Microsoft making More Room for your Notes in OneNote

Ever feel like you want to see more of your drawings, tables, and ideas at once in OneNote? You’re not alone! Many of you have asked for a canvas that makes better use of your valuable screen real estate, and we’ve been listening.

While features like the simplified ribbon and full-screen mode have helped in the past, our newest update makes every pixel count without compromising quick access to functionality you rely on.

What’s New​

We’ve eliminated the unused horizontal space between the ribbon and your canvas, instantly giving you more room for what matters most. Not only do you now have a larger view of your canvas, there’s also more vertical room to see more of your page list at once. The search box that previously occupied this space now floats over the canvas, remaining accessible without consuming so much space.


Before – Gap between the ribbon and page canvas



After – Gap eliminated between ribbon and page canvas

Vertical Tabs for Maximum Benefit​

This improvement is especially noticeable for users with vertical tabs enabled. To experience this mode:

1. Go to View > Tabs Layout in the ribbon
2. Select Vertical Tabs

Prefer horizontal tabs? You’ll still see an improvement. The search box relocation creates room to display more section tabs simultaneously.

Quick Tip​

While the floating search box helped reclaim space for your content, it might occasionally hover over your content. If this happens, simply click the double arrow to the right of the search box to expand your canvas further.


Click the double arrow to expand the canvas if the search box is in the way.

Feedback​

We’ve designed this improvement based directly on your feedback. We want to hear from you about this improvement and other suggestions you may have. To send feedback, select Help > Feedback in the OneNote app.

Availability​

This feature is rolling out during May 2025 to users on OneNote for Windows version 2503 (Build 16.0.18730.20074) or later.