Open or create notebooks in OneNote for Windows 8

With OneNote for Windows 8, you can store and sync your notebooks on a OneDrive account or on a SharePoint server. OneDrive is a free cloud-based storage option that's best for personal use; SharePoint is typically used in larger organizations.

Open an existing notebook from OneDrive

To open a OneDrive-based notebook in OneNote, do the following:

1. On any page in OneNote, swipe upward from the bottom of the screen.

2. Tap Notebooks.

3. Under Notebooks, tap More Notebooks.

4. Tap the notebook you want to open.

If you have a OneDrive-based notebook that isn't listed under More Notebooks, do the following:

1. Go to the OneDrive home page and sign in with your Microsoft account, if prompted.

2. Tap and hold on the notebook you want to open and then select Open in OneNote from the context menu.

You can sign up for multiple OneDrive accounts, but only one can be associated with OneNote. To open a notebook from another account (whether it's another one of your own or someone else's account), make sure it's shared with your primary OneDrive account. As soon as it's been shared, you should see the notebook listed under Files shared with you in your primary OneDrive account. To open the notebook in OneNote, tap and hold the notebook and select Open in OneNote.

If you have multiple versions of OneNote installed on the same computer, notebooks you try to open in this way may not recognize your preferred app version unless you tell Windows your preference. For more information, see Frequently Asked Questions about OneNote.

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Create a new notebook on OneDrive

To create a new OneDrive-based notebook in OneNote, do the following:

1. On any page in OneNote, swipe upward from the bottom of the screen.

2. Tap Notebooks.

3. Under Notebooks, tap (+) Notebook.

4. Enter a descriptive name for your new notebook (for example, Research Notes), and then tap ENTER.

Following the previous steps places any new notebooks that you create into your Documents folder on OneDrive. If you want to create a new notebook in a different location, do the following:

1. Go to the OneDrive home page at OneDrive and sign in with your Microsoft account, if prompted.

2. Create a new OneNote notebook in the specific folder you want.

3. Tap and hold the notebook you want to open and select Open in OneNote.

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Open an existing notebook from SharePoint or Office 365

OneNote supports SharePoint 2010 or newer. Contact your SharePoint administrator if you don't know which version of SharePoint your team is using.

If you have a SharePoint-based notebook that you or someone else previously created and you want to use it in OneNote, do the following:

1. Go to the SharePoint location in the desktop version of Windows Internet Explorer.

2. Open the notebook you want in the OneNote Online

3. In the OneNote Online, click Open in OneNote.

If the previous steps open the notebook in the desktop version of OneNote instead of OneNote for Windows 8, follow these steps as a workaround:

1. Use Internet Explorer to open your organization's SharePoint site. If you don't know the exact location, ask your SharePoint administrator or a co-worker.

2. Navigate to the document library location containing the notebook you want to use.

3. Tap Library > Open with Explorer.

4. In the Explorer window, open the notebook you want, and then copy the URL from the Explorer window's address bar (for example, http://<servername>/<foldername>/<notebookname).

5. Display the Run window by pressing Windows+R on your keyboard, type onenote: and then paste the URL that you copied from step 4. Your full URL should look something like onenote:http://<servername>/<foldername>/<notebookname.

6. Press ENTER to open the notebook in OneNote.

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Open a notebook stored on your computer or on a network file share

OneNote for Windows 8 is ideal for working on the go. That's why notebooks need to be stored in the cloud. You won't be able to open notebooks stored on your computer when you use OneNote for Windows 8, but you can follow these steps to move a notebook to the cloud:

1. Using the desktop version of OneNote, upload your notebook to OneDrive or SharePoint.

2. Switch back to OneNote and then open the newly uploaded notebook from your OneDrive or SharePoint location.

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