Create a sticky note

You can create a sticky note in different ways on different devices to suit your style and situation.

Windows 10iPhone & iPadAndroid phone

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1. Open Sticky Notes.

2. From the list of notes, click or tap the plus icon ( + ) in the upper left.

   Or from the keyboard, press Ctrl+N to start a new note.

3. Create a note by doing any of the following:

   • Type a note Use the keyboard to type out your note.

   • Use your finger On any touch-enabled device, sketch a note with your finger.

   • Draw with a pen If you have a digital pen, write your note by hand.

     Tips: 

     • If you're using a pen with your PC, you can customize one of its buttons to create a note. Type "pen settings" into the Search box on the Windows 10 taskbar. On the Pen & Windows Ink page, scroll down to Pen shortcuts, and then assign one of the pen's buttons to Sticky Notes.

     • For example, for the Windows Surface Pen, assign the top button to open Sticky Notes so that when a thought strikes you, jotting it down is only a pen click away.

   • Use Insights If you type notes that contain a date, time, phone number, or address, Insights will offer ways to interact with the note, such as by adding a reminder to your Outlook calendar if you type a time, showing a map if you type an address, or displaying a web page in a browser if you type a web address.

     Make sure you've enabled Insights. From you list of notes, click the gear icon located in the upper right, and then set the Enable insights option to On.

4. Click or tap the close icon ( X ) in the upper right to close the note.

   You note will be automatically saved.

Notes: 

• You cannot currently have Sticky Notes stay on top of other applications. But you can pin Sticky Notes to the Windows taskbar to see your list of notes instantly or to create a new note quickly. Right-click the Sticky Notes icon in the taskbar, and then click Pin to taskbar.

• You cannot currently change the order of notes as they appear in the notes list. Notes appear in the notes list in the order of newest to oldest. The most recently modified note always appears at the top of the list.

Format a note

1. From the list of notes, double-click or tap a note to open it.

2. Select the text you want to format.

3. At the bottom of the note, click or tap a formatting button.

   You can format text with bold, underline, italic, underline, strike through, or add bullets.

4. Tap the formatting button again to stop applying the formatting.

   Note: You cannot currently change the font or size of note text.

Add a picture to a note

1. From the list of notes, double-click or tap a note to open it.

2. Click or tap the camera icon to browse to the picture you want to use.

3. Select the picture and then click or tap Open to add the picture.

4. To remove a picture, open the note, and then right-click the picture. Click or tap Delete image.

5. To remove a picture, open the note. Right-click or double-tap the picture, and then click or tap Delete image.

   Tip: You can also delete an image by opening the image. From an open note, click or tap the ellipsis icon ( ... ) in the upper right, and then click Delete image

You can create and format a new note on your iPhone or iPad in different ways.

Create a note on your iPhone

1. Open OneNote, and then on the bottom right, tap Sticky Notes.

2. At the bottom of the list of notes, tap the plus icon ( + ) to start a new note.

3. Create a note by doing either of the following:

   • Type a note Use the keyboard to type out your note.

   • Dictate a note On the iPhone's keyboard, tap the microphone icon to dictate a note.

4. To save your changes, tap Done in the upper right.

5. To close the note, tap the downward facing arrow in the upper left.

Note: You cannot currently change the order of notes as they appear in the notes list. Notes appear in the notes list in the order of newest to oldest. The most recently modified note always appears at the top of the list.

Create a note on your iPad

1. Open OneNote for iPad, and then on the Home tab, tap the Sticky Notes icon.

   You may need to sign in with the same Microsoft account to see your notes across your devices.

2. At the bottom of the list of notes, tap the plus icon ( + ) to start a new note.

3. Create a note by doing either of the following:

   • Type a note Use the keyboard to type out your note.

   • Dictate a note On the iPad's keyboard, tap the microphone icon to dictate a note.

4. To save your changes, tap Done in the upper right.

5. To close the note, tap the downward facing arrow in the upper left.

Note: You cannot currently change the order of notes as they appear in the notes list. Notes appear in the notes list in the order of newest to oldest. The most recently modified note always appears at the top of the list.

Copy a sticky note to OneNote for iPad

You can copy a sticky note to a OneNote page. You can also copy text on a OneNote page to a sticky note.

1. Open OneNote for iPad, and then on the Home tab, tap the Sticky Notes icon on the far right.

   You may need to sign in with the same Microsoft account to see your notes across your devices.

2. Press and hold a note to select it, and then while still pressing the note, do one of the following:

   • To copy the note to the current page, slide the note onto the page.

   • To copy the note onto a different page within the same section, drag the note over the page in the page list on the left. Keep the note pressed while the page opens, and then drag the note onto the page.

   • To copy the note onto a different page within a different section, drag the note over a section in the section list on the left. (Make sure the section list is open first.) Keep the note pressed while the section opens, and then slide the note over the page until the page opens. While still keeping the note pressed, drag the note onto the page.

Tip: You can also copy text on a OneNote page to a new sticky note. Press and hold the text until the selection menu appears. Tap Select or Select All, and then in the next menu, tap Copy to Sticky Notes. A new sticky note will be created with the copied text.

Learn more ways to Add content to your sticky notes.

Format a note on your iPhone

1. From the list of notes, tap a note to open it.

2. Tap or select the text you want to format.

3. At the bottom of the note, tap a formatting button.

   You can format text with bold, underline, italic, underline, strike through, or add bullets.

4. Tap the formatting button again to stop applying the formatting.

   Note: You cannot currently change the font or size of note text.

5. To save your changes, tap Done in the upper right.

6. To close the note, tap the downward facing arrow in the upper left.

Format a note on your iPad

1. Open OneNote for iPad, and then on the Home tab, tap the Sticky Notes icon.

   You may need to sign in with the same Microsoft account to see your notes across your devices.

2. From the list of notes, tap a note to open it.

3. Tap or select the text you want to format.

4. At the bottom of the note, tap a formatting button.

   You can format text with bold, underline, italic, underline, strike through, or add bullets.

5. Tap the formatting button again to stop applying the formatting.

   Note: You cannot currently change the font or size of note text.

6. To save your changes, tap Done in the upper right.

7. To close the note, tap the downward facing arrow in the upper left.

Add a picture to a note on your iPhone

1. From the list of notes, tap a note to open it.

2. Tap in the note where you want to add a picture.

3. Tap the camera icon, and then tap how you want to add a picture:

   • From Library: In your photo gallery, navigate to the photo, tap it to select it, and then tap Done to further modify it. Tap Done again to add it to the note.

   • Take Picture: From the camera app, take a picture. After taking the picture, you can further modify it, and then tap Done to add it to the note.

4. To remove a picture, open the note. Tap the picture to open it, and then tap the trash icon to delete it.

5. To close the note, tap the downward facing arrow in the upper left.

Add a picture to your note on your iPad

1. Open OneNote for iPad, and then on the Home tab, tap the Sticky Notes.

   You may need to sign in with the same Microsoft account to see your notes across your devices.

2. From the list of notes, tap a note to open it.

3. Tap in the note where you want to add a picture.

4. Tap the camera icon, and tap how you want to add a picture:

   • From Library: In your photo gallery, navigate to the photo, tap it to select it, and then tap Done to further modify it. Tap Done again to add it to the note.

   • Take Picture: From the camera app, take a picture. After taking the picture, you can further modify it, and then tap Done to add it to the note.

5. To remove a picture, open the note. Tap the picture to open it, and then tap the trash icon to delete it.

6. To close the note, tap the downward facing arrow in the upper left.

You can create and format a new note on your Android phone in different ways.

1. Open OneNote, and then on the bottom right, tap Sticky Notes.

2. From the list of notes tap the plus icon ( + ) to start a new note.

3. Type or write a note.

4. To save and close the note, tap the left-facing arrow in the upper left.

Note: You cannot currently change the order of notes as they appear in the notes list. Notes appear in the notes list in the order of newest to oldest. The most recently modified note always appears at the top of the list.

Format a note

1. From the list of notes, tap a note to open it.

2. Select the text you want to format.

3. At the bottom on the note, tap a formatting button.

   You can format text with bold, underline, italic, underline, strike through, or add bullets.

   Note: You cannot currently change the font or size of note text.

4. To save and close the note, tap the left-facing arrow in the upper left.

Add a picture to a note

1. From the list of notes, tap a note to open it.

2. Tap the camera icon, and then do one of the following.

   • Take the picture: Press the camera button to take the picture. After taking the picture, you can further modify it. Tap the checkmark at the bottom to add the picture to the note.

   • Add a picture from your photo gallery: Next to the camera button, tap the photo gallery button. Navigate to the photo, tap it to open it to further modify it. Tap the checkmark at the bottom to add the picture to the note.

3. To remove a photo, open the note. Press and hold the picture until a shortcut menu appears. Tap Delete image.

4. To save and close the note, tap the left-facing arrow in the upper left.

See Also

Get started with Sticky Notes

See your sticky notes everywhere

Share your sticky notes

Delete a sticky note