Use Multiple Microsoft Accounts With Onenote

Craig Gerdes

Think of Microsoft OneNote as a digital version of a physical notebook. Use it to capture and organize digital notes. Add images, diagrams, audio, video, and related content. Use OneNote with other programs in the Office suite, on your desktop or mobile devices.

  1. Use multiple Microsoft accounts with OneNote for Windows 10 If you use more than one Microsoft account such as Hotmail, Live.com, or Outlook.com, you can use any of these accounts with OneNote for Windows 10. Add a new account When you first start OneNote for Windows 10, you're prompted to sign in with your preferred Microsoft account.
  2. OneNote can keep multiple accounts and each notebook will sync to different accounts. Just add an account and open a notebook under the other account. The notebooks didn't move; they continue functioning with the original account.

Essentially, it is a digital notebook available anytime, anywhere. OneNote is available as a traditional desktop app, a web app, and a mobile app. In addition, a simplified OneNote version comes pre-installed with Windows 10. The features available to the user depend on the version and environment used.

There are many reasons. It is a very powerful program with lots of versatility.
  • You can create sections and pages just like a traditional notebook, then save and organize your typed or handwritten notes, and other stuff such as photos, files, links to websites, screen clippings, videos, etc.
    • You can create further navigational structure by creating section groups or subpages and your own templates.
    • You can search for items by text, tags, or author.
  • OneNote integrates easily with Microsoft Outlook and other Office products.
    • You can email a message to OneNote or email notes captured in OneNote to others. Items assigned in OneNote appear as Tasks in Outlook.
    • You can easily send Word and PowerPoint files to OneNote.
    • You can take notes based on a Word document or PowerPoint presentation and link the notes to the original source file for reference.
  • You can share your notebooks with specific people through a direct email or to the world through a sharing link.
  • You can set permissions to view only or with editing privileges. You can password protect sections.
  • You can view recent edits and revert to a previous version if necessary.
  • You can do other cool things too.
    • For example, you can ask Cortana or Siri to take notes for you.
    • Another thing you can do is covert handwritten notes to text.
    • Finally, you can take notes on a webpage and then save a screen clip with annotations to OneNote.

Accounts

There are several ways to use OneNote at school, work, or home. For a great list of examples and ideas, check out:

10 Unique Ways to Use Microsoft OneNote

111 Ways to Use Microsoft OneNote

The screenshot below is an example of a class notebook that shares file attachments with students for download. In addition, the Quick Links section lists websites and articles relevant to class topics. The instructor uses his iPhone to send links to OneNote from LinkedIn and Twitter.

Multiple

You can! You’ll need to sync your notebook with OneDrive before going offline, then OneNote automatically syncs your changes as you work. If at any time you lose your Internet connection or turn it off, any pending changes will sync as soon as you’re back online.

To start using OneNote, create a free Microsoft account or purchase a Microsoft Office 365 license. Go to https://products.office.com/en-US/onenote to sign-in or sign-up.

For help, check out: https://support.office.com/en-us/onenote

For more information, read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_OneNote

If you’d like to dive deeper into the functions, commands, and capabilities of Microsoft Excel, and other applications within the Microsoft Office Suite, sign up for a one-day training class at Centriq.

View Centriq’s Microsoft Office Training Classes

Get specific information by speaking with a Training Advisor by email, by phone at 913.322.7062 and 314.644.6400, or by completing the following form.

A key reason I would always use OneNote 2016 is the ability to be logged in to multiple accounts at once.

I discovered you could not use multiple accounts in the OneNote Windows 10 App in late 2016 when preparing for a presentation and had setup a new Microsoft account (oh365eh@outlook.com) to show the entire process of getting setup from beginning to end. It shocked me, however those days are behind us now.

Use Multiple Microsoft Accounts With Onenote Free

I tried out another new feature that appeared for me in the OneNote Windows 10 App today (OneNote Version 17.7766.57671.0) – the ability to add multiple Microsoft accounts. See:

Up until now I used the OneNote Window 10 App for personal notebooks stored in my personal OneDrive. When I wanted to switch between my personal notebooks and my demo notebooks, I’d have to remove the account and login again – which was a pain and could glitch out at times. (I’d always be restarting the App to get the switch between accounts to work).

I used OneNote 2016 primarily for work – team notebooks in SharePoint libraries, and private work notebooks in OneDrive for Business. I only had two personal notebooks stored in my personal OneDrive open in OneNote 2016 that I used for specific types of actions that can only be performed in the 2016 version of OneNote.

Now, I’m excited to have a mix of personal, demo, and work notebooks open in the App to utilize some of the App-specific functionality in them. 🙂

Want to take a look – check it out:

Notice in the Open More Notebooks menu there is now an Add Account button at the centre bottom of the menu:

You can also add accounts and see which accounts you’ve already added in the App’s settings:

Go to Settings > Accounts.

Click on Accounts > Add account.

You can then choose to add a Microsoft or Work or school (Office 365) account.

Removing accounts is simple, once you find the button which is tucked away and isn’t an obvious button.

In the Settings > Accounts menu > select the account you want to remove.

Click on Sign out.

Use Onenote Without Sign In

Click Remove on the Remove this account? pop-up then restart the App.

All the Notebooks tied to that account no longer appear in the Open More Notebooks menu.

Also, Notebooks tied to that account that were open are auto-closed when the account is removed.

Use Multiple Microsoft Accounts With Onenote Software

To me, this is a HUGE bonus as having to right-click and close a batch of Notebooks was time consuming before (you’re likely not going to be doing this often, but for doing demos and training videos, having a clutter-free interface devoid of personal information is important).

How To Use Onenote

However I’d suggest making sure you do a sync before yanking an account with notebooks you’ve made very recent edits in – just to be safe.