If you’re like most people, you use OneNote to capture ideas, to plan and organize your life, and to keep track of your work. You probably also use OneDrive to store your notes. But if you’ve ever tried to access a notebook that’s been synced to OneDrive from any computer or device, you know it can be a pain. Here’s how to make it easy:

  1. Open OneNote 2016 on your computer.
  2. Click the File tab and then click Options.
  3. In the Options dialog box, under General, click Sync Notes with OneDrive for Business. (If you don’t have an account with Office 365, click Sync Notes with Microsoft Office.)
  4. In the Sync Notes with OneDrive for Business dialog box that opens, under Use my current settings for this notebook (or notebooks), select Use my settings for all notebooks in this folder (or folders). This will sync all of your notebooks in this folder (or folders) with your Office 365 account. If you want to sync just one or some of the notebooks in this folder (or folders), select the check boxes next to the notebooks(s) you want to sync and then enter a name for the sync group in the Name field below. Note: If there are multiple versions of a notebook in this folder (or folders), only one version will be synced at a time; if there are no versions of a notebook in this folder (or folders), no synchronization will take place and the “All versions” check box will be selected by default .
  5. Click OK twice to close the Sync Notes with OneDrive for Business dialog box and return to the Options dialog box. Under General, click Save As and enter a name for your new notebook file (.notebook). Note: The filename is case-sensitive; do not include any special characters such as spaces or punctuation marks .
  6. Click OK three times to close ..

The best note-taking programs, like Evernote, sync your notes to all your other devices, so you have them wherever you go. If you have some OneNote 2016 notes that are stored locally on your computer, you can sync them to your other devices using OneDrive.

RELATED: How to Migrate from Evernote to OneNote

NOTE: There are two different versions of OneNote. The free version of OneNote that comes with Windows 10 automatically creates new notebooks in your OneDrive account, and automatically syncs existing notebooks with your OneDrive account by default. This article discusses syncing notebooks you created in OneNote 2016, the desktop version that comes with Office 365.

To sync a notebook to your OneDrive account, click the notebooks dropdown menu in the upper-left corner of the OneNote window and select the notebook you want to sync.

Click the “File” tab.

On the backstage screen, click “Share” in the list of items on the left.

If you are not currently signed in to your OneDrive account through Office, you will see the screen allowing you to sign in. Click the “Sign in” button.

Enter your email address on the Add a service dialog box and click “Next”.

Then, enter your password on the Sign in screen and click “Sign in”.

Once you’re signed in to your OneDrive account, the following screen displays. You can either keep the current name of the notebook, or change the name in the Notebook Name box. To move the notebook to your OneDrive account, click “Move Notebook”.

When the syncing process is done, the following dialog box displays, indicating your notebook has been moved to your OneDrive account online. Click “OK”.

To return to your notebook, click the back arrow in the upper-left corner of the OneNote window.

Now, when you make changes to this notebook, they will be saved online and you can access the notebook on all your devices, such as your laptop, tablet, and smartphone. OneNote is available for iOS and Android for free.