1. Click 'Choose Files', then select all the files exported from Simplenote. A new, single file will be generated, which can then be imported into Standard Notes. Import this file by using the Standard Notes web or desktop app, and clicking 'Account' in the lower left corner, then clicking 'Import From Backup'.
2. Admittedly, OneNote does seem slower to use on my iPhone 7, especially when hunting through different Notebooks, but Simplenote can be a pain to use at times and it doesn't support images (I need my screen shots).
3. Sharing menu lets you choose from several options like lock note, convert pdf, or send as a simple note. OneNote goes one step ahead and lets you share the whole notebook with another person.

Simplenote is an easy way to keep notes, lists, ideas, and more. Keep notes on the web, your mobile device, and your computer. Find notes quickly with instant searching and simple tags. Share a list, post some instructions, or publish your thoughts.

Microsoft OneNote is one of the most popular note-taking tools, but it is primarily for Windows users, and limited functionality with Linux, macOS, Android, or iOS.

If OneNote isn’t your cup of tea, We’ve handpicked 11 alternatives to OneNote for you to choose. Let’s get right into first.

Contents

1. Evernote

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS

Even if you’ve never used it, you’ve probably heard of Evernote. It is probably the most popular note-taking app today. And we pick it as the first and best alternative to OneNote.

Firstly, it offers the same basic functionality as OneNote – the ability to create, organize and sync notes among multiple platforms, including Windows PCs, Macs, iPads and iPhones, Windows Phones, Android devices and the web.

Then, Evernote has a handful of features that support collaboration. Among them, you can share any notebook by right-clicking on it and selecting “share notebook.” Input the email addresses of those with whom you want to share your notebook and select the type of access permissions you want to grant them: view, edit or edit and invite.

Finally, Evernote has a handy chat feature that can be used to discuss notes.

Related Post:Evernote vs OneNote: The Best App for Note-Taking in 2020

Pros:

• Offline access
• Syncing across multiple platforms and devices
• Quick to capture notes and thoughts
• Sharing capabilities
• Easy to use layout

Cons:

Simplenote Vs Onenote

• Web application has limited features especially with respect to images.
• No option to record audio and video directly from Evernote.

Pricing: Evernote Basic- Free, Evernote Premium- $69.99/year, and Evernote Business- $14.99/user/month.

2. Notion

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Web

Notion is an all new task and project management tool which stands out different from the peers. It’s basically like a folder that contains everything you need such as documents, notes, tasks, wikis, database, and more to help you manage workload quite efficiently.

Pros:

• Allows flexible management of individual and team projects
• Easy on-boarding
• Provides for unrestricted access including offline
• Customizable and distraction free

Cons:

• Offline access is limited to only recently opened pages
• No handwriting support

Pricing: Notion has four pricing tiers—a Free plan, a Personal plan for $4 a month, a Team plan at $8 per member per month, and an Enterprise plan at $20 per member per month.

3. Google Keep

Platforms: Android, iOS, Web

Google Keep is similar to OneNote but with a simpler approach. It lets you take down short notes with just a basic title and your note content. You can also choose to add an image to a note and color code each note.

Pros:

• Create notes and lists, set time and place reminders, and check off your completed tasks.
• Add a collaborator to your notes and lists, then get things done together.
• Search notes by automagically created topics.
• Integrated with Gmail and Chrome to easily create notes
• Access your notes on any device – synced automatically to your phone, tablet, watch, and laptop.

Cons:

• Google Keep is best for short notes or short-term notes. But if you have a long list of notes, it might be unmanageable.
• It never notifies when some new notes are added to the shared list.
• You may notice some problems with syncing data between devices

Pricing: Free

4. Apple Notes

Platforms: iPhone/iPad/Mac

OneNote is default for Windows users. Similarly, as for Apple users, Apple Notes is the default option for them. Starting with Apple Notes, the software allows you to create multiple notebooks. You can create sub-notebooks inside it. When editing a note, you can choose from Title, Headings, Subheading, Monospaced, Bullet list, and Numbered list. Users can also integrate photos and documents inside a note.

Pros:

• Nativity with iOS
• Simple yet useful app

Cons:

• There is no way to tag;

Pricing: Free

5. Notability

Platforms: iOS, macOS, Android, Chrome, and Windows

Notability is a powerful note-taker to annotate documents, sketch ideas, record lectures, take notes and more. It combines, typing, handwriting, audio recording, and photos so you can create notes that fit your needs.

Pros:

• Audio recording
• Vertical and horizontal scrolling
• Change size and color of pen after it’s written
• Color picker tool, making it super easy to match your pens to your planner colors
• Can add gifs
• Syncs with iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox and works perfectly

Cons:

• Can’t select all pages or move multiple pages at once
• Can’t open 2 planners at once
• No conversion from handwriting to text

Pricing: $8.99 on iOS / $4.99 macOS/In-app purchases in the Notability shop.

6. GoodNotes

Platforms: iOS, iPadOS, and macOS devices

GoodNotes is a note-taking app, but it’s nothing like note-taking apps you’re used to using. It isn’t meant to be used for typing (though you can type). It’s specifically designed as a handwriting app so you can use your Apple Pencil or another stylus. You can create sketches for presentation, annotate PDFs that you’ve imported, and even search all of your notes — handwritten, typed, or imported as a PDF. Here are dozens of paper styles, including lined paper in a variety of sizes, dotted paper, grids, column pages for accounting, and more.

Pros:

• Three custom pen colors always available and just one tap to switch between them
• Pictures inserted into the notes are able to be moved around
• The *NEW* unlimited organization of notebooks within folders
• THE SEARCH FEATURE!

Cons:

• The pages don’t auto-lock to the width of the screen.
• The developers do not let you decide the backup file format.
• There is no voice recording function.

Pricing: GoodNotes 5 costs $7.99. If you previously purchased a prior version of the app, there is a Complete My Bundle option that lets you just pay the difference between whatever you previously paid and $7.99.

7. Simplenote

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS

Simplenote is another good alternative to OneNote. It offers markdown support, cross-platform apps, and can be accessed through most web browsers. On Simplenote, users are permitted to record an almost unlimited number of text-based notes on the platform. Once the note has been composed, it can be pinned to the top of a list for immediate access.

Pros:

• Simple and clean UI
• Markdown support that allows users to write, preview, and publish notes
• Instant searching through tags
• Users are allowed to export data
• Collaborative features to work together

Cons:

• No reminder
• No social media integration
• Poor save-to-disk feature

Pricing: Free

8. Zoho Notebook

Platforms: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android

Zoho Notebook sets itself apart by allowing you to incorporate graphics, colors, and photos into your notes. If you’re a visual person, using these features to store your notes will help simplify the organization of your data⁠. You can also add multiple types of media to your notes, including audio, checklists, and files.

Pros:

• Audio notes
• Cloud Syncing
• Pre-built checklist
• Completely free and ad-free

Cons:

• No text formatting
• Lacks some features like tag search

Pricing: Free

9. Bear

Platform: iOS, Mac, Apple Watch

This simple note-taking app was released in 2016 and has quickly become one of the most popular tools of its kind thanks to its simplicity and clean, intuitive UI. Also, It features powerful Markdown capability and an excellent writing experience.

Pros:

• Multiple themes and rich previews
• To-dos and Hashtags
• Focus mode
• Multiple export options
• Advanced Markup Editor

Cons:

• No tabs, so you can view only one note at a time
• Only available for Apple devices

Pricing: Free or $1.49 monthly and $14.99 annually

10. Laverna

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, Web

Laverna is a JavaScript note taking application with Markdown editor and encryption support.

Laverna’s main selling point is its focus on privacy. Your notes are never stored on the company’s servers. However, you can store your data on Dropbox or RemoteStorage if you want to sync across devices. It’s also possible to set a password that’ll encrypt your notes, too.

Pros:

• All notes are written in Markdown with a live preview window
• It has three levels of organization; profiles, notebooks, and tags
• It has distraction-free editing mode

Cons:

• Cannot drag and drop images for upload
• A few bugs in the system

Pricing: Free

11. Turtl

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android

Simplenote Vs Evernote

Turtl is a secure OneNote alternative. It lets you take notes, bookmark websites, and store documents for sensitive projects. From sharing passwords with your coworkers to tracking research on an article you’re writing, Turtl keeps it all safe from everyone but you and those you share with.

Pros:

• Turtl stores your info encrypted
• You can easily share boards of bookmarks & notes you can synch files & images it’s cross platform & free

Cons:

• Limited storage on its free plan

Pricing: Turtl has a free to use plan that allows you to store up to 50mb of data and it’s paid plans start at $3 a month.

Summary: Best OneNote Alternative

To wrap it up, there are many note-taking apps are better than OneNote for specific tasks you’re doing.

Evernote is still the top pick for most people who looking for a OneNote alternative. Its vast feature set ensures that it does everything well enough and has the fewest quirks

For Mac and iOS users, Apple Notes and Bear might be good OneNote alternatives.

If you focus on privacy and data security, Laverna and Turtl are good choices.

Finally, the true best OneNote alternative is the one that fits your needs.

OneNote tutorial provides basic and advanced concepts of OneNote. Our OneNote tutorial is designed for beginners and professionals.

What is OneNote?

OneNote is an electronic notebook, which is a part of Microsoft Office since 2003. It allows you to organize notes, files, articles, pictures, and more information in a single digital notebook. It is available approximately for all devices such as Mobile, Laptops, Desktops, and also for all the operating system (IOS, MAC, Windows, and Android).

Note: OneNote is inbuilt with Microsoft Office 2003 and above versions. Therefore, we do not need to install it individually.

In this tutorial, we are going to use OneNote 16 on Windows 10 platform. Here, we will discuss the following topics:

Features of OneNote

Below is the description of the most important features of OneNote:

1. Organize data in Notebook

Organize data in Notebook is one of the best features of OneNote. It allows you to store data in the form of Notebook. A notebook is made up of one or more sections, and each section contains the individual pages or subpages. In Notebook, we store information in the form of text, image, audio, and video.

2. Web clipper

OneNote web clipper allows you to extract information from a web page to OneNote. You can access clipped webpages on any computer, tablets, or phones.

3. Templates

The template is a pre-designed layout of OneNote. OneNote 2016 contains several in-built templates, including decorative page backgrounds, uniform appearance, or a consistent layout.

Simplenote Alternative

4. Text Search

OneNote has an ability to search the particular text. You can simply press the Ctrl+E key to enable the search panel, and type what you want to search.

5. Recording

A recording is one of the important features of OneNote. In OneNote, you can record audio or video by clicking on Insert -> Record Audio or video. It helps you to record any interview, important notes on your own voice, etc.

6. Protect Sections with Password

OneNote provides password security for each section in a notebook. To make your section password protected, right-click on the section and select Password-Protect this section.

7. Tags

Tags in OneNote helps you to organize content, remember tasks, or find content based on the tags attached to it.

8. Translate Notes

OneNote allows you to translate the notes from one language to your preferred language, which is easily understandable by you.

9. Ink to Text

Ink to text is used to convert the handwritten notes into typed text. It helps you for writing the formal document, resume, and reports.

10. Ink to Math

Ink to Math is used to covert the equation to formatted equations.

How OneNote is Different from Microsoft Office

There are the following reasons that make OneNote different from other programs in Microsoft Office:

• Notebooks are always open
• No need to save the notebook
• Limited formatting options
• You can search text easily
• Notes are recorded in the form of audio and video
• You can translate text in your understandable language
• Digital pages are of the infinite size

OneNote Alternatives

Bear

Bear is a flexible writing app for the notes. It is the best application for Apple devices. The main feature of Bear is its tagging system that allows you to organize notes using a series of tags which generally acts like a folder means your notes can be placed inside the multiple folders.

Zoho Notebook

Zoho Notebook is a note-taking app. It is quite similar to Evernote because it allows you to create notebooks, including the text, pictures, and voice notes. The main advantages of Zoho Notebook is that it includes a web-clipping tool that helps you to grab articles and other bits from the Internet. Zoho Notebook uses Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android platforms.

Simplenote

Simplenote is a very simple note-taking app which is available on Web, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, and Mac. It is open-source software which is created by Automattic, a company linked to WordPress. It includes features such as high efficiency and cloud synchronization that helps you to store more data.

The main advantage of Simplenote is that it provides a simple interface, fast processing, and has an ability to work offline.

The Disadvantage of Simplenote is that it allows limited search and limited reordering of the notes.

Evernote

Evernote is one of the best alternative of OneNote. It is available for both free and paid versions. It allows you to sync and save your recorded notes, typed notes, and other notes in one convenient place.

It uses platforms like Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Browser, and Unix.

Laverna

Laverna is a simple and secure editor for storing the notes. The biggest advantage of Laverna is that it provides end-to-end encryption, and everything is password protected. It stores note on Laverna's server, but you can also have an option of integrating the notes with dropbox or RemoteStorage.

Google Keep

Google keep is an innovative note-taking application. It is a Google product which is properly synced with all other Google products. It stores notes in the form of draft e-mails. It also provides the option of attaching photos and web-clippers.

Google Keep available on Web, Android, iOS, and chrome.

OneNote Hierarchy

OneNote contains three main hierarchical levels: Notebooks, sections, and pages.

Notebooks

Notebooks are the main files for OneNote that holds all the information. When you run OneNote for the first time. By default, a notebook is already created. You may also create a separate notebook according to your requirement. For example, if you want to store the school notes, then create a notebook and name it School.

Sections

Sections are the next level in the hierarchy. It breaks a notebook into relatable topics. For uniquely identify the section, you can provide different color to each section. For example in a school notebook, make sections as Chemistry, Hindi, Maths, and English for each of your classes.

Pages

Pages are the last level in the hierarchy. It is used to store the information related to sections. The information is stored in the form of text, link, image, and table. Using school as an example again, your Chemistry section may include pages for Lecture Notes, Important Questions, and Assignments. Pages can be further divided into subpages which are same as pages. Subpages are used to reduce the clutter in the page pane. For Example, in Lecture notes, you can create a subpage of important notes.

OneNote Shortcuts Keys

There are the following shortcut keys used in the OneNote:

Typing and editing notes

Managing Pages, Notebooks and Sections

Formatting notes

Creating a Notebook

Creating a Notebook is a very simple task. When you open OneNote for the first time, a default notebook is created for you. You can also use this default notebook and add your own pages to it, or create a new blank notebook.

To create a notebook, follow the steps given below:

Step1: Open OneNote2016. Click on File->New->provide the notebook name. Then click on create Notebook.

Step2: After clicking on the Create Notebook, the following screen appears.

Rename the Section

To rename the Section, Right-click on the section then select Rename Section and provide a name that you want.

Adding the Section

To add the Section, Click on the + at the top of the screen. Then type a name of the section which you want to add.

Similarly, you can add more sections according to your requirement.

Rename the page

To rename the Page, Right-click on the page then select Rename, provide the name that you want to add.

Adding the Page

To add the page, click on the +Add page at the Right panel of the screen. Then type a name of the page that you want to add.

Similarly, you can add more pages according to your requirement.

Note: If you are using a recent version of Microsoft Office with Windows 10, there is a chance that you might have more than one version of OneNote on your device. For Windows 10, OneNote for Windows 10 (OneNote) is the latest version of OneNote on Windows because its interface is a combination of both Mac and mobile version of OneNote.

Basic tasks in OneNote

There are the following basic tasks that we perform in the OneNote.

Insert a table

In OneNote, it is very easy to insert a table in the page. To insert the table, click on the page where you want to insert the table then go to Insert -> table.

Attach Files

One Note allow you to attach a file from the different location that you want to use in current document. The attached file works as a reference file for that document.

To attach the file Click on the Insert -> double click on File Attachment. Select the file that you want to attach and then click on the Ok. After clicking Ok the following pop up will occur.

In above pop up, click on the Attach File, now you can see that file is attached in the OneNote.

Insert the Picture

In OneNote, you can insert the pictures, clip arts, and graphics to make the page more attractive. To add picture click on Insert -> Online Pictures. After clicking on the insert picture, a wizard will open to search the image online.

Now, type the name of the image in search box and select one of them. To add the selected image in the working area, just click on the Insert.

Insert the Online Video

OneNote allows you to add online videos. The video makes your notebook more understandable, interesting, and informative. To insert video Click on Insert -> Online video, the following pop up will occur in which provide the link of the video that you want to add and then click on the OK.

After clicking Ok, video will be inserted in the OneNote.

Insert the Link

Link option in a notebook is used to link the other notebooks, pages, and sections in the notebook. With the help of a link, you can access your favourite page by only one click.

To insert the link click on the insert -> Link. The following pop up will occur in which provide a link which you want to insert and then click on the Insert.

Now you can see that link is inserted in the Assignments page.

Change the page Color

You can also change the page color and makes the page more attractive. To change the page color, click on View -> Page Colour, select the color that you want to add in the page.

Add Rule Lines

To add rule lines click on the View -> Rule Lines.

Translate the Notes

OneNote offers the translation facility using the AI-powered Microsoft Translator service. It allows you to translate the text into your understandable language. To translate the notes, click on the Review -> Translate then select the language in which you want to translate the notes.

Ink to Text

OneNote uses a handy conversion tool to convert the handwritten text into typed text. To convert handwriting text to formatted text, first write the text in the working area then click on the Draw -> Ink to Text.

OneNote Page Templates

OneNote 2016 has a large variety of templates which provides various formatting options to create clean, attractive, and structured notes. By default, OneNote 2016 allows five types of page templates that are: Academic, Blank, Business, Decorative, and Planners.

Adding a OneNote Page Template

To add OneNote Page Template, go to the Page in which you want to add the template. Click on the Insert ->Page Templates button. From the Page Templates Button, select Page Templates.

From the Templates pane, select the category to expand the list of templates. Click on the template that you want to add in the page based on the requirement.

Now, you can see that template is added in the current page.

How to add tags in OneNote

OneNote tags help you to quickly identify the important items, provide reminder about the action items, and filter the files that you want to share with others.

Add the tag

To add the tag, first place the cursor at the beginning of the line or paragraph of text that you want to add.

Click on the Home -> Tags, and then click on the tag that you want to apply.

To remove the Tag, click on the Home->Tags->Remove Tag.

OneNote Vs. OneNote 2016

Prerequisite

Before learning OneNote, you must have the basic knowledge of Computer Fundamentals.

Audience

Our OneNote tutorial is designed to help beginners and professionals.

Problem

We assure that you will not find any problem in this OneNote tutorial. But if there is any mistake or error, please post the error in the contact form.