Switch from Microsoft OneNote to Google Workspace

Learn the differences between Microsoft OneNote and Google Workspace and get best practices for collaboration at work or school.

Comparison at a glance

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In OneNote...	In Google Workspace...*
Create a note or list	Create notes or lists in Tasks or Docs Open Tasks You can add tasks to the side panel in some Google Workspace apps. Go to Gmail, Calendar, Chat, Drive, or a file in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides. Important: If you can't see Tasks app, click the arrow in the bottom right of the screen to expand the panel. On the right, click Tasks . Tip: In Gmail spaces, you can create, assign, edit, complete, and delete group tasks. Create detailed notes or lists in Docs On your computer, open a Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, or Forms home screen. Click Create . You can also create a document from a template.
Organize or group notes in a notebook	Organize or group notes in a shared drive Step 1: Create a shared drive Open Google Drive. On the left, click Shared drives. Shared drives are available only if your organization supports them. For help, contact your administrator. At the top, click New. Enter a name and click Create. For details, see Set up a shared drive. Step 2: Add folders to a shared drive On the left, click a shared drive or existing folder. Click NewFolder. Enter a folder name and click Create. Note: Any subfolders you create must have the same permission as the top-level folder. Step 3: Add notes to a folder in a shared drive Requires at least Contributor* access* Any files you add are owned by the team. If you leave the shared drive, your files remain. On the left, click a shared drive. Drag an existing file (that you own) from your computer or from My Drive into a shared drive. Or, at the top of Drive, click Newand choose an option: To create a file, select the file type you want to create, such as Google Docs. To upload a file, click File upload. Navigate to the file and open it. Double-click a file to open and edit it. If you don't own the file but have Editor access in Drive, you can move it to a shared drive if your administrator has allowed this option. Note: To store and access files on your desktop, use Google Drive for desktop. For details, see What can you do with Drive for desktop.
Share and collaborate on a notebook stored in OneDrive	Share and collaborate on notes in Docs Share notes in Docs Select the file you want to share. Click Share or Share . Enter the email address or Google group you want to share with. To decide what role people will have on your file, select Viewer, Commenter, or Editor. If your account is eligible, you can add an expiration date for access. Choose to notify people. If you want to notify people that you shared an item with them, check the box next to Notify people. If you notify people, each email address you enter will be included in the email. If you don't want to notify people, uncheck the box. Click Send or Share. Add comments and assign action items in Docs In Docs, Sheets, or Slides, select the text you'd like to comment on. Click Add comment . Enter your comment in the box. (Optional) To direct your task or comment to a specific person, enter a plus sign (+) followed by their email address. You can add as many people as you want. Each person will get an email with your comment and a link to the file. (Optional) To assign the comment to a specific person, check the Assign to box. Click Comment or Assign. Note: If a file reaches the maximum number of comments, you can make a copy of the file without copying over any comments.
Add drawings or images to a note	Add drawings or images to notes in Docs In Docs, from the Insert menu, select Image or Drawing.
Convert handwriting to text in OneNote	Convert handwriting to text in Jamboard In Jamboard, create or open a jam. On the toolbar, tap Draw . Tap Assistive drawing toolsHandwriting recognition. For more details, see Write, draw, and add notes in a jam.
Create an Outlook task from OneNote	Create a task from Docs In Docs, highlight the text that you want to make a task. Right-click and select Copy. In the sidebar at right, click Tasks . Click Add a task. Click Edit details . Right-click Enter title and paste the text you copied. Do any of the following options: Add details about your task. Change the list this task belongs to. Add a due date for your task, which also adds the task to Calendar. Add subtasks. Click the Back arrow . You can access tasks from Docs, Gmail, Calendar, Sheets, or Slides.
Categorize notes with tags	Categorize notes with folders in Drive In Drive, navigate to where you want to add the folder. Click NewFolder. Name the folder as a category. Click Create. In Docs, save notes to a category folder.
Search OneNote	Search Drive Search for Docs notes in Drive In the Drive search box, enter your search text. Choose from a suggestion or press Enter to see all results. (Optional) To narrow your search, click the Down arrow and choose an option. For example, you can narrow the type to documents.