Frequently Asked Questions about OneNote for Mac

Why does OneNote look different from before?

An improved layout in OneNote for Mac makes it easier than ever to organize your notes. All of your notebooks, sections, and pages can now be found in columns on the side of the app — efficiently navigable with screen readers and keyboards. To learn more about these changes, see Get started with the new OneNote.

Why do I have to sign in to use OneNote on my Mac?

OneNote for Mac continually syncs all of your notes with OneDrive. This lets you open, view, and edit your notebooks on all your devices so they’re always up-to-date.

OneNote for Mac requires access to OneDrive using a Microsoft account. To create or open notebooks in OneNote, sign in with your Microsoft account or the organizational account you’ve been given by your work or school. A Microsoft account is an email address used to sign in to Microsoft services.

You already have an account if you use any of these services:

Outlook.com
OneDrive
Xbox LIVE
MSN
Messenger
Microsoft 365 subscription

If you don’t already have a Microsoft account, click here to sign up for free.

Can I work offline in OneNote?

If you temporarily disconnect from the Internet for any reason (for example, while traveling on an airplane), you can keep working offline in the cached (locally saved) copy of the notes on your Mac. While you work offline, OneNote will warn you that it cannot sync the notebook. As soon as you reconnect to the Internet, OneNote will automatically sync your changes to the notebook on OneDrive. After syncing shared notebooks, you’ll be able to see any notes from the other notebook authors that were added or changed during the time you were offline — and they will be able to see the changes you have made.

I used to get updates for OneNote, but they seem to have stopped. What’s wrong?

We’ve changed the minimum system requirements for OneNote for Mac to take advantage of the latest capabilities in macOS. In order to continue getting new OneNote updates from the App Store, your Mac must be running Mac OS X 10.10 or later. To check what version you have, click the Apple menu on your Mac, and then click About This Mac. If you’ve made sure that you have the latest version of macOS but are still having trouble getting app updates, see Check for updates in OneNote for Mac.

There seems to be no way to copy text from a picture I’ve inserted. I thought this was possible?

OneNote for Mac supports Optical Character Recognition (OCR), a process that recognizes text shown in pictures. OneNote can extract the text it recognizes in pictures so you can paste it elsewhere in your notes (or into another app), where you can edit and format the text as needed.

Note: Depending on the complexity, legibility, and the amount of text shown in the picture you’ve inserted, the Copy Text from Picture command may not be immediately available on the menu that appears when you Control-click the picture. If OneNote is still reading and converting the text in the image, wait a few moments and then try again. Some results may take up to 24-48 hours to become available. Learn more about copying text from pictures (OCR).

I’m searching my notebooks, but OneNote isn’t finding what I’m looking for.

If you’re certain that the keyword, search term, or phrase you’re entering in a notebook search should be found in your search results, make sure that the section containing those notes isn’t protected with a password. OneNote excludes the contents of password-protected sections from a notebook search in order to keep your protected notes secure. To include the pages in protected sections in a notebook search, you must first unlock those sections before searching.

Note: OneNote automatically locks each password-protected section after a few minutes of inactivity. Be sure to initiate a notebook search immediately after unlocking your password-protected sections.

I password-protected a section in my notebook but can’t seem to open it.

Passwords are case-sensitive. Make sure that the Caps Lock key is off before you apply or enter the correct password. If you recently changed the password for the affected section, try remembering and entering the password that you used previously to protect that section. Passwords to protect notebook sections in OneNote are not the same password you use to sign in to OneNote. Be sure you’re not accidentally typing the password for your Microsoft account.

Important: Unfortunately, if you forget your password, no one will be able to unlock your notes for you — not even Microsoft Technical Support. Learn more about password protection.

Can I password-protect just a single page?

No. You can apply passwords to individual notebook sections, but not to an individual page. However, you can create a new section in your notebook and then move the single page you want to protect into that new section before locking it with a password. For more information, see Move or copy notes in OneNote for Mac.

Can I password-protect an entire notebook?

You can apply passwords to individual notebook sections, one at a time, but not to all of the sections in the same notebook all at once.

My question isn’t answered here. What can I do?

If you need additional assistance with OneNote for Mac, please try any of the following:

On the OneNote menu bar, click Help > Search to enter a keyword or a phrase that describes what you’re looking for. You can send us feedback about our documentation by answering the short survey provided at the end of this article.
View and post questions in the OneNote for Mac Community forums to get free technical assistance from experienced OneNote users and members of the OneNote product team.
Visit the Answer Desk for a list of additional Support options.