Microsoft working on single unified OneNote for Windows app

Washington: American tech is working on plans to unify its OneNote and OneNote for Windows 10 apps into a single unified OneNote app.

According to The Verge, Microsoft has taken all the improvements in its Windows 10 UWP OneNote app and brought them over to the traditional OneNote desktop app instead. These improvements to the traditional OneNote desktop app that installs as part of Office will appear in a series of updates over the next 12 months. The new updates include a visual refresh and "key existing features currently unique to OneNote for Windows 10."

It's not clear which features from OneNote for Windows 10 will make their way over to the OneNote desktop app, but Microsoft has said, "We are working to ensure that all the most loved features will continue to be a part of OneNote."

Existing users of the dedicated OneNote for Windows 10 app will be asked to upgrade to the full desktop OneNote app in the second half of 2022.

The OneNote team explains, "Advances in Windows and Office will allow us to unify the two apps so that you'll have the simplicity of a single OneNote app on Windows while enjoying the interface and features you're already familiar with."

As per The Verge, while the company immediately won't kill off the UWP version of OneNote for Windows 10, Microsoft does note that OneNote users should move to the desktop app by October 2025, when OneNote for Windows 10 will reach the end of support.

These changes to OneNote on Windows won't affect Microsoft's other OneNote apps for macOS, iOS, Android, or the web. It's simply Microsoft unifying its separate OneNote apps into something that hopefully has the best of the UWP and desktop worlds.