Tuesday's Tip #11: Using Tags in OneNote (if you're a list lover for me you will LOVE this)
Applying Tags in OneNote is Life Changing if you're a List Lover like Me
Confession: I am addicted to lists.
I mean actually, I am pretty sure I've never had a day I didn't make multiple lists. My mom even found a list I had made when I was in elementary school and it had "play" on it. I am SERIOUS about my lists. Now even if you're not as addicted to lists as I am, you will LOVE Tags in OneNote. It practically creates lists for you.
As you learn more and more about OneNote and start to use it in different parts of your life, I know you will love it. This feature is one of the best in my opinion. It allows you to have hundreds or even thousands of pages but to be able to tag things and find them easily, no matter what notebook or section you might have put them in.
Tags are a way to "flag" things and group things. It makes it easy to find them later without having to search specifically for them.
This is one feature you will DEFINITELY want to use the full OneNote version - not the free one in Win10.
Different Types of Tags
There are a handful of default tags setup in OneNote for you. Some of my favorites and most popular are:
- To Do
- Important
- Password
- Idea
- Password
- Books to Read
- Movies to See
Tags are super easy to use - and you can have multiple tags on a single item if you want to. Imagine you have different sections for all your projects and you use the To-Do tag to keep track of the action items. No matter where in OneNote they are, you can view all of them in one place AND check them off. This also works great for passwords and questions.
Creating a Tag
This is so easy it hardly deserves steps but just so you can see.
- Click next to the line you want to create a tag on.
- On the Home ribbon, from the drop down - pick a tag (or multiple tags).
- Notice the icon(s) next to the line.
Custom Tags
You can both create your own custom tags, which is AWESOME or customize existing tags. This allows you to create ways to categorize and find information that are custom to you - whether it be your job, how you personally organize and find things or just how you feel like tagging.
Customize Tags
- Click on the list of tags. At the bottom, select Customize Tags....
- In the dialog box you can either create a new tag or click on an existing tag and customize it.
Finding Tags
So all this work creating tags and tagging things in your notebooks is no good if you can't EASILY find the information. It is SO easy. To find any information you've tagged - simply use the Tag Summary pane.
- On the Home ribbon, click Find Tags.
- The Tag Summary pane will show up on the right-hand side of your screen and you can customize what you see. For example which tags, which notebooks etc.
Remove Tags
Once you tag something - you can easily remove the tag one of 2 ways. You can click the tag again - that will remove it, or you can use the Remove tag item in the list of tags.
So if you're a fellow list lover like me - go to it - start tagging some things - experimenting with the Tag Summary and finding items you tagged.
Happy Tagging!
Kari - you're list lover - Microsoft Guru
