4 Overlooked OneNote Settings for Windows and Android: Source Links, Section Locks and Quick Notes

1. Paste from the web and keep the source link (Windows desktop)​

The Windows setting is the most useful of the four for anyone who does research. OneNote's Advanced options include a checkbox that, according to Microsoft, makes OneNote always include a link to the source when you paste in content from the Web. Microsoft's reason is simple: it can be helpful if you want to remember where the Web content you pasted into OneNote came from at a later time.

How to turn it on:

1. Open OneNote for Windows.
2. Go to File > Options.
3. Select Advanced.
4. Under Editing, check Include link to source when pasting from the Web.
5. Click OK.

Microsoft's options page lists OneNote for Microsoft 365, OneNote 2024, OneNote 2021 and OneNote 2016. This is a desktop setting. Shah notes that if you're on Android, though, you won't find this setting. It's a Windows desktop thing.

Some history. The feature has been around long enough that some people find it annoying. In 2017, How-To Geek published a guide to switching it off. That guide said the toggle only existed in the classic desktop version of OneNote, named "OneNote 2016", not in the Windows 10 Store app that existed back then. PCWorld didn't like it either. Its writer objected that the link appears on every single paste and said they'd probably use the feature if it only pasted the same link once per page. MakeUseOf took the other side and argued that for research, where you need to cite your sources, the feature can be invaluable.

The trade-off is easy to judge. If you collect quotes for reports, papers or articles, the extra lines are worth it. If you paste snippets all day and never need to know where they came from, leave it off.

If the source link stops appearing. On Microsoft Q&A, a OneNote 2016 user said the source URL suddenly stopped pasting even though the box was still checked. Unchecking it, rechecking it and reinstalling didn't help. The cause turned out to be something else they had installed: around time these links stopped working I installed CopyQ a clipboard manager. A reply in the same thread suggested right-clicking and choosing Keep Source Formatting from the paste options, then making that the default if it works. So if the links vanish:

• Check whether a clipboard manager or clipboard utility has been installed recently.
• Try pasting with Keep Source Formatting from the Paste Options menu.
• Make sure Show Paste Options button when content is pasted is on (same Advanced page) so you can choose a paste mode quickly.

In short: it's a single checkbox in the desktop app. It can save research-heavy users a lot of time, and it's easy to turn off again if the extra links bother you.

2. Password-protect sections and have them lock automatically​

OneNote's password protection works on sections. It doesn't cover single pages or whole notebooks. Shah points out that the setup differs between platforms.

On Windows (desktop):

1. Right-click the section and choose Password Protect This Section.
2. In the Password Protection pane, choose Set Password.
3. Type the password, confirm it and select OK.

The auto-lock settings live in the same Advanced options area. Microsoft's password help page describes the route as Account > Options > Advanced, then scroll down to Passwords. Most people will get there through File > Options, depending on the build. You get two main choices:

• Lock after a period of inactivity. Microsoft's Advanced options page lists 1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, 12 hours and 1 day. That matches Shah's description of a range from one minute to a day.
• Lock as soon as you navigate away from a protected section.

A third checkbox lets add-ins read protected sections while they are unlocked. Leave it off unless you have a specific reason.

On Android: Microsoft's Android help says to go to the section list, long-press the section, tap the three-dot menu, and then add or remove a password. The same menu can also set that section as your default, which matters for setting number four.

What Microsoft warns about:

• Nobody can recover a forgotten password. Microsoft says outright that even its technical support can't unlock your notes.
• Passwords are case-sensitive. Microsoft recommends mixing character types and using 14 or more characters.
• Search skips locked sections. Unlock a section first if you want its contents to show up in notebook searches.
• Note flags on pages in a locked section don't show up in the flag summary.
• Protected sections can't be opened during a live sharing session, even if you unlocked them.
• Audio and video recordings aren't covered. They are stored as separate files in the notebook and can't be password-protected.

In short: section passwords are a privacy feature, not a full vault. Choose an auto-lock time you can live with, don't lose the password, and remember that search won't find anything in a locked section.

3. The Android OneNote badge (Shah calls it the "floatie")​

Shah calls it the OneNote floatie. Microsoft's help pages call it the OneNote badge. It's a small floating button for starting a note without opening the whole app first.

How to turn it on (current Microsoft instructions):

1. Tap your profile picture or the person icon at the top left.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Under General Settings, switch on OneNote badge.
4. If you want a home-screen shortcut too, tap Add OneNote badge to Home screen.

Shah's route goes through the three-dot menu, and an older Microsoft page reaches Settings from the Notebooks view instead. The menus have clearly moved between versions, so if you can't find the setting in one place, look in the other.

Microsoft describes two places the badge can live:

• On the right edge of the screen. It stays partly hidden and sits on top of other apps, so you can tap it and jot a note from anywhere. Microsoft says a notification also appears while it's active.
• On a home screen, like any other shortcut.

To get rid of the edge badge, press and hold it, then drag it onto the X that appears at the bottom of the screen. Removing the edge badge doesn't remove the home-screen shortcut, and vice versa. Each has to be removed on its own.

In short: this is Android only, and it's the quickest way to get a thought into OneNote before you forget it. But where does that note end up?

4. Set a default section on Android​

The last setting answers that question. Microsoft says notes created with the badge are saved in the default section. The same goes for new pages from the Android home page's quick-capture bar. If you never pick a default section, your quick notes can land somewhere you won't think to look.

How to set it:

1. Tap your profile picture or the person icon.
2. Tap Settings.
3. Under Notebooks, tap Default section.
4. Pick a section in the current default notebook, or tap the back arrow to switch to another notebook and pick a section there.

You can also long-press a section in the section list, open the three-dot menu and set it as the default from there.

Shah pointed hers at the section where she keeps everyday notes, which she describes as giving quick notes a permanent address, so nothing ends up misplaced. A good way to organise it (our suggestion, not Microsoft's) is to create an "Inbox" section, make it the default, and sort through it once a week. That's the same idea as an email inbox.

In short: set the default section first, then turn on the badge. In that order, every quick note lands somewhere predictable.

Which setting works on which platform​

The verdict​

None of these is a big feature. Together, though, they cover four small problems: remembering where a quote came from, keeping private notes locked, writing down an idea before it's gone, and finding that idea again later. Keep in mind that Shah's piece is a personal "look what I found" story, and the settings are useful for some people and irrelevant for others. PCWorld's reaction to the source-link setting shows that one person's useful default is another person's clutter.

If you use OneNote at work, check the Windows password settings first. An unlocked section on a shared or unattended PC is the one item on this list with real consequences. The rest just make the app a little more convenient.