How to move onenote sections back to top of notebook?

Anonymous
2017-05-26T06:50:42+00:00

I have found that the default onenote view is to have sections run along the top of the notebook instead of on the right (vertical view). I prefer to have my sections run along the top in the default view, but somehow, my view changed where all my sections are in a left aligned vertical view. I cannot figure out how to revert back to where all the section tabs are back along the top of each notebook. Please show me how. I cannot find this info anywhere in Microsoft support. Please note, this screenshot was taken while Office Theme = Colorful and while the "Enable Experimental Features" box was checked.

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneNote | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2017-05-27T19:38:21+00:00

Hi Nick. I'm glad to hear you're an actual MicroSoft engineer. I hope it is an engineer specifically for the OneNote product. I want to call B.S. on your "user testing". Switching over without the option of giving your end users a choice of layout was plain stupid and short-sighted on the part of MicroSoft. I've been using OneNote for just over a year despite being an avid Apple products user. I did this on the advice of two colleagues who use Onenote regularly, and who actually work for Microsoft (as employees, not vendors). Both of them state that they use tabs across the top and they believe it is only the Apple version that was changed permanently. They stated they would revert to version 15.33 if the engineering team forced this changed upon the software! Also, why don't you take a moment to read the feedback that you've been receiving about this forced change? Not just within the VOTE page (which has risen to 370), but throughout all the tickets that have been submitted asking how to restore this, as well as posts and comments made within the Microsoft online community. The 370 votes posted are only a small percentage of dissent that's out there. Nick, take your head out of the sand. Really. You can add this as an option for those who prefer tabs on the left... But why force it? Stupid. Plain stupid. 

I have reverted back to version 15.33 using Apple's time machine. If anyone reading this wants to know how to fix this issue, the answer is revert back to version 15.33. If you don' have Time Machine, and you need an alternative means to do so, please post a message here and I will help you with this.

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Anonymous
2017-05-27T05:41:55+00:00

Hey Santiago! I'm an engineer on the OneNote team.

To bring consistency across the OneNote platforms we've moved the section selection to the left side of the screen. Through user testing we've determined that (while the migration can be confusing) users find the updated experience to be more intuitive given our hierarchy structure (Notebook => Section => Page).

You're welcome to leave feedback for this change on UserVoice :)

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  1. Anonymous
    2019-01-19T16:46:43+00:00

    It's another case of companies that really don't care or listen to what people want , and no matter how much we complain they sit and don't care , time to move on from Microsoft there an old fashioned company Nokia springs to mind .

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-01-19T23:05:48+00:00

    I truly appreciate your frustration... but there is a ray of sunshine for you since you’re using OneNote on a Windows platform. There are 2 versions of OneNote that are available for Windows 10. There is the current OneNote version (aptly named just OneNote), AND there is a version called OneNote 2016. Try downloading and using OneNote 2016. There you can go into settings and display Section Tabs across the top like you’re used to. But make sure you do it soon because the OneNote Team is getting ready to phase it out. 

    That sounds great! But...

    Where to find OneNote 2016? I do not find it on the Microsoft App Store...

    thanks!

    Yosh

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-01-19T23:13:23+00:00

    I truly appreciate your frustration... but there is a ray of sunshine for you since you’re using OneNote on a Windows platform. There are 2 versions of OneNote that are available for Windows 10. There is the current OneNote version (aptly named just OneNote), AND there is a version called OneNote 2016. Try downloading and using OneNote 2016. There you can go into settings and display Section Tabs across the top like you’re used to. But make sure you do it soon because the OneNote Team is getting ready to phase it out. 

    That sounds great! But...

    Where to find OneNote 2016? I do not find it on the Microsoft App Store...

    thanks!

    Yosh

    Perhaps you could ask grace.AF where she found her copy (look a few posts above). Good luck :-). 

    Santiago

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