Search for notes in OneNote for Mac

One of the main advantages of OneNote over paper notebooks is how quickly you can search through all of your notes to find what you're looking for. Simply enter a search word or a phrase to instantly find that information in any of your notebooks. Clicking any matching result that OneNote finds will immediately take you to that page.

To search in OneNote, do the following:

1. On the menu bar, click Edit, and then point to Find.

2. On the menu that appears, select the scope of your search by selecting any of the following:

   • Click Search This Page to find information on the current page only.

   • Click Search This Section to find information on any of the pages in the current section.

   • Click This Section Group to find information on any of the pages in any of the sections that are part of a section group you're currently working in.

   • Click Search This Notebook to find information on any of the pages in any of the sections in the notebook you're currently working in.

   • Click Search All Notebooks to find information on any of the pages in any of the sections in any of your open notebooks. To confirm which notebooks you have open, click the Show Notebooks button .

3. To begin searching, start typing a word or a phrase into the Search box. As you type, OneNote displays a list of where the text you've typed has been found. The more you type, the more specific your search will become and the shorter your results list is likely to get.

4. In the list of search results below the Search box, click any item to go to the matching note. Results on your pages will be highlighted in yellow, allowing you to quickly scan for the word or phrase on the page where it was found.

Tip: To go to another result, simply click it in the list and OneNote will display the matches found on that page or section. To start another search, click Done, and then type a new search word or phrase. If necessary, return to Step 2 to adjust your search scope before searching your notes again.