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You may or may not know that Windows comes with a built in sticky notes application, so you do not have to actually put real Post It Notes on your monitor for things such as reminders and other types of notes. And if you have used the Windows Sticky Notes app, then you know it’s fairly easy to use and is pretty effective for what it is.
But now there is a newer version of the Windows Sticky Notes that comes with the Microsoft OneNote app. There is a free version of OneNote as well as the version that comes bundled with Office 365. In this article, we will be showing you how to configure and use the new OneNote Windows Sticky Notes app.
The image below shows the original Sticky notes application running on Windows 11. You can create multiple notes and do things such as change their color, format the text, and add images if needed. When you close the main Sticky Notes app and re-open it, your notes should be restored as well, unless you have closed the notes individually.
To use the new OneNote Sticky Notes app, you will need to install OneNote if you do not have it on your computer already. If you have Office 365 installed, you should have OneNote installed as well. If not, then you can install the free version of OneNote from the Microsoft Store app.
All you need to do is open the Microsoft Store app and do a search for OneNote. Then click on the Install button to have it added to your computer.
The process will take a few minutes, and you should see a message similar to the one below when the installation is complete.
Now when you do a search for Sticky Notes, you should see the old version and the new version. You can use either version or both of you like.
Once you accept the license agreement, you will be asked to sign in with your Microsoft account which will be used to remember your notes in case you log in on to a different computer. The Sticky Notes app was opened on a new computer and as you can see, once we logged in, it had all of the saved notes that were tied to the Microsoft account in the Recent Notes section.
If you click on the ellipsis (…) at the top right of the app, you will be able to see what account you are logged in with. It will pull this information from the OneNote app itself. So, if you want to change the account used with Sticky Notes, you will need to do so from One Note. The Dock to desktop option will pin the app to the right side of your desktop.
When you click on Settings, you will see that there is not much that you can actually configure.
To create a new sticky note, simply click on the New Note button at the top of the app. You can also search your notes from the search box below the New Note button.
When you create a new note, you can click the pop out button to have the note be separate from the Sticky Notes app and free floating.
Once the note is free floating, you can then click the thumbtack icon to pin it, so it is always on top of other apps. That way, if you open another program, the sticky note will always be in front so you can see it.
If you click the ellipsis, you can then change the note color, copy it to a new note or delete it. The two bars at the upper left is used to hide the top toolbar icons if you want a cleaner look.
The Screenshot button can be used to add a screenshot of an app that you have open in the background. If you do not have anything open, the Screenshot button will be greyed out. As you can see in the image below, once we have something open in the background, we can click the Screenshot button to have it automatically be added to our note.
If you click the Screenshot button from within the Sticky Notes app, it will take a screenshot of the open app and add it to a new note automatically. If you have more than one app open, it will take a screenshot of the one that is currently in focus (in front).
As you can see, the new OneNote Sticky Notes app has some improvements over the older Sticky Notes app. And since you can use them both at the same time, you should definitely try it out to see which one you like the best!
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