There are many reasons to prefer OneNote over its alternatives, but the user interface can be quite hit or miss. Some people don't like how OneNote looks out of the box, and maybe you're one of them. The good news is, these tweaks may make it more appealing.

Note that these options are only available on the desktop version of OneNote, not the UWP or web versions.

onenote-sidebar-setup-example-1
onenote-sidebar-setup-example-2
onenote-sidebar-setup-example-3

All you have to do is go to File > Options, then navigate to the Display category. Here you'll find the two relevant options that you can toggle:

  • Page tabs appear on the left
  • Navigation bar appears on the left

Unchecked, they'll appear on the right. Checked, they'll appear on the left. You can switch them around or have them on the same side, it's up to you. And yes, you can resize both bars if you want to!

One other similar setting that may interest you is the one called Vertical scroll bar appears on the left, which puts the main note area's scroll bar on the left side.

Are you new to OneNote? Here are a handful of neat little features you should be using, including custom note tags and docked note-taking. Take full advantage of this awesome app!

How do you prefer to have your OneNote interface set up? Would you want more interface customization options or is this good enough? Let us know in a comment below!