Now that you have seen all the great things you can do with OneNote under the Home tab, it is time to discover the great and useful features under the Inserts tab. Like its name reads, many of the features under this tab can be “inserted” into your pages for optimal organization and note-taking. Many of these features are unique to OneNote and awesome in functionality!
Start by clicking on the Insert tab to the right of the Home tab. Starting all the way on the left, you will find a very unique tool called the Insert Space function. Have you ever taken notes in a ruled notebook only to find yourself wishing you could just add more spaces in between? With the Insert Space function, you can now do that in OneNote! To make more space on your page, simply click that icon and hover it over a section in your notes. You will notice a thin, blue horizontal line or a vertical line if you hover near the edge. Simply click and drag your notes to the right or down. Any text to the right or below the line will magically move all at once! It’s almost like magic.
Next to the Insert Space function, you will see the Table function. If you’ve ever used another Microsoft program such as Microsoft Word, you should easily be able to learn how to use the Table function. Simply click on the icon and create a quick table by selecting its size. Once your table has been created, a special toolbar will appear where you can further modify it (add/delete rows or columns, select sections of your table, etc.) Once your table has been created, you can move it around your page by clicking on the thin gray bar on the top and dragging it around.
The two following features are unique in their functionality and can really help you get serious about note taking. Next to the Table function are the Images options. You’re probably familiar with how to insert an image into Word or PowerPoint. It’s pretty much the same process for this program too. Simply click on the Picture icon and browse for a picture on your hard drive to put in your notes. However, the Screen Clipping tool, located directly next to the Picture icon is what really gives OneNote an upper advantage. The Screen Clipping tool allows you to do a screen grab and insert it into your page. If you click on the icon, OneNote will temporarily minimize, allowing you to select a region of your screen to grab. This can be useful for copying information off websites, copying someone else’s notes, copying pictures off the web, etc. Every time you do a screen clipping, OneNote will also insert a time-stamp with the image so you can know when exactly you inserted it into your notebook.
The next icon is the Link tool. By clicking on this icon you can add a hyperlink anywhere on your page. Additionally, you can link to another page in another notebook within OneNote when using this tool. After the Link tool you will see the files section. Here, you have the Attach File, File Printout and Scanner Printout functions. The Attach File function simply allows you to attach a file from your hard drive anywhere in your notebook. The File Printout Scanner Printout functions allow you to attach files to your notebook that have been scanned in or downloaded. One really unique feature of OneNote is that you can search your notebook for these files for instant access.
The next set of functions you will see are some of the best kept secrets of OneNote. Next to the file attachment options you will see two icons for recording video and audio called Record Audio and Record Video. As long as you have a built-in microphone and/or webcam, (or an attachable one), you can record your voice and movement and insert it directly into your notebook. This is a great option for many things. Students may find the audio function useful for taking notes in a huge lecture and businesspeople may find the video function useful for journaling about their ideas. Many people would rather store their information through audio and video rather than words, so OneNote can definitely win over many people. As with text, you can drop the audio/video files anywhere in your notebook and play them directly back on your computer at any time. It’s always nice to have a section dedicated to your favorite videos or video links so you can easily have access to all your favorite things to watch!
The next set of tools, the timestamp options, is pretty simple. By clicking on the Date icon, OneNote will automatically insert the current date into your page. By clicking on the Time icon, OneNote will automatically insert the current time into your page. By clicking on the Date & Time icon the program will automatically insert both the date and the time.
The final set of tools is the symbol tools. You will see these icons next to the timestamp features. By clicking on the Insert Equation icon OneNote will insert a mathematical equation into your notebook. By selecting the drop-down arrow you will see a set of preselected equations that you can insert, such as the Pythagorean Theorem. At the bottom of the drop down box is an option where you can insert your own custom equation. When you select that option, the toolbar at the top will change, giving you access to mathematical symbols and the ability to make special characters such as fractions, scripts and radicals among more. Next to the Insert Equation tool is the Insert Symbol icon. By clicking on this icon, you can insert various symbols into your page such as smiley faces, mailbox icons and more mathematical symbols. If you change the selected font to Wingdings, you can scroll through all the various symbols and insert them that way instead of having to type out each corresponding letter.