Review Insights · App Store
Microsoft OneNote
Microsoft Corporation · 1,037,295 ratings · ★ 4.7
4.7
★★★★★
1,037,295 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 52 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"notes"
13 negative reviews mention this · 25% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Jus why?. So you’ve put in the ability to draw in OneNote with your fingers and lose the notes underneath now there’s a way to undo that I can’t find it. Perfect example of not thinking something through. So please tell me how do I get my notes back …" - The Bamboo King
2
"onenote"
10 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Jus why?. So you’ve put in the ability to draw in OneNote with your fingers and lose the notes underneath now there’s a way to undo that I can’t find it. Perfect example of not thinking something through. So please tell me how do I get my notes back …" - The Bamboo King
3
"update"
8 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Ruined with poorly explained AI junk. OneNote was a nice, lightweight app. The last update introduced confusing AI-enabled stuff with no clear explanation of what it does or why. I’m sure it’s explained in one of their PhD-level technical papers." - Bearcreekmom
4
"work"
8 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Another slop from Microsoft. Half the features won’t work as expected. Even basic like textbox resizing doesn’t work." - Ipaduserpro1
5
"screen"
8 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Barely works. Positive note: Sync between this app and the OneNote client on a Windows computer works great. Negative notes: Every time you go away from the app, when you bring it back up, it is all a white screen. The only way to get it back up is to fo…" - CSDChris
6
"every"
7 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Merge Conflicts and Poor UI. The newest update has a menu bar that covers the bottom two notes on every page on my iPhone 17 Pro Max. Also, the merge conflicts between my iPhone and my Android have continually occurred for several years. It’s probably time to find anot…" - Asianhybrid
7
"sync"
6 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "It is totally terrible. Will not allow me to add an account to sync" - Uioaijdujhihudj
8
"been"
6 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I wanted to love it. The app repeatedly prompted for full photo access when limited access had already been granted, and importing selected photos still failed. Apple's limited photo permissions should be supported more reliably- especially in 2026." - Ms. Phalange
9
"years"
6 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "100 times worse than the original. Then version issued as a stand alone app for $100 20 or more years ago was far superior to this piece of junk" - CFXK
10
"ipad"
6 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "beware changing from PC to Mac. After 30 years of using PC for work I moved to a MacBook Pro top of the line. I have the iPhone, iPad Pro and wanted all in one ecosystem. BEWARE!!! Outlook and OneNote are missing KEY BASIC FEATURES such as. Can no longer drag and drop…" - app001
11
"note"
6 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Jus why?. So you’ve put in the ability to draw in OneNote with your fingers and lose the notes underneath now there’s a way to undo that I can’t find it. Perfect example of not thinking something through. So please tell me how do I get my notes back …" - The Bamboo King
12
"switch"
6 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "fix the sync. don't get me wrong. I love this app. I could give five star except this feature. *sync*. once it's fixed, I will change it to 5 stars. I am software architect and know how to implement sync across the multiple devices. major (or only) purpo…" - hot ice-cream
📋 All 52 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Suddenly would load and a part of what I’ve written is gone
Also the encircle and select button lags I had to encircle the word a few times to select it
Jus why?
So you’ve put in the ability to draw in OneNote with your fingers and lose the notes underneath now there’s a way to undo that I can’t find it. Perfect example of not thinking something through. So please tell me how do I get my notes back because this is called OneNote not finger painting
Very Crash Prone
Application is very crash prone. I have been using for conference notes over the last two days and it has crashed 15 times.
Another slop from Microsoft
Half the features won’t work as expected.
Even basic like textbox resizing doesn’t work.
Even basic like textbox resizing doesn’t work.
Trouble syncing
It always give me an error saying we’re having trouble syncing please sign in again.
No synch
Synch issue !!!!
It’s fine
It’s fine, it just keeps prompting to rate it while I’m trying to do something else, which disrupts my train of thought.
Impossible to get help when something is wrong
I love this app, but it’s impossible to contact someone to get help. I have a menu that covers my list of pages and can’t get it out of the way. Chat on ms website sent me to a useless page with no chat support. Totally garbage support so you get a garbage rating
100 times worse than the original
Then version issued as a stand alone app for $100 20 or more years ago was far superior to this piece of junk
One note training
Would love to have training how to really use this tool
Unusable now on IPad OS 26
This is unusable on IPadOS 26 now. The three dot thing hovers over the back arrow so you cannot navigate
So Inconvenient
The controls on this thing are SO BAD. Absolutely not.
Great jumping jehosaphat
I am enjoying the daylights out of notes.
I just hate, dislike, despise, frustrated that I am being asked to describe a review EVERY DAMN TIME I open the application. If you don’t mind please stop asking me for my opinion. When I have one I will REALLY let you HAVE it!
I just hate, dislike, despise, frustrated that I am being asked to describe a review EVERY DAMN TIME I open the application. If you don’t mind please stop asking me for my opinion. When I have one I will REALLY let you HAVE it!
It won't let me create a notebook
Cant even do what it's meant for
Synchronization failure and notes lost
OneNote again did not sync properly and all of my notes during a day were lost. This is OneNote on an iPad.
Não sincroniza e nem carrega por nada
Mesmo eu sincronizando minhas notas, elas nunca foram sincroniza das e nunca consegui abrir elas em outro dispositivo. Além disso, tem dias que o app só carrega e não atualiza por nada as minhas notas, perdi acesso a anotações importantes.
Heavy bombardment to review
Not even used before and asking for rating, I feel really negative thank you
Lost my notes
Hit the undo button and lost several paragraphs of notes. Hit the redo button and it didn’t recover.
Poor Apple Pencil Support
Apple Pencil is a very powerful tool letting users turn handwriting into text, correcting handwriting and making it look neater and so much more. Microsoft does not support any of it. I am required to use OneNote for work yet there is no Apple Pencil support so I find myself copying notes from the apple notes app into OneNote. It’s annoying as hell! Microsoft please do better
stupid toolbar blocking the last two notes.
Every time I open the notes list, there's a stupid horizontal toolbar at the bottom-right corner blocking the last two notes.
fix the sync
don't get me wrong. I love this app. I could give five star except this feature. *sync*. once it's fixed, I will change it to 5 stars.
I am software architect and know how to implement sync across the multiple devices. major (or only) purpose of using this app is syncing simple note text quickly across the device which should be core feature of this kind of app. but so many times it failed and created conflict version even when it's not heavily used by switching devices. it should be easy feature to make it right and please fix this as soon as possible. i'm not asking almost real time sync. just don't fail to sync and create conflict which can be only repaired in desktop.
I am software architect and know how to implement sync across the multiple devices. major (or only) purpose of using this app is syncing simple note text quickly across the device which should be core feature of this kind of app. but so many times it failed and created conflict version even when it's not heavily used by switching devices. it should be easy feature to make it right and please fix this as soon as possible. i'm not asking almost real time sync. just don't fail to sync and create conflict which can be only repaired in desktop.
Broken for years
App doesn’t work. Infinite login loop or incomprehensible error messages, regardless of whether you reinstall the app or not. This app should be delisted at this point because it’s been like this for years.
Problem
My data did not come over to my new iPhone.
Schedules
Why isn’t
Today’s schedule the first I see why am I seeing Junes?
Today’s schedule the first I see why am I seeing Junes?
Barely works
Positive note: Sync between this app and the OneNote client on a Windows computer works great. Negative notes: Every time you go away from the app, when you bring it back up, it is all a white screen. The only way to get it back up is to force close the app and then launch it again. This is a rather new issue, most likely caused by the latest update to the app. Also, it does not recognize handwriting/Ink as text or handwriting. If you write by hand, you must then go into the Windows client, lasso your handwritten notes, right-click, and tell it to “treat selected Ink as handwriting”. I truly wanted to use this app for note taking. But it’s just too buggy and note easy enough to use.
Version 16.108 big bug
Unusable 16.108 with iOS 26, they pushed an untested glitched version. Terrible, not even a slight problem, we’re talking about a display problem, having to totally close and restart this app every time you switch apps. I’ve been using this for note taking, now I have to switch back to pen and paper until / if they ever fix it. Thanks.
Horrible App!
If you plan to use this on iPad don’t. The amount of glitches I encounter is insane. I experience a new one at least once a week.
Examples:
~Pages randomly go blank -> requires you to restart the app.
~When taking notes on a document sometimes it will shoot off a line into infinity and mess up everything you have been writing.
~When I change colors or tools the screen will jump back to the top left requiring me to scroll back to where I was writing.
~when I split windows the app crashes.
~Some documents will suddenly switch all the text to white so you can’t see anything you’ve written.
Theres too many to list here but you get the idea. I can’t wait until this semester ends so I can switch to something else. 🤦🏻♂️
Examples:
~Pages randomly go blank -> requires you to restart the app.
~When taking notes on a document sometimes it will shoot off a line into infinity and mess up everything you have been writing.
~When I change colors or tools the screen will jump back to the top left requiring me to scroll back to where I was writing.
~when I split windows the app crashes.
~Some documents will suddenly switch all the text to white so you can’t see anything you’ve written.
Theres too many to list here but you get the idea. I can’t wait until this semester ends so I can switch to something else. 🤦🏻♂️
Stopped working on iPad with update 16!
The app becomes a nonfunctional white screen if you switch windows
blank screen upon opening
shows blank screen when opening after changing tabs.
App does not work after update
After the recent update, when I switch screens and reopen OneNote, the screen is white and I have to force close the app and reopen to get the screen back.
App Goes Blank if Close
The App will stop responding and go black if I minimize the window on iPadOS
Glitchy Mess
Every time the iPad is closed and reopened, it opens to a frozen white screen. Makes it difficult to use.
Need a tutorial
Still not sure how to get the most out of it. I use another notepad too because it is simpler. I’m hoping maybe to come across a good tutorial that will allow me to use it the way I need it
Just started to error
Black screening after switching tabs from canvas to OneNote
Broken and useless feedback feature
Keyboard keeps on randomly popping up every time I switch pens. Have sent feedback for past year with no fix. Broken as always. Peak laziness. Now latest update makes everything broken from blank screen upon opening up and ui being disfigured.
Awful interface
Microsoft is a;wats clunky tough to sign in … confusing and completely ineffective
Recent Version Sucks
The most recent update is causing a lot of headaches, it makes me not want to use the app.
Basically whenever you try and create a new page, the app requires a full cache sync, but it won’t let you do anything until it does.
Then it just sits there and does nothing, while displaying a page that says “Quick Notes.”
What’s worse, if I were to try and use the quick notes; they also disappear after it “finishes,” usually many minutes later.
This “cache update” is required if you don’t use the app for more than five minutes.
It basically ruins all “quick” usability and requires the use to close and re-open the app multiple times a day just to get it to work.
Basically whenever you try and create a new page, the app requires a full cache sync, but it won’t let you do anything until it does.
Then it just sits there and does nothing, while displaying a page that says “Quick Notes.”
What’s worse, if I were to try and use the quick notes; they also disappear after it “finishes,” usually many minutes later.
This “cache update” is required if you don’t use the app for more than five minutes.
It basically ruins all “quick” usability and requires the use to close and re-open the app multiple times a day just to get it to work.
Lost information
Ever since the last I update, all the inform nation I had stored on this app is gone.
Doesn't sync
All of my accounts on different devices are logged in & alot the saved notes are missing
Doesn’t let you paste
Doesnt let you paste
It is totally terrible
Will not allow me to add an account to sync
I wanted to love it
The app repeatedly prompted for full photo access when limited access had already been granted, and importing selected photos still failed. Apple's limited photo permissions should be supported more reliably- especially in 2026.
Ruined with poorly explained AI junk
OneNote was a nice, lightweight app. The last update introduced confusing AI-enabled stuff with no clear explanation of what it does or why. I’m sure it’s explained in one of their PhD-level technical papers.
beware changing from PC to Mac
After 30 years of using PC for work I moved to a MacBook Pro top of the line. I have the iPhone, iPad Pro and wanted all in one ecosystem. BEWARE!!! Outlook and OneNote are missing KEY BASIC FEATURES such as. Can no longer drag and drop an email into OneNote and just by clicking on it have it open Outlook and be ready to process. Can no longer copy paste text from an email into OneNote without loosing all the formatting which makes it pretty much unreadable. This is completely messing up my workflow.
Merge Conflicts and Poor UI
The newest update has a menu bar that covers the bottom two notes on every page on my iPhone 17 Pro Max. Also, the merge conflicts between my iPhone and my Android have continually occurred for several years. It’s probably time to find another note app.
Can’t delete old notebooks
Tried copilot and chat to delete old notebooks and I can’t find any option too, very annoying to work with
Could be more friendly for left handed users
This app has been around for a while and the navigation pane is still on the left with no option to move to the right and being left handed I sometimes touch it by accident. It would also be nice if the app had an adjustable stabilizer for ink strokes.
iOS version is watered down
The iOS version is very watered down. PDFs have horrible resolution. Handwriting recognition doesn’t work. The only updates iOS seems to get is for bug fixes. F Microsoft.
Buns on iOS
Glitches with palm rejection and it sends me straight to the top of the document. Loading is slow. No ruler. Very annoying and needs updates
Fine but persist issue
The app is good for note taking, but as of late it has a constant issue of when you switch to a different application, even if for a second, when you switch back the entirety of OneNote will just be a black screen. It makes using it to take notes a complete pain. If this issue gets resolved, then the review would probably be switched to a 4/5, but definitely for the time being, it’s deserving of 2/5.
+ 2 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
94%
Positive (4-5★)
3%
Neutral (3★)
4%
Negative (1-2★)