If you’ve ever attended an online training on behalf of your company or participated in any sort of collaborative project with your coworkers, then chances are you’ve had to jot down notes in a way that makes them easy to share. Many people now rely on Microsoft OneNote, the collaborative note-taking app within the MS Office Suite, for this exact purpose.
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Like most other Microsoft Office products, you waste a lot of time navigating the ribbon and menu bar within OneNote. Luckily, there are lots of great keyboard shortcuts available to save you time. So, whether you are using a Windows or macOS computer, you can boost your productivity and easily update your notes with this Microsoft OneNote keyboard shortcut cheatsheet.
Windows | macOS | Function |
---|---|---|
Frequently Used Shortcuts | | |
Ctrl + M | Command + M | Open a new OneNote window. |
Ctrl + Shift + M or Alt + Win + N | Create a Quick Note. | |
Ctrl + Alt + D | Dock the OneNote window. | |
Ctrl + Z | Command + Z | Undo the previous action. |
Ctrl + Y | Command + Y | Redo the previous action, if possible. |
Ctrl + A | Command + A | Select all items on the current page. |
Ctrl + X | Command + X | Cut the selected text or item. |
Ctrl + C | Command + C | Copy the selected text or item. |
Ctrl + V | Command + V | Paste the cut/copied text or item. |
Home | Command + Left arrow | Move to the beginning of the line. |
End | Command + Right arrow | Move to the end of the line. |
Ctrl + Left arrow | Opt + Left arrow | Move one word to the left. |
Ctrl + Right arrow | Opt + Right arrow | Move one word to the right. |
Backspace | Delete | Delete one character to the left. |
Delete | Fn + Delete | Delete one character to the right. |
Ctrl + Backspace | Opt + Delete | Delete one word to the left. |
Ctrl + Delete | Fn + Opt + Delete | Delete one word to the right. |
Shift + Enter | Shift + Return | Insert a line break without starting a new paragraph. |
F7 | | Check spelling. |
Shift + F7 | | Open the thesaurus for the currently selected word. |
Shift + F10 | | Display the context menu for the currently focused object. |
Ctrl + Shift + W | | Perform the action suggested on the Information Bar when it appears at the top of a page. |
Ctrl + Alt + P | | Play the selected audio recording. |
Ctrl+Alt+S | | Stop audio recording playback. |
Ctrl + Alt + Y | | Skip the current audio recording backward by 10 seconds. |
Ctrl + Alt + U | | Skip the current audio recording forward by 10 seconds. |
Format Notes | | |
Ctrl + Alt + H | Command + Alt + H | Highlight the selected text. |
Ctrl + K | Command + K | Insert a hyperlink. |
Ctrl + Shift + C | Command + Opt + C | Copy the formatting of the selected text. |
Ctrl + Shift + V | Command + Opt + V | Paste the formatting to the selected text. |
Enter (when on the hyperlink text) | Return | Open a hyperlink. |
Ctrl + B | Command + B | Apply or remove bold formatting. |
Ctrl + I | Command + I | Apply or remove italics formatting. |
Ctrl + U | Command + U | Apply or remove underline formatting. |
Ctrl + Hyphen | Command + Hyphen | Apply or remove strikethrough formatting. |
Ctrl + Shift + Equal sign | Command + Shift + Equal sign | Apply or remove superscript formatting. |
Ctrl + Period | Command + Period | Apply or remove bulleted list formatting. |
Ctrl + Forward slash | Command + Forward slash | Apply or remove numbered list formatting. |
Ctrl + Alt + 1 | Command + Alt + 1 | Apply a Heading 1 style to the current note. |
Ctrl + Alt + 2 | Command + Alt + 2 | Apply a Heading 2 style to the current note. |
Ctrl + Alt + 3 | Command + Alt + 3 | Apply a Heading 3 style to the current note. |
Ctrl + Alt + 4 | Command + Alt + 4 | Apply a Heading 4 style to the current note. |
Ctrl + Shift + N | Command + Shift + N | Clear all formatting applied to the selected text. |
Tab or Alt + Shift + Right arrow | Tab | Increase the paragraph indent. |
Shift + Tab or Alt + Shift + Left arrow | Shift + Tab | Decrease the paragraph indent. |
Ctrl + L | Command + L | Left align paragraph. |
Ctrl + R | Command + R | Right align paragraph. |
Ctrl + Shift + Right angle bracket | Increase the font size of the selected text. | |
Ctrl + Shift + Left angle bracket | Decrease the font size of the selected text. | |
Ctrl + Shift + R | Show or hide the rule lines on the current page. | |
Insert Items | ||
Alt + N, F | Insert a document or file on the current page. | |
Alt + N, O | Insert a document or file as a printout on the current page. | |
Alt + N, P | Insert a picture from a file. | |
Alt + N, S | Insert a sticker. | |
Win + Shift + S, then Ctrl + V | Insert a screen clipping. | |
Alt + Shift + D | Insert the current date. | |
Alt + Shift + F | Insert the current date and time. | |
Alt + Shift + T | Insert the current time. | |
Shift + Enter | Insert a line break. | |
Alt + Equal sign | Start a math equation or convert selected text to a math equation. | |
Work With Tables | ||
Tab (after typing a new line of text) | Create a table. | |
Tab | Create another column in a table with a single row. | |
Enter | Enter | Create another row when at the end cell of a table. |
Ctrl + Enter | Command + Enter | Insert a row below the current row. |
Alt + Enter | Create another paragraph in the same cell in a table. | |
Ctrl + Alt + R | Command + Ctrl + R | Create a column to the right of the current column in a table. |
Ctrl + Alt + E | Command + Ctrl + L | Create a column to the left of the current column in a table. |
Enter (when the cursor is at the beginning of any row) | Return | Create a row above the current one in a table. |
Tab (when in the last cell of the table) | Tab | Create a new cell or row. |
Delete | Delete the current empty row in a table. | |
Select Text or Objects | ||
Ctrl + A | Command + A | Select all items on the current page. |
Shift + End | Select to the end of the line from the current cursor location. | |
Shift + Down arrow (when the cursor is at the beginning of the line) | Select the whole line. | |
Ctrl + Shift + T | Jump to the title of the page and select it. | |
Esc | Cancel selecting the outline or page. | |
Alt + Shift + Up arrow | Move the selected paragraphs upward. | |
Alt + Shift + Down arrow | Move the selected paragraphs downward. | |
Alt + Shift + Left arrow | Increase the paragraph indent. | |
Alt + Shift + Right arrow | Decrease the paragraph indent. | |
Ctrl + Shift + Hyphen | Select the current paragraph and its subordinate paragraphs. | |
Delete | Delete the selected note or object. | |
Home | Move to the beginning of the line. | |
End | Move to the end of the line. | |
Alt + Left arrow | Go back to the last page visited. | |
Alt + Right arrow key | Go forward to the next page visited. | |
Tag Notes | ||
Ctrl + 1 | Command + 1 | Apply, select, or clear the To Do tag. |
Ctrl + 2 | Command + 2 | Apply or clear the Important tag. |
Ctrl + 3 | Command + 3 | Apply or clear the Question tag. |
Ctrl + 4 | Command + 4 | Apply or clear the Remember for Later tag. |
Ctrl + 5 | Command + 5 | Apply or clear the Definition tag. |
Ctrl + 6 | Command + 6 | Apply or clear the Highlight tag. |
Ctrl + 7 | Command + 7 | Apply or clear the Contact tag. |
Ctrl + 8 | Command + 8 | Apply or clear the Address tag. |
Ctrl + 9 | Command + 9 | Apply or clear the Phone Number tag. |
Ctrl + 0 | Command + 0 | Remove all selected note tags. |
Outlines | ||
Alt + Shift + 1 | Ctrl + Shift + 1 | Collapse the selected outline to Level 1. |
Alt + Shift + 2 | Ctrl + Shift + 2 | Collapse the selected outline to Level 2. |
Alt + Shift + 3 | Ctrl + Shift + 3 | Collapse the selected outline to Level 3. |
Alt + Shift + 4 | Ctrl + Shift + 4 | Collapse the selected outline to Level 4. |
Alt + Shift + 5 | Ctrl + Shift + 5 | Collapse the selected outline to Level 5. |
Alt + Shift + 6 | Ctrl + Shift + 6 | Collapse the selected outline to Level 6. |
Alt + Shift + 7 | Ctrl + Shift + 7 | Collapse the selected outline to Level 7. |
Alt + Shift + 8 | Ctrl + Shift + 8 | Collapse the selected outline to Level 8. |
Alt + Shift + 9 | Ctrl + Shift + 9 | Collapse the selected outline to Level 9. |
Alt + Shift + 0 | Ctrl + Shift + 0 | Expand all levels of an outline. |
Alt + Shift + Equal sign | Expand the selected heading. | |
Alt + Shift + Hyphen | Collapse the selected heading. | |
Alt + Shift + Plus sign | Ctrl + Shift + Plus sign | Expand a selected, collapsed outline. |
Alt + Shift + Minus sign | Ctrl + Shift + Minus sign | Collapse a selected, expanded outline. |
Pages, Notebooks, Sections | ||
Ctrl + O | Command + O | Open a notebook. |
Ctrl + Alt + Shift + O | Open a section. | |
F11 | Enable or disable the full-page view. | |
Ctrl + Shift + Asterisk | Expand or collapse a page group in the page navigation pane. | |
Ctrl + P | Command + P | Print the current page. |
Ctrl + T | Command + T | Create a new section. |
Ctrl + N | Command + N | Add a new page at the end of the selected section. |
Ctrl + Shift + Alt + N | Create a new subpage below the current page. | |
Ctrl + A | Command + A | Select all items. |
Ctrl + Shift + A | Command + Shift + A | Select the current page. |
Ctrl + Tab | Command + Shift + Opening brace | Go to the next section. |
Ctrl +Shift + Tab | Command + Shift + Closing brace | Go to the previous section. |
Ctrl + Page down | Command + Page down | Go to the next page in a section. |
Ctrl + Page up | Command + Page up | Go to the previous page in a section. |
Alt + Home | Go to the first page in the section. | |
Alt + End | Go to the last page in the section. | |
Page up | Page up | Scroll up in the current page. |
Page down | Page down | Scroll down in the current page. |
Ctrl + Home | Scroll to the top of the current page. | |
Ctrl + End | Scroll to the bottom of the current page. | |
Ctrl + Down arrow | Command + Down arrow | Go to the next paragraph. |
Ctrl + Up arrow | Command + Up arrow | Go to the previous paragraph. |
Ctrl + S | Command + S | Synchronize the notebook. |
Ctrl + Alt + M | Command + Shift + M | Move or copy the current page. |
Ctrl + Alt + G | Command + Shift + G | Put focus on the current page tab. |
Ctrl + Shift + A | Command + Shift + A | Select the current page tab. |
Ctrl + Shift + G | Put focus on the current section tab. | |
Ctrl + Shift + G, then Shift + F10 | Move the current section. |
Image credit: Christina Morillo via Pexels
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