Important: OneNote for Windows 10 support will end in October 2025. To keep up to date with the latest OneNote features, get OneNote from the Microsoft Store or as part of Microsoft 365.
When you're at a lecture, Q&A session, or an interview, and you know you won't be able to type notes fast enough, you can use OneNote to record audio notes.
Note: Before you get started, make sure your Windows 10 computer or device has a microphone that's properly set up in Windows Settings.
Start a recording
To begin an audio recording in your notes, do the following:
-
Click a location on the current page where you want to start the audio recording.
-
On the Insert tab, click Audio.
OneNote begins recording immediately and the Recording tab appears. To verify that a recording is in progress, note the increasing time counter on the Recording tab.
If you see a message that OneNote can't access your microphone, do the following:
-
In Windows 10, click or tap the Start button, and then select Settings
-
Click or tap Privacy > Microphone.
-
On the Microphone page, look for a confirmation message that "Microphone access for this device is on." If it isn't, click or tap Change, and then set the Microphone access for this device option to On.
-
Back on the Microphone page, scroll down to Choose which apps can access your microphone, find OneNote in the list, and then make sure the switch next to it is set to On.
Stop a recording
To end an audio recording, do the following:
-
On the Recording tab, click Stop.
OneNote ends the recording. If you want to continue recording at a later time, click Record.
Play back a recording
To listen to an audio recording in your notes, do the following:
-
Double-click any Audio Recording icon on any page in your notebook.
Tip: While playing back audio in OneNote for Windows 10, you can use the additional controls on the Audio tab that appears—including Pause, Back 5 Minutes, Back 15 Seconds, Forward 15 Seconds, and Forward 5 minutes.
Delete a recording
If you no longer need a particular audio recording, do the following:
-
On any page, right-click the Audio Recording icon of the recording you want to delete.
-
On your keyboard, press the Delete key.
Caution: When you delete an audio recording from your notes, it is erased immediately and cannot be recovered.
