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

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.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
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.

Was this answer helpful?

400+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
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 :)

Was this answer helpful?

10+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

434 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2020-10-02T17:16:29+00:00

    Hi Nick,

    I tend to agree with Santiago. The sections tab on top is actually much more intuitive as there is a symmetry to the whole page with notebooks on left, sections on top and pages on right. Moving everything to the left is actually quite visually asymmetric and difficult to navigate since it requires one to move the left of the page every time and also reduces the screen space for reading the contents on the page.

    Would greatly appreciate if this option can be provided to end users urgently to choose which they would prefer to cater to needs for both categories of users (those who prefer everything on the left as well as those who prefer is across left, top and right).

    I'm an avid OneNote user for the last few years and would really like to see this implemented sooner than later.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2020-09-21T02:19:50+00:00

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2020-09-11T04:17:08+00:00

    I reinstalled the old version. Had to for my sanity. I love this program, but the change didn't work for me..

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments