OneNote is great for taking and organizing notes. If You Also Use OneNote to Manage Tasks 5 Tips for Using OneNote as Your To-Do List 5 Tips for Using OneNote as Your To-Do List Are you creating a to-do list on your to-do list? Set it up in OneNote to make things as easy as possible. Read More Unfortunately, that's a missing feature.
While OneNote doesn't do reminders, you can still set up a custom calendar. We'll show you five ways to create a OneNote calendar template.
Download: Microsoft OneNote for Windows | macOS | iOS | Android (Free)
First, we'll look at what's possible within OneNote The Only OneNote Guide You'll Ever Need The Only OneNote Guide You'll Ever Need OneNote is a powerful note-taking app. It is cross-platform and well integrated with Microsoft Office. Read this guide to become a OneNote pro! Read more . This first way of making a calendar is almost as easy as editing a standard Word document.
Start by launching OneNote. Then, go to the File menu and select New to create a new notebook. When asked about your laptop's storage specifications, select Browse and choose a location on your local computer to save the notebook. Click Create .
Type a name for your calendar on the new notes page that appears.
Then click Insert Menu at the top of the page. Then click on the Table option. It's second from the left from the top.
Selecting the option to create a table brings up a grid that is used to design your calendar. Make a table with five rows and seven columns. Four of the rows are for the weeks of the month. There is an extra row for titles.
Use the handles on the table to position it the way you want on the page.
Then place your cursor in each of the boxes along the top row. Write the full days of the week or any abbreviation you prefer. (I decided to start my week on Monday, but you can make Sunday the first column if you want.)
Place the cursor around the edges of the calendar, plus along the boundaries of each inner row and column. Notice how these parts of the calendar can be clicked and dragged to resize them.
Highlighting the text and clicking the handle allows you to change the font color and size. Make words bold, italicized, or underlined, too. You can also select the typical header and font styles that come with Microsoft Word. Just right click and select your preferred style.
And did you notice? Each time you click the table, OneNote reveals a Table Tools menu.
This menu gives you easier access to table options, such as adding or removing columns or rows, as well as text alignment options.
Now that you have the basics of your calendar template designed, Save your note and read on.
As of the 2013 version of OneNote, there are no native calendar templates within the program. However, you can improvise and create your own by making a template of the basic calendar you just created.
Just go to View Menu at the top of the screen and select Paper Size of that.
At the bottom of that window, you'll see a text link. It reads Save the current page as a template . Click on it, and then name your calendar template.
You can also choose to set this calendar as the default template for any new pages you create in this section. Doing this will save you time if you plan to create a new OneNote calendar each month.
If this is the route you plan to take, you may find it less confusing to change the name of the note to something more generic and then save the template again.
And there you have it! An easy to add and edit calendar template that you can create for each new month! Now that you have the basics, let's look at some variations.
As well as creating a OneNote template from scratch How to use OneNote templates to stay more organized How to use OneNote templates to stay more organized OneNote is a great way to keep your thoughts organized, and templates can make the process even easier. Learn how to use, edit and create your own templates with this guide. Read More
Just go to Insert menu and click Page Templates . You will see a dropdown menu with an option that says Page Templates again. Click on that.
This last command brings up the Templates task pane. Click the little arrows next to the template category names to expand the template lists. Select the template you want to customize. That action opens a new blank page and applies the chosen template to it.
Edit the template as desired, then click Save current page as a template at the bottom of the screen.
Name this version of the template with a different name, then either remove the old template or keep both.
OneNote also allows you to capture a screenshot of a calendar image and import it into the platform. Just open a new section in OneNote and find the calendar template you want to use.
Note: The simpler the template, the better. You can get inspiration from these free Microsoft Office calendar templates The Best Free Microsoft Office Calendar Templates to Stay Organized The Best Free Microsoft Office Calendar Templates to Stay Organized Whether you need a weekly, monthly, or yearly calendar, these templates printable calendar templates for Microsoft The office can help you stay organized this year. Read More Plus These Sites For Free Printable Calendar Templates 10+ Sites To Find The Perfect Free Printable Calendar Template Year Round enough reminders that it is the most valuable Personal resource is limited. Our selection of printable weekly, monthly and yearly calendars will help you manage your time wisely. Read more.
With OneNote open near the calendar you found, go to Insert menu, then choose Screen Clipping .
Crop the existing calendar template along its edges and release the mouse when you have the screenshot lined up the way you want. OneNote will pull the cropped image into your open note automatically. Now you have a beautiful calendar template but oh no! You can't edit it!
Without worries! Simply right click on the cropped image and select Set image as background .
Now you can click anywhere you want inside the note and write text on top of your calendar!
The only downside to this method is that the calendar rows won't resize as you type them, so you'll need to keep your notes relatively short.
Pro Tip: Quickly make all of your events stand out by highlighting all of your text at once and selecting a highlight color.
OneNote Gem is a third-party application that powers OneNote functionality. Simply download the gem bookmarks for OneNote 2016 (click here to download the file).
Then click the NoteGemFavorites installation package in the ZIP file that appears and click Extract All . The text document in this same ZIP file tells you the password, which is usually the number 1.
In the extracted files now on your computer, select the NoteGemFavorites file and install the software. When the setup is complete, you will see something that looks like this:
Click OK . You will then be prompted to restart the Office program to apply the OneNote Gem features. Close your OneNote app and then reopen it.
You will now see these new options:
You can view your OneNote pages in a calendar by going to Navigation and clicking Page Calendar . This will automatically create a calendar that lists all the OneNote pages you created on specific dates.
You can view those pages by clicking the text within any date.
Unfortunately, this is only for Windows computers, unless plugins are not used. The feature to insert a calendar is not a plugin. This app is free, but add-on prices vary.
Onetastic is a multipurpose tool Top 10 OneNote Macros You Should Try Top 10 OneNote Macros You Should Try OneNote is an amazing productivity tool on its own, but you can take it to the next level by using macros. We show you how to get started and the best macros available right now. Read More
More specifically to this post, it offers a built-in tool called OneCalendar. You can rely on OneCalendar to create a directory of OneNote pages just like OneNote Gem did. However, I found this option much easier to use.
The only setting you need to specify is your language, which should default to English.
With OneCal open, you'll be able to see a beautiful calendar detailing all the OneNote pages you created each day. To go to a specific note, simply click on the text link in the calendar.
As I mentioned earlier, OneCalendar is a component within Onetastic. You can check Onetastic pricing details and choose the version you prefer to unlock more OneNote features.
Download: OneCalendar for Onetastic for Microsoft OneNote | Windows (Free, $15 Pro version)
Like most of us, you probably rely on calendars on a daily basis. How to Block Time on Google Calendar for a Productive Work Day How to Block Time on Google Calendar for a Productive Work Day Having trouble with time management? Here's how to block out time in your Google Calendar to increase focus, reduce stress, and improve productivity. Read more . Now you can keep up the habit without ever leaving your OneNote app.
Why do you like to use OneNote to manage your calendar? Tell us in the comments section below..