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So this is what my one note looks like:
But I would like to get it to look like this layout instead:
This is how its advertised for mac and I have not been able to find anyone else with the same issue that I'm having. I just want the sections pane to be at the top and look like tabs, and the pages view to be on the right.
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A family of Microsoft products that enable users to capture, organize, and reuse notes electronically.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
zanne ~ Welcome to the Community. Uncheck "Enable experimental features" via OneNote menu > Preferences... > General icon:
...Then vote here:
Leaving (or option to leave) the section tabs at the top on the page instead of on the side
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I'd recommend to get used to the new layout (and hope for some improvement on that in coming versions) rather than sticking with an outdated app version. The Updates between 15.33 and now (16.7 for me on insider fast) have removed a lot of bugs and incorporated some new features. Also I do not know how that outdated app will behave under High Sierra in the long term.
I did find some advantages in the new layout (although I also preferred the tabs on top as I mostly use OneNote 2016 for Windows which is the only version left that has it): Especially with more than 6 or 7 sections in a notebook I'd have to scroll horizontally to see more sections and/or use very short names for them.
Yes, you are right about the cloud only storage. This is the case for ALL OneNote versions except for OneNote 2016 which comes with MS Office 2016 for Windows (only!). That is more of a leftover from older OneNote versions (2003, 2007) on Windows, when there was not cloud storage. OneNote is declared "cloud software" now by Microsoft so this "restriction" will most likely not change.
If you are looking for a similar powerful note taking sotftware that can synchronize across multiple systems/platforms/devices AND gives you the option to locally save your notes (without syncing to other devices in that case), your only choice would be Evernote with a paid subscription. But that one has it's weaknesses as well (IMO a lot of them in the latest versions) and a much more cluttered interface.
The new UI layout isn't an experimental feature anymore since version 15.34. So there is no way to go back to the old look except for installing an outdated version (prior to 15.34) from this link and prevent your Office updater from installing automatic OneNote updates in the future -- which I don't recommend very strongly.
Hello--
This is Denise from the OneNote Team. The left-side navigation is the default OneNote navigation.
We'd love to get more information on what we can do to improve it.
As you’ve noticed, we have made some design updates and based on feedback from existing customers, we focused on 3 key areas: 1) consistency across platforms, (2) usability for those who use assistive technologies such as screen readers, and (3) improving organization and navigation of notes**.** Regardless of what device someone is using, the experience will be the same, so people can capture thoughts, add files and get things done more quickly with no time required to learn new design patterns. We also focused on making OneNote more usable for those with disabilities such as vision and mobility impairments. We interviewed hundreds of people and analyzed product telemetry to understand how to best improve OneNote for use with screen readers and keyboard shortcuts. This design update makes OneNote easier to use for everyone. We also worked with users to learn how we could improve the navigation layout, especially for larger notebooks with more sections. Now, the navigation controls are all in one area on the left-hand side of the app. which allows people to easily switch between their notes and maintain focus on their work rather than the clicks in the app.
We encourage you to try the new navigation and let us know what you like, what you don't like, and where we might improve.
Please try out the following:
For more information, please go to the link below --
Get started with the new OneNote
http://support.office.com/article/ab84fcc2-f845-41ac-9c29-89b0720c8eb3
(I don't have a lot of time to give this feedback to the right 3-4 teams at Microsoft, but if you would disseminate the feedback and change requests as needed, it would be helpful.)
You have ruined one of the best design decisions in OneNote by moving the tabs to the side instead of keeping them at the top!!!
Similar to how you moved the page list from the right side to the left, it wastes so much space. I NEVER run this full screen. It is always half screen, and I switch between tabs very often. I can't have them hidden, and I can't have them showing on the side and taking up so much space.
The "consistency across platforms" is a false notion. You really need to bring back the tabbed behavior from before. It should ALWAYS be an option (similar to how you added the "right" page list as an option after someone messed that up). This is a really bad design decision, and one that might cause me to stop using OneNote.
One more thing - I've noticed that the awesome "press and drag cursor" iOS feature for moving your cursor anywhere you want was again screwed up by the team developing Excel for iOS. Rather than smoothly moving pixel by pixel anywhere the user drags it (an awesome user experience), Microsoft somehow thought that users wanted to be constrained to a text box (the formula box) and it to jarringly jump between characters. This is so frustrating to use.
This was similar to how the Excel for Mac team destroyed the smooth scrolling back a few years ago by making the super smooth motion of a touchpad scroll only have an effect one full row at a time, rather than the fluid motion that Mac users are used to.
The pursuit for consistency across platforms becomes ridiculous when you're making decisions that make the app inconsistent with the platform.
It also makes no sense to remove some very well thought out, established, used, and loved design decisions like this one about OneNote tabs.
One final frustration as I've been writing this message on my iPhone. Whoever designed this website thought it was a good idea to create a custom comment text box. This one I'm typing in right now. There are two major problems with it. First, mobile autocorrect has been disabled. Meaning, everyone on a mobile device has to be able to type every letter with perfect precision... that doesn't happen on mobile, so much manual correction is happening that normally doesn't need to. Second, the text box size is wrong, so that when I touched a word above the last line in a long message like this, I lost the ability to get back to that line. I can't touch it. It's inaccessible. I had to copy this message into an app that used iOS's native text box with all the features working normally to even finish writing this message. It also broke the "touch and drag cursor" feature native to my platform. This should never happen.
It's just another example of Microsoft trying to invent their own way to do things rather than keep consistency with what is expected by using the existing frameworks and tools that have the bugs worked out, and conform to the norms on that platform. Stop trying to "make things consistent" across all platforms. I want my apps optimized for use on each device individually so that I can become faster at using them. The tabbed interface in OneNote on iPad had been a dream to use in the past. Make sure it stays that way with tabs at the top, and page lists on the right side!