine doing all of those things inside a single digital platform, where you could share and deliver materials, access student work, and allow students to work together seamlessly at school or at home. Is that platform. It’s completely free for educators and it’s available everywhere: Windows, Mac, Chromebooks, iOS and Android devices.
Let’s look at how Class Notebook works and how it can change the way you teach. What is Microsoft OneNote? OneNote is like a digital binder, an online notebook where you can take notes on individual pages, then organize the pages within subject tabs. Because the binder is digital, you can also hyperlink text, embed video and audio, add drawings, insert images, and so much more. What You’ll Find Inside A OneNote Class Notebook has three main components:. A collaboration space accessible to both teachers and students, where teachers and students can create or edit content, individually or in groups.
Teachers can subdivide this section and, allowing access to these sections for working on group projects. A content library where important course documents can be stored for student use. Teachers can give parents to this section. A class set of student notebooks. Each student maintains his or her own notebook that is viewable only by the student and the teacher. Teachers can also give parents, so they can view their child’s notebook.
If you are co-teaching or working with a specialist, you can also opt to share a whole notebook with another teacher or teaching assistant. Key Features Flexible, Personalized Learning Class Notebook allows teachers to set up and store lessons in one online space, accessible to all students, which creates more opportunities for blended, flipped, and customized learning. These lessons can be used to customize learning for students who need extra help, flip or blend your classroom to allow more time for hands-on work in class, or help students catch up from an absence. With Class Notebook, teachers can distribute files to students in just a few clicks—to an entire class, to small groups, or to individual students. And because teachers always have access to student notebooks, they can review student work at any time. Aligned with Note-taking Research I recently published a, and the tools available in OneNote are ideal for implementing the best practices highlighted there:.
The digital inking capabilities in OneNote allow teachers and students to add handwritten notes or sketches, which have been shown to make a big difference in the effectiveness of notes. OneNote’s collaboration tools allow students to compare notes with each other, which has been shown to significantly boost the power of notes for long-term learning. Because teachers have access to individual student notebooks, they can provide students with different levels of guided notes, offering more scaffolding for the students who need it.
Because this is done digitally, it can all be private. Providing instructor notes has proven to be a powerful strategy for student learning; OneNote’s sharing capabilities would make this quick and easy to do. OneNote allows users to create or upload scaffolded notes that can then be written on with text or digital ink. These features let teachers use the most effective note-taking strategies with students. Multimodal Class Notebook allows users to type, write or sketch; add audio or video; and attach files.
These options allow for a wide range of expression and make Class Notebook a fantastic tool for all subjects, including music, math, and world languages. These multi-modal options also give teachers more flexibility in how they give feedback: Instead of just writing feedback by hand, teachers can give audio feedback, add a sketch, embed an instructional video, or link to a resource that can help improve student understanding.
Users can record audio directly into a notebook page, offering unprecedented opportunities for assessing student progress in subjects like music and world languages. Above, students read Spanish phrases into the OneNote recorder that their teacher can listen to later. Accessible to All Earlier this year, I wrote about. Many of these tools, like Immersive Reader and the Dictate add-in, are embedded right inside OneNote.
This means all of your students can access course materials and construct their own learning in ways that work best for them. Great for Collaboration The collaboration space in Class Notebooks gives students one central location for collaborating in pairs or groups.
This is ideal for group projects, project-based learning, and co-creation between teachers and students. And because all of this happens inside the larger Class Notebook, you can pop in and out of collaboration groups at any time, making it easy to offer support and keep students on task. Because Class Notebook is just one part of an account, all users will already have the ability to collaborate online on Microsoft Word files, PowerPoint presentations, and Excel spreadsheets, which can all be linked to from inside OneNote. Students collaborate on this notebook page, where they post links to resources for a research project and add comments about contributions of other group members.
Available Anywhere, on Any Device, Even Offline Because OneNote is cloud-based, it can be accessed on any device, at school, at home, or on the go. That means you and your students can get things done at whatever time works for you. What’s more, OneNote can even work when a user is offline, and the changes will sync the next time that user hooks up to the Internet. So even if students don’t have consistent access to WiFi, they can still take advantage of OneNote’s powerful features. LMS/SIS Integration Although the Class Notebook platform can function perfectly well on its own, it can also be integrated with dozens of established LMS and SIS systems, including Canvas, Edmodo, Google Classroom, Infinite Campus, and PowerSchool. Free for Educators Microsoft OneNote is free for educators and students who have an subscription (which is also available for free).
How is a Class Notebook Different from Google Classroom? So many schools are already using Google Classroom, I thought this question might come up. So let’s address it head-on: What features are offered by OneNote that make it truly different from Google Classroom? I think it comes down to these five features:. The micro/macro view: Because OneNote is visually set up like a real notebook, you can be working on one section, but still see all of the other sections and how they fit in with each other.
That kind of hierarchical setup just isn’t really available on Google-based platforms, because once you open a file, it opens in a new window and the big picture view goes away. In OneNote, you can simultaneously take notes and still view the whole structure.
Something about that just feels better to me. The blank canvas aspect: Taking notes in OneNote is physically very flexible: You can place items anywhere on a page and move them around, giving it the feel of a blank canvas. Being able to write, draw, and embed video and audio anywhere on the page (or add a ruled paper template in the background) make it feel as close to real paper as possible. Accessibility tools: OneNote’s built-in accessibility tools really give it an edge when it comes to meeting the needs of learners with different abilities.
While Google probably has some parallel add-ins, I feel Microsoft has done a really thorough, thoughtful job of baking these features right in. Parent access: Parents can get directly into their child’s notebook and the Content Library. This gives parents a window into what’s going on at school, allows families to do a better job of supporting students at home, and is especially helpful for parents of younger students and students with special needs. Built into Microsoft Teams: Another robust, free tool from Microsoft is, a platform built for group communication. If you are using Teams, you can have Class Notebook operate right inside of that. This will give you a seamless environment for note-taking, group communication, collaboration, and assignment management.
Learn more about how Class Notebook operates inside Microsoft Teams. The good news is, you don’t have to choose. If your school is already heavily into G-Suite tools and Google Classroom, you can still use OneNote for notetaking and collaboration, and so that grades and assignments from OneNote can be imported into Classroom. For more in-depth training on OneNote Class Notebooks, check out. And for a comprehensive list of OneNote resources, visit. Thanks for all you share. I used OneNote at my school last year and also in my 35 year career in Accounting.
(I’m a new second/career teacher and I teach English.) My school last year is a Microsoft Showcase school. (It is in Bellevue, WA near the Microsoft campus.) I miss some of the features that may be available in Google Classroom but it is likely I’m too new to it and haven’t discovered what Is there and not yet discovered. I like the idea of using OneNote and transferring to Google Classroom. I’ll give it a try. Thank you Gigi. I played with OneNote last year, as a way for a more grown up digital portfolio, but did not have the time to invest in finding out if it does everything I want it to.
In particular, I wanted a platform that allowed for some degree of personalization, but which would also allow for me to edit the materials as we went along (vs having all of the materials organized at the start of each unit). Sounds like I would. At this point, my next question would be about cost: it is free nowbut will it always be? As one who recently had to purchase a whole new Microsoft Windows package because my new laptop only allowed me to work in one language, I am skeptical about investing in this platform only to realize a year later that it is useless to me and my students. I noticed that a Microsoft rep responded to a previous comment.
Hoping for the same. Thanks for this! I have dabbled with OneNote Class Notebook for 2 years now. Mostly as way for students to store creative writing and me to easily access and print for them.
Last week was my first time to attempt to push my social studies content for the Lost Colony of Roanoke out for the week, and my 5th graders LOVED IT! I uploaded pictures I took of a related picture book into the content library and we did an interactive read aloud. Me reading aloud most of it, while also having them independently read portions as the followed on their devices. We then explored a primary source text I had loaded in the CL as well.
Then they could choose to watch a video I uploaded into Stream or listen to a podcast and they answered video questions or made a list of facts learned from the podcast. Next they explored a PowerPoint with open ended questions about colonizing space, and finally wrote a letter using a historical narrative style to John White as one of the colonists left behind. We did everything in OneNote. I made some mistakes of where I located things that made it less simple to navigate, but I know better for the one I’m creating next on Jamestown.
I am hoping to use the collaboration space this time as well, now that they all have a better handle on where things are located. Thanks for all the great tips in this article! After 25 years teaching, OneNote is a game changer for me!