OneNote not able to search handwriting 2

Anonymous
2020-03-12T02:45:54+00:00

OneNote could be great - if it was working

I am using an Ipad with ipad pen for handwritten notes

when I search for handwritten words in the search function it only searches my first 2 pages -

No handwritten notes are searched after the first 2 pages of my note book - it does search typed text beyond the first 2 pages - INFACT all the pages search for typed text

It works perfectly on the first 2 pages for handwritten text - it finds every word - even those that are quite poorly written in terms of legibility and identification of each letter

It searches nothing at all handwritten on the pages after the first 2 - no matter how perfectly written or easily identifiable the word or numbers are

PLEASE NOTE EDIT - it turns out it actually won't search any handwritten notes that have been made since the first day I stated using the App and the first 2 pages - if I erase something written in page 1 or 2 and re write it - much neater as perfectly as my hand writting will manage - that word no longer searches - when it did before the re write - the words are synced through Ipad, PC on Onedrive online - but wont search ?

NEW EDIT - If I open a new note book with a new section and a new page that new page is searching handwritten text - but only on the first page 

Is there any solution to this ?

Can hand written text only be searched on the first page of any given notebook ?

I really like the App but if it doesnt work I cant see how I can keep using it

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneNote | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-09-30T05:49:22+00:00

    Hi just fixed mine people:

    I was originally not able to search for handwritten notes and I was wondering why because on all the articles I researched about if one note can pick up handwriting it said yes. This was really frustrating.

    Throughout testing of it I could search my handwriting I opened a new workbook. Once I started handwriting at first it would not pick up my handwriting at all in the notebook. I then synced that notebook to my phone (haven’t synced it to my computer yet like my other notebooks). Once it was synced on my phone I tried searching for the handwritten text that was different in my test notebook to all my other notebooks and it sure did come up.

    After this I went back to my iPad and tested it on my iPad and it worked. You don’t need to wait like half an hour after syncing or what they usually say for the search function to be able to pick up handwritten text. I’m sure it will just pick up text the minute it has synced to another device (not sure if it only works with a phone).

    This helped me and I hope it helps everyone else too

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-10-22T18:05:35+00:00

    Search for handwriting nowadays only works in OneNote 2016. All other OneNotes depend on OCR running on a server which is temporarily disabled.

    Bernd

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-09-20T17:37:05+00:00

    Microsoft actually replied to me and said they turned off the search handwriting function when everyone had to stay home for covid. So they did it intentionally and won't turn it back on.

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-04-28T22:52:26+00:00

    Hi Bernd,

    When you say that in OneNote 2016 this happens locally, it means automatically or you must select the port you want to make searchable?

    I'm writing an iPad and syncing to ON 2016 on the windows Pc, it's not working so far

    thanks in advance,

    R

    It happens only automatically IF you insert handwriting etc. directly in OneNote 2016.

    But it can have advantages ....

    Here an example from the time server OCR still worked:

    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/ocr-onenote-vs-onenote-2016/45cfd10f-3cbf-4ea3-8859-6f89d3d8537c  

    Bernd

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-03-12T20:10:06+00:00

    Hi nmabsydney,

    We appreciate you raising this concern to our attention. We understand that you're having trouble searching handwritten notes in OneNote for iPad.

    This could be an issue with the app itself. To isolate this, we suggest that you uninstall and reinstall your OneNote app for iPad. Once done, kindly check if the problem persists.

    To notify us and have us get back to you, simply reply to this post.

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