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
    2025-07-11T15:33:21+00:00

    Well it still remains that we have to keep with the feedback… so whichever one eventually gets their attention is, at the end of the day, great!! Then we’ll ALL be happy. We cannot just sit by believing they’ll never see our comments so we won’t comment. I personally do not care WHY they make a change back so long as they do.

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-07-11T19:00:42+00:00

    Thank you for taking your time to answer even if Microsoft does NOT. I literally hate using OneNote now because of the stupid Search Notebook placement. I wish I knew of another software app that I could use instead. Would be great if I could download all of my Notebooks and contents to a software that was more user friendly.

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-07-11T20:25:20+00:00

    Because of this and the fact that links to my own folders now don't work (one of the my most used features), I am now actively looking for an alternative. There are quite a few available but I haven't found one in which I can import my OneNote content yet. I guess I should never have been too reliant on one software. I have built up years of content on OneNote as it's been central to the way I use my PC, not just a note taker.

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  4. Anonymous
    2025-07-13T17:56:40+00:00

    J.C._PM - you are so right! We need to keep this thread alive until an actual human, with access to the powers that be, reads it and does something. It was even difficult to get Microsoft support when working for a Microsoft Partner. I'm in on getting this issue fixed for the long haul.

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  5. Anonymous
    2025-07-13T19:55:28+00:00

    We need to be ready to move this thread to the feedback site and the new Office 365 QA site (I linked to both earlier) because this site is is slowly closing down and Microsoft will stop looking at it

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