Microsoft’s William Devereux has documented a nice set of new features that just arrived in the latest update to OneNote for Windows 10. And if you’re in the Insider Program, there are even more new features, including our first peek at the new simplified ribbon.

“We just released a new [OneNote] update on Windows 10 with a number of features based directly on your feedback,” Mr. Devereux tweeted late Wednesday. “As always these features are rolling out, so if you don’t see one of them yet then check back soon.”

I did receive the update last night—it updates the version number to 16.0.10325.20049—and here’s what’s new for everybody:

New Page deep link tile. You can now pin a OneNote “New Page” deep link tile to your Start menu so that you can jump directly to a new note in Quick Notes. To do so, open the Settings and More (“…”) menu and choose “Pin New Page Tile to Start.” Unfortunately, you cannot then pin the tile to the taskbar, which would eliminate a step and be even quicker.

Optional OneNote tile transparency. Speaking of tiles, you can also optionally pin a transparent version of the app’s tile to the Start menu. (What this really means is that it will match your configured accent color instead of being purple.) To do so, open Settings > Options and select the “Pin transparent tile to Start” button, under Start Tile.

Insert online videos. A new Insert Online Video in the Insert tab of the ribbon lets you easily embed web-based videos in your notes. (You can also just paste the URL of a video into your notes to achieve the same thing.)

Default paste. This one isn’t actually new to this version, but it’s a nice addition: You can now choose a default paste method, as you could previously in OneNote 2016. To configure this, navigate to Settings > Options > Paste Options. Choices include “Keep Source Formatting,” “Merge Formatting,” “Keep Text Only.”

In addition to these new features, those on the Windows 10 Insider Preview—or those who have enabled Office Insider access from within OneNote—will also see some unique new features too:

Simplified ribbon. While the new simplified ribbon is based on the version of the ribbon found in today’s OneNote for Windows 10, it’s also cleaner, easier to use, and better suited for high DPI displays. Meaning that it no longer looks like a PlaySkool toy.

New paste options. This one cures a problem I’ve had with OneNote for a long time: It has always included a source URL when you paste in content from the web. Now you can disable that.

Updated Clear Formatting. The Clear Formatting command will now clear any custom paragraph spacing from the source too.

New table options. You can now optionally hide table borders and quickly select a range of cells. You can also optionally exclude the header when sorting. (These are features that should have been available from day one, I think.)

Simpler symbol insert. You can now use a new Symbol Gallery in the Insert tab to more easily insert symbols.

Improved eraser. For those using smart pens, the Eraser tool now supports two new eraser sizes. (Yes, it works with a mouse or touch too.)

Microsoft Translator support. OneNote for Windows 10 now includes a Translate command on the View tab so you can translate a selection or the entire note.

Tagged with OneNote