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OneNote Notebook in a Teams Channel

This article applies to: Microsoft Teams

When creating a new team, be sure to choose the template for the Cornell Standard team type for the most flexibility. Other template types can be used if you have a specific need for that template.

Team types such as Staff, Professional Learning Community (PLC), and Class come with a built in OneNote notebook that cannot be removed and prevent you from linking existing OneNote notebooks created outside of the team. Read more about copying a OneNote notebook to get around this restriction.

Built-in OneNote Notebooks

If your team is created with a Staff or Class template, your built-in OneNote notebook does not support the OneNote recycle bin. If a page in the notebook is deleted, it can’t be restored.

To get around this restriction, copy the notebook to the Files section of the Teams channel. The copied notebook can use the OneNote recycle bin.

Copying a OneNote Notebook

1. Identify if the team has a built-in notebook. If it does, proceed with step 2. If it does not, you can add an external OneNote notebook instead.

a. Navigate to the General channel in the team.

b. Check for a tab at the top of the window labeled either Staff Notebook or Class Notebook. Teams created from a Staff or Class template will have one of these tabs for the built-in notebook.

2. Select the Files tab for the team. Note that a built-in notebook will not be listed in the files, but a notebook that has already been copied will be listed.

3. Select Open in SharePoint from the menu bar.

  • If this option isn’t displayed, you may need to select the More channel options (…) in the upper-right of the window to find it.

4. Select Site contents from the left side menu of the SharePoint page. Contents will display in the main window.

5. Select Site Assets.

6. Right-click the notebook and select Copy to. A pop-up window will display.

7. Select your team name from the file navigation trail at the top of the window.

8. Select Documents.

9. Select General to copy the notebook to the General channel.

10. Select Copy here. The copied notebook will now be in your Files tab.

You won’t be able to remove the original notebook or notebook tab. To avoid confusion, you can delete all pages and sections from the original notebook once you are confident the copy is complete. You might also add some text to the original notebook stating that it is no longer in use.

Add an External OneNote Notebook

OneNote notebooks can't be added to teams created from the Staff or Class templates. The built-in notebooks from those templates can be copied to the Files if you need a notebook and the ability to recover any deleted pages.

If you'd like the benefit of full-featured note-taking in a Microsoft Teams channel, you can add a OneNote notebook. Everyone in the channel will be able to view and make edits, or in the case of pre-existing notebooks they don't yet have permissions for, they can request access right from the tab.

See Microsoft's documentation to find out how to add a OneNote notebook to a teams channel.

 

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