How to create quick notes in OneNote for Windows 10 with a keyboard shortcut

Up until recently you used to be able to easily create Quick Notes in OneNote for Windows 10. For those of us who use OneNote frequently, this was a godsend. Alas Microsoft have slowly been removing this functionality and it’s pretty much only reliable now for Microsoft Surface users who can trigger a QuickNote using their Surface pen.

However it’s possible to create the same functionality in Windows 10 using the marvelous AutoHotKey app and a bit of copy and paste magic.

1. Download AutoHotKey and install.
2. Right click the desktop (or some other location of your choice) and choose New > AutoHotKey Script.

3. Rename the file that you’ve just created to something meaningful.
4. Right click the file and choose Edit Script. The script is just a text file which can be edited.

5. The script has some default header lines which are best left in place. Hit enter to add a new line and copy the following text to the bottom of the script. This will trigger the command “onenote-cmd://quicknote?onOpen=typing” when you press Win+N.
   
   If you want to change the keyboard shortcut combo then look at the AutoHotKey help page for more info.
   
   Here’s the script to paste in. Once pasted at the bottom of the file, save it as normal.

#n::
Run, onenote-cmd://quicknote?onOpen=typing
return

6. Finally, quickly double click the script file to add it to AutoHotKeys uber-mind and register the keyboard combo. You should see a new H icon appear in the systray.

Now try it out with Win+N and you should get a new QuickNote page appear in the OneNote window, ready to type in. It’s not *exactly* the same as the old quicknote window, but it’s a pretty good way of getting something similar.

Don’t forget to check out the AutoHotKey docs for more info. And let me know if this was useful.