In OneNote the Search bar has moved, How do I put it back to where it was?

Anonymous
2025-05-22T20:51:54+00:00

Version 2504 Build 16.0.18730.20122 on Windows 11.

I have been using OneNote for years, all of a sudden when I opened it up today, the Search bar has moved from its correct place on top of the pages list on the side, to now being in the upper right corner of the actual notes main page.

When I type in a search, the list of pages where the search term shows up now covers up half of the notes field, meaning you can't read half of the page to see if the search result is actually what you are looking for or not, making the entire search function pretty much useless.

How can I move the search box, and more importantly, the list of pages that contain the search result, so that it no longer covers up the actual notes page that I need to read?

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneNote | Other | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-07-19T13:09:21+00:00

    I could not find search group under view?

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-07-16T13:32:03+00:00

    PLEASE FIX THIS!

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-07-15T17:59:26+00:00

    Sure.... As a developer that is double speak for oops we f'd up. We will fix it in another release.

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  4. Anonymous
    2025-07-14T18:35:58+00:00

    UPDATE from the Microsoft Q&A site (which will replace this Answers forum soon - no new posts will be allowed here after July 16)

    "The current floating position of the OneNote search bar has been a common point of feedback, especially from users working with limited screen space or relying on the ability to quickly glance at page titles while searching. I appreciate how clearly you've described the impact on your workflow. 

    While there’s currently no built-in option to revert the search bar to its previous position in the page list, I’d like to offer a few steps to help ensure your feedback reaches the right teams and contributes toward meaningful improvements:

    • Leaving a constructive comment on this official blog post helps reinforce that this issue is affecting everyday users.
    • Send in-app feedback directly from OneNote app through Help > Feedback then make a clear suggestion. This routes your feedback straight to the OneNote team.User's image
    • Microsoft has responded to user comments on this Feedback Portal. You need to describe your experience in more detail: what kind of tasks it interferes with, or how it impacts your workflow. The more context Microsoft sees, the better.

    For further reference: Send feedback to Microsoft

    (This page may not be in your preferred language, please consider translating it or switching to a supported version).

    While we await official updates, here are some workarounds that may temporarily help: 

    • Maximize your OneNote window when searching to reduce visual overlap
    • Hide the notebook/page list temporarily in case you need more space
    • Minimize the search bar when not in use, though I know this isn’t ideal "

    SOURCE https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/4370967/i-want-to-put-the-floating-search-bar-in-onenote-b

    this sounds remarkably like it was written by Copilot... especially the bit where it says Microsoft has responded to comments on the Feedback thread, because there are no responses and it's not even tagged as in progress.

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  5. Anonymous
    2025-07-14T15:01:41+00:00

    Unfortunately, that is not a viable option for two reasons.

    First, is it doesn't just roll back OneNote, but would roll back ALL office apps, and you would have to turn off updates to keep the old version which mean no security updates either. You should not have to risk getting a virus or mal-ware for OneNote to work correctly.

    Second, is I use OneNote at work, and my Windows/Office App updates are automatically installed by I.T. and I would not be able to roll back an update even if I wanted to.

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