Comparison of similarities and differences between Web OneNote and Desktop OneNote

File formats supported in Web OneNote

Web OneNote opens OneNote 2010 and later notebooks (.one files).
Web OneNote can’t open notebooks in other file formats. For example, these formats are not supported: OneNote 2003 or OneNote 2007 notebooks (.one), OneNote Package (.onepkg), and Portable Document Format (PDF).
 

Features supported for viewing and printing

When you view notes in Web OneNote, you can page through a notebook, expand and collapse sections, see who has contributed which notes, and see previous versions of a page.
However, some features work differently in the browser than they do in the OneNote desktop app.
 

This feature	Works like this in Web OneNote
Print	Print is not available in Web OneNote. Instead, use your browser’s print feature. Use Print Preview to see if you need to scroll to a part of the notebook, or switch page orientation from Portrait to Landscape.
Audio and video	Web OneNote does not play audio and video content, but the media is preserved in the notebook, and you can download audio and video files to your computer to play them.
Search	Search is limited to the current section in Web OneNote.
Zoom	Zoom is not available in Web OneNote. Instead, use your browser’s zoom feature.
Shapes, equations, ink	In OneDrive, Web OneNote displays shapes and ink, but equations are displayed as placeholders. In SharePoint, ink is viewable, equations are displayed as placeholders, and shapes are hidden.
Rule lines and page color	Web OneNote cannot display these, but they are preserved in the notebook.
Line breaks	Line breaks are displayed as placeholders.

 

Features that differ between the browser and the desktop

When you edit notes, some features work differently in the browser than they do in the OneNote desktop app. The following tables describe how Web OneNote supports features that might apply to your notes.
 

Opening notebooks

This feature	Works like this in Web OneNote
Information Rights Management (IRM)	In SharePoint libraries that are IRM-protected, Web OneNote opens notebooks for reading, but not for editing. IRM protection can’t be added to notebooks in Web OneNote.

Editing and formatting

This feature	Works like this in Web OneNote
Copy and Paste	Copy and paste text, and copy/paste pictures from the web. Text pasted within a notebook keeps its original formatting, but text pasted from outside Web OneNote loses formatting such as bold and italics.
Font formatting	Apply bold, italics, underline, font, size, and color. Note: the Format Painter command is not available in Web OneNote.
Text formatting	Align text left, right, or centered; run text right-to-left or left-to-right; increase or decrease indentation; format text as a bulleted or numbered list.
Numbering and bullets	Apply built-in numbering or bullet formats.
Styles	Apply one of a gallery of built-in styles. You can also clear formatting.
Search	Search is limited to the current section in Web OneNote.
Insert Space	The command for creating empty space on the page is not available in Web OneNote. Try moving notes around to make room, or start a new page.
Rule lines and page color	Commands for changing the look of the page are not available in Web OneNote. Rule lines and page color are hidden in Web OneNote, but they are preserved in the notebook.
Co-authoring	Multiple authors can work simultaneously in OneNote 2010, Web OneNote, and OneNote Mobile. Show and hide author names.

Follow-up on notes

This feature	Works like this in Web OneNote
Tags	Tag notes for follow-up, and remove tags when you want. Tags cannot be customized in Web OneNote, and your custom tags are not available to apply. However, Web OneNote displays custom tags, and you can remove them.
Find Tags	This feature is not available in Web OneNote.
Outlook integration	Web OneNote does not support commands that work with Microsoft Outlook (E-mail Page, Outlook Tasks, or Meeting Details).

Reviewing

This feature	Works like this in Web OneNote
Proofing tools	Check spelling and set the proofing language, using the built-in dictionary. Web OneNote does not use a custom dictionary and does not include translation or a thesaurus.
Page versions	View and restore previous versions of a page.
Review notes by unread, recent, and author	Notes cannot be marked as read or unread in Web OneNote, and reviewing edits by how recent they are or by author is not available.

Objects

This feature	Works like this in Web OneNote
Hyperlinks	Insert, edit, and follow hyperlinks to the web or to other pages in the same notebook. Links to locations within the notebook work at the page, but not the paragraph, level in Web OneNote.
Tables	Tables are created the same way in Web OneNote as they are in the OneNote desktop app.
Pictures, clip art, and screen clippings	Insert pictures stored on your computer, or insert clip art available on Office.com. You can change the size of pictures, and add Alt-text. More sophisticated features for working with pictures, such as rotating or ordering in layers back-to-front, are not available in Web OneNote. You can’t take screen clippings in Web OneNote, but screen clippings in your notes display as pictures in Web OneNote.
Audio and video	These are preserved in the notes, but cannot be recorded in Web OneNote. You can download audio and video files to your computer to play them.
Shapes, equations, and ink	These can’t be inserted or edited in Web OneNote. In OneDrive, you can select and delete shapes, ink, and equation placeholders. In SharePoint, you can select and delete placeholders for these objects.
Symbols	These can’t be inserted or edited in Web OneNote, but Web OneNote displays them as expected.
Embedded files	Download these to your computer to open them.
Timestamp	The commands for inserting the current date and time are not available in Web OneNote, but Web OneNote displays them as expected.
Linked notes	The ability to link note-taking to files is not available in Web OneNote, and links to files are hidden. However, they are preserved in the notes.

 

Related Documents