Onenote For Mac Pin Notebook Left Sidebar How To

Microsoft OneNote has evolved to become one key application not only for users around the world, but for Microsoft itself too.

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  3. Onenote For Mac Pin Notebook Left Sidebar How To Download
  4. Onenote For Mac Pin Notebook Left Sidebar How To Use

On the Mac, you could put the note into shortcuts, and that space on the left sidebar is the only one in all of the clients where you can manually re-arrange notes. Otherwise, you have to resort to a bit of ingenuity. My sidebar has disappeared. I can't get it back by sliding the margin to the left back and forth. I cannot find the answer in the HELP section. I need to be able to switch back and forth between SENT and INBOX etc.

OneNote is now part of the Microsoft Office productivity suite, and what’s more, the Windows 10 version keeps evolving at a pace which shows that the software giant is very committed to continue improving it.

But more recently, Microsoft has also made a change in OneNote that’s not necessarily everyone’s cup of tea. The legacy navigation pane, which let you see all notebooks and pages, has been replaced with a new sidebar that’s less straightforward for a substantial number of users.

Despite aligning with the rest of apps in Windows 10, this sidebar requires additional clicks to browse notebooks, add sections, and manage pages, whereas in the original configuration, everything was so much faster. Somewhat surprising is that Microsoft says it made this change based on user feedback:

“We heard the user feedback and incorporated some new elements to navigation in OneNote for Mac and OneNote for Windows 10. In the updated navigation, switch easily between your notebooks, search results and recent notes using the buttons along the left-hand rail and use the drop-down button across the top of sections and pages to view additional notebooks,” the company said back in March.

“If you want to maximize your canvas, you can hide navigation by clicking the notebooks icon at the top of the left rail. Click the icon again when you need to navigate your way to another page, section or notebook.”

More recently, however, Microsoft has started rolling out a feature for OneNote that comes to resolve this big annoyance, allowing users to actually return to the original approach for the navigation system.

What’s important to know, however, is that this feature is gradually shipping to users, so not everyone sees it right now. It already exists on my device, and you should be getting it rather sooner than later.

My OneNote version is 16001.11901.20096.0.

If you want to return to the old navigation system, launch the app and head over to settings. Scroll down, and in the navigation section, enable the feature that is called “Legacy navigation panes.” In just a few words, here’s the path you need to follow:


OneNote > Menu > Options > Navigation > Legacy navigation panes > On
OneNote will then require a reboot to apply your settings and enable the old navigation system.

At the end of the day, it’s actually good news to see Microsoft listening to user feedback, and while some users might like the new UI of the navigation pane, there are others who want to stick with the legacy one.

Somewhat worrying is that Microsoft could at some point remove this option, especially as OneNote would evolve to a more modern approach where the legacy menu would no longer make sense. The company, however, says there’s no reason not to use this new navigation feature:

“The OneNote app window in the Windows and Mac versions now offers more note-taking space by providing an easier way to control the navigation interface. You can choose to display the notebook, section, and page navigation panes whenever you need them, and then hide them again when you’re done — leaving you to focus on your work, your thoughts, and your ideas,” it says, adding that everything was designed from the very beginning to make more room for your notes.

Onenote For Mac Pin Notebook Left Sidebar How To Drive

The same navigation system is also used on OneNote for Mac, and will also go live for OneNote Online and OneNote for iPad for more consistency.

Microsoft OneNote has been around for about 15 years now and is one of the most powerful note-taking apps. That said, it has been losing customers to the competition gradually. One of them is Evernote which was the darling child of the Silicon Valley until controversy hit the headlines. History was waiting to repeat itself. Evernote started losing customers to a new player in the market called Notion.

Lately, OneNote got beefed up with new features and is especially preferred by those who are rooted in the Microsoft ecosystem and use Office 365.

Visit OneNote

Notion claims to bring the best of both the worlds by offering a new block-based layout which is usable as a note-taking app, Kanban tool, and to-do list.

Visit Notion

Let’s see if Notion is all that it claims to be and whether it can replace OneNote for good.

1. UI and Layout

Both OneNote and Notion come with a neat layout where notes and other elements are easily accessible. OneNote takes a notebook approach where you can create notes that rest in sections which are further stored inside notebooks. An age-old way to take notes, digitized for the modern world.

Notion takes a different approach. Instead of notebooks and sections, there are pages where you can create blocks (more on that later). You can drill down into pages from the sidebar, similar to how most note-taking apps work.

OneNote for mobile lacks a sidebar. Typically, you have to choose a notebook and drill down from sections to notes. That makes it cumbersome and time-consuming.

Notion has a handy sidebar that makes it easier to hop between pages and notes without too many taps to go back and forth. On the flip side, search and other options are placed at the top instead of bottom making them hard to reach.

Also on Guiding Tech
Apple Notes vs Microsoft OneNote: Which App Wins
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2. Taking Notes

OneNote will let you create notes in a variety of formats like text, audio, and image notes. These notes can be tagged and filed in sections and notebooks and are searchable on all devices. There are browser extensions that you can use to clip web pages or part thereof.

Notion takes a new approach of letting you create pages inside which you can then create blocks. These blocks can be text, audio, table, gallery, Kanban style board, video, code, wikis and more. That opens up so many possibilities and offers many ways to customize your workflow. Also, there is no limit to how deep you can go with pages like a page within a page and so on.

Each block in Notion is freely movable inside the page and outside it. Then there are templates for taking notes like knowledge base, to-do lists, projects, and even database. Useful for newbies who can find so many options and flexibility overwhelming and confusing. Each block within a page is linkable to other blocks or pages.

Instead of blocks, OneNote has paragraphs which are internally linkable to other paragraphs, notes, sections, and notebooks. However, there are no templates (still exists in OneNote 2016 version) and the number of options when it comes to creating different types of notes is limited compared to Notion.

3. Uncommon Features

OneNote comes with a built-in calculator. Just type simple math formulas like 3+3-4 anywhere in the note and OneNote will answer it. With OneNote, you can only go two levels deep which means Notebooks > Sections > Notes. OneNote supports handwriting recognition and can convert them into notes which can be both fun and handy, especially if you are the creative type.

Onenote for mac pin notebook left sidebar how to download

OneNote supports many fonts while Notion supports icons. With Notion, there is no limit to how deep you can go when creating pages within pages. That way of the hierarchy is unheard of in any other note-taking app.

Also on Guiding Tech
Notion vs Evernote: Is It Worth Switching
Read More

4. Privacy and Security

You can password-protect sections in OneNote and all the notes contained in that section will be encrypted. Microsoft notes that if you lose the password, not even Microsoft Support can access these notes or help you recover it. Microsoft uses AES-128 bit encryption to protect OneNote.

Onenote For Mac Pin Notebook Left Sidebar How To Work

Some xtime ago, when I was testing Notion for personal use and was worried about how Notion handles security, I fired up a tweet and got a response from Notion Team. They are encrypted at Rest and in Transit but not end-to-end and do not offer 2FA or the ability to encrypt pages or blocks at the moment. That is not good in my opinion. May be these options might show up in the future.

5. Integrations, Platforms, and Pricing

Microsoft OneNote for Windows 10 is completely free and comes pre-installed with Windows 10. You can also use the same version with Office 365 and Office 2019 version. OneNote integrates with all Office apps like Word, Excel, Skype, and so on, but 3rd party apps are left completely.

Note that the Office 365 subscriptions have Researcher feature in OneNote which the free version lacks. The Researcher will let you search Bing for quotes, references, and other materials right inside OneNote.

Both OneNote and Notion are available for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS and have a Chrome extension. Notion leaves Firefox out for some reason, but OneNote does not.

Notion is free for up to 1000 blocks which should be good enough for moderate use. After that, you will be charged $4/month. Notion integrates with many apps like Slack, Unsplash, and so on but does not have a dedicated page with app list for some reason.

I Have a Notion

Notion is positioning itself as a cross between note-taking app (OneNote), to-do lists (Todoist), Kanban (Trello), calendar (Google Calendar) and database management (Airtable) apps. It’s a nice concept. Also, I am tired of hopping between multiple apps to track my work and personal life.

Notion is powerful and suited for power users. That said, security is still not there yet, but I am optimistic. I also believe that anything that you want to stay private and hidden should be noted down on a piece of paper. Privacy Policies can change anytime.

OneNote is still amazing and offers most features you would need from a note-taking app. As noted previously, OneNote is a must for those who are deep in the Microsoft ecosystem.

Onenote For Mac Pin Notebook Left Sidebar How To Download

Next up: Have you heard of Dropbox Paper? Here is an in-depth comparison between Paper and Notion.


The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Read NextDropbox Paper vs Notion: Which One Should You ChooseAlso See#comparison #notes

Did You Know

You can also solve calculus equations on OneNote.

Onenote For Mac Pin Notebook Left Sidebar How To Use

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