Microsoft OneNote 2010 : Searching for Stray Notes (part 1)

1. Searching a Page

To locate a note on the currently open page, choose the Find on This Page command and enter a search term in the Search In box. This box is located above the page tabs.

To choose the Find on This Page command, press Ctrl+F or open the Change Search Scope menu and choose Find on This Page.

After you enter a search term, instances of the term are highlighted in yellow on the page, and OneNote lists how many matches it found. Use these techniques to find notes containing the search term:

• Scroll the page.

• Click the Next Match button (or press F3) to scroll to the next note with the search term.

• Click the Previous Match button (or press Shift+F3) to scroll to the previous note with the search term.

Press Esc when you finish searching.

1.1. Search a Page

Tip:

Search terms are not case-sensitive. You can enter search terms without regard to how you capitalize letters.

2. Searching a Section, Section Group, or Notebook

To search a section, section group, or notebook, start by opening a page in the section, section group, or notebook. Then enter a search term in the Search In box, and on the Change Search Scope menu, choose This Section, This Section Group, or This Notebook.

OneNote lists pages with notes containing your search term. As well, it lists pages in the Recycle Bin with notes containing your search term. Moreover, the “Recent Picks” section of the search results lists pages with the search term that you recently visited.

By clicking a page name in the search results, you can preview the page. On the preview page, the search term you used in your search is highlighted in notes. To open the page being previewed, click the preview page. When you open a page, OneNote closes the search results list.

2.1. Search a section

Warning:

The Search In box and Change Search Scope menu don’t appear in Full Screen view. Press Ctrl+E or switch to Normal view to display the box and menu when you are in Full Screen view.

Tip:

To search for a phrase, enclose it in quotation marks. For example, to search for notes with the words New York but exclude notes with only the word new or only the word york, enter “New York” as the search term.

3. Searching All Open Notebooks

To search more than one notebook, the notebooks must be open. Make sure the Navigation bar lists all notebooks you want to search before you start searching more than one notebook.

Click in the Search In box (or press Ctrl+E), enter a search term, and then open the Change Search Scope menu and choose All Notebooks.

In the search results, OneNote lists pages where the search term is found. For each page, it also lists the notebook and section where the page is located. Pages with the search term in the Recycle Bin and pages with the search term you recently visited are listed as well.

Click a page name to preview it. In the preview page, you can see notes with your search term because the search term is highlighted in yellow.

Click a preview page to open a page. Opening a page closes the search results list.

3.1. Search All Open Notebooks

Warning:

OneNote can search only notebooks that are open. If you can’t find a note, it could be because the notebook where it is located is closed.