Microsoft plans to combine OneNote and OneNote for Windows 10 into a single app with a redesigned user interface that should look right at home on Windows 11.
There are multiple versions of OneNote because Microsoft attempted to serve two different audiences: those who used the entire Office suite and those looking for a note-taking app. Now the company has decided to bring those apps together over the course of the next year.
Microsoft says the OneNote app “will get new features and key existing features currently unique to OneNote for Windows 10” as part of this shift. But it clarified in a FAQ section of the announcement that not every feature is going to make the jump between app versions.
“While we won’t be incorporating the entire list of features from OneNote for Windows 10 into the OneNote app,” Microsoft says, “we are working to ensure that all the most loved features will continue to be a part of OneNote. We will follow up with the full list of features in a future announcement.”
The company also says that OneNote for Windows 10 users “will get an in-app invitation to update to the OneNote app,” which it plans to start sending in late 2022, assuming all goes well. The app is expected to continue to work even if its users update to Windows 11 in the meantime.
In addition to the features ported from OneNote for Windows 10, the OneNote app is expected to receive “the latest Microsoft pen and ink advancements, a new navigational UI layout option that can flex for customer preferences,” and other updates over the next year, Microsoft says.
