Microsoft OneNote Updates For Windows 11 FAQs Released

The message that Microsoft is no longer going two-pronged with the OneNote app, but wants to discontinue the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app, has led to some guesswork in the community. Microsoft responds with an extensive FAQ.

The app team has now taken on the questions that users most frequently asked about the merger of the two OneNote apps for Windows. Above all, there were questions about the application, which will be continued. There is probably a misunderstanding as to which app is now recommended by Microsoft for use. The team, therefore, made it clear once again that the UWP app is not planned to be discontinued until 2025, namely at the end of support for Windows 10.

However, Microsoft will send reminders to OneNote for Windows 10 users as early as the third quarter of 2022 that the app will not be further developed and that users should switch to the other OneNote app accordingly. But there is no compulsion. From mid-2022, the invitations for the new OneNote app will also be available in the old application.

In the FAQ attached to the blog post, Microsoft now also addresses Windows 11. It says:

What’s new for OneNote in Windows 11?

Both OneNote apps will still run in Windows 11. Upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11 won’t affect your OneNote apps. When you start Windows 11 from a clean installation or a new device, OneNote for Windows 10 is not installed by default but is available for free download from the Microsoft Store app.

According to the online magazine Windows Latest, however, it should be clear that Microsoft will adopt the look of Windows 11 in the further development of the OneNote client. In the announcement for the changes in OneNote, Microsoft only speaks briefly about the planned “visual refreshments”, but had already shown a few examples in June. The Office team is working on a fundamental visual overhaul aimed at providing a consistent experience within and between the Office applications under Windows.

The user interface will therefore adhere to the new Windows Fluent Design principles, take on the look of Windows 11 and generally be more clear. Office Insiders have been able to view this in the OneNote app since mid-July via the menu item for the planned changes.