Microsoft is unifying its OneNote apps for Windows

A single OneNote app to rule them all

OneNote icon
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Microsoft has today unveiled its plan to merge its two standalone OneNote Windows apps into a single app in 2022. 

This means that the OneNote UWP tied to Windows 10 will no longer come pre-installed on Windows 11 PCs, with Microsoft taking its best features and moving them into the Office for Windows OneNote Win32 app.

Microsoft says that OneNote for Windows 10 users will see invites being rolled out sometime in the latter half of 2022. The firm added that OneNote users should transition to the desktop app by October 2025, when OneNote for Windows 10 will close down its support.

According to the OneNote team, successive improvements to Windows and Office have allowed it to “unify the two apps so that you’ll have the simplicity of a single OneNote app on Windows while enjoying the interface and features you’re already familiar with.” The below design was shared by the company to exhibit what the redesigned OneNote app for Windows looks like.

OneNote redesign

(Image credit: Microsoft)

The visual refresh and other improvements will roll out as a series of updates over the next year to the traditional OneNote desktop app that comes pre-installed as part of Office. These updates include “key existing features currently unique to OneNote for Windows 10,” according to Microsoft. 

Again, there's no info currently available regarding which features could migrate from OneNote for Windows 10 to the desktop app, but Microsoft says it's toiling away to guarantee that the "most loved features will continue to be a part of OneNote.”  Fingers crossed these features will make a seamless move; to that point, we hope the merging of the apps goes more smoothly than Microsoft Windows 365, which has already been suspended due to the cloud-based setup's servers being unable to cope with the number of early signups to the service.

Luke Wilson

Luke is a former news writer at T3 who covered all things tech at T3. Disc golf enthusiast, keen jogger, and fond of all things outdoors (when not indoors messing around with gadgets), Luke wrote about a wide-array of subjects for T3.com, including Android Auto, WhatsApp, Sky, Virgin Media, Amazon Kindle, Windows 11, Chromebooks, iPhones and much more, too.