Introducing the Latest Upgrade: Microsoft’s Revamped Sticky Notes in Windows 11

The Sticky Notes application in Windows is a great way to quickly write notes that stay on your desktop and (if you want) synchronize with your mobile devices. Microsoft is now testing a revamped version of Sticky Notes based on its OneNote service.

The current Sticky Notes app in Windows 10 and 11 is fairly basic, but it works well enough, and you can even choose to synchronize notes with your Microsoft account. That allows the notes you created to appear in the Outlook web app, Microsoft Teams, and the Microsoft 365 mobile app. Microsoft announced a new Sticky Notes app on its Microsoft 365 Insider Blog, which is “focused on creating and recalling notes more seamlessly than ever.”

The main difference with the new Sticky Notes is that it’s built around Microsoft’s OneNote application. It’s accessible from the new “Sticky Notes” button in the OneNote toolbar, or from the existing Win+Alt+S keyboard shortcut. Microsoft says you’ll also be able to pin it to the taskbar after opening, but it’s unclear if it will appear in the Start Menu.

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The new Sticky Notes can create text notes, just like the earlier version, but it also has a new Screenshot button that saves the current window along with its source. For example, clicking the Screenshot button while you have a PowerPoint presentation open will save the entire window, the name of the presentation, and the application icon in the note. If the note is a screenshot of a website, clicking it will open the original page. Your notes appear in the Sticky Notes list, the OneNote app on Windows, or the OneNote app on mobile devices.

The updated application looks impressive, but it also completely removes the sticky notes aesthetic that has stuck around since the original version on Windows XP Tablet Edition and Windows Vista. You can still move individual notes to their own windows with custom colors, but opening your notes now reveals a more basic list instead of notes all across your desktop. The Stickies app on Mac still resembles sticky notes.

The new Sticky Notes is available now in OnteNote for Windows version 2402 (build 17328.20000) or later, which is still in the Current Channel Preview and not rolled out to everyone. It’s not clear what will happen to the existing Sticky Notes experience, especially for people without OneNote installed.

Source: Microsoft 365 Insider Blog