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Ever wished you could save a web page, PowerPoint deck, or PDF straight into your digital notebook? With OneNote’s virtual printer, that’s exactly what you can do—no extra apps required. Whether you’re in the boardroom, the classroom, or planning your next vacation, ‘printing to OneNote’ lets you capture any on-screen content as a new page so you can annotate, tag, and organize alongside your other notes. 

Printing to OneNote 

Printing to OneNote allows you to capture information from any application using OneNote’s virtual printers and send it directly to a page in your notebook—helping you keep digital copies of your content while saving paper. Once the information is printed on OneNote, you can access it from any device, even when you’re offline. You can leverage OneNote’s organization capabilities to keep all your information organized or even annotate on top of those pages. 

How to Print to OneNote 

With OneNote’s virtual printers, any app’s Print dialog becomes a gateway into OneNote. 

1. From any eligible document, file, or webpage, open the print dialog, usually done by pressing Ctrl+P (or going to File > Print). 


2. From the printer dropdown, choose OneNote (Desktop) or OneNote (Desktop) – Protected. 


3. Click Print—OneNote will open over your current window. 


4. In the dialog that appears, select the Notebook and Section where you’d like the page to go, then click OK. 

Your content is added as a series of printout images on a new page—ready for markup and integration with the rest of your notes. 

You can also set a default notebook section for all the documents and files you print to OneNote. Just go to File > Options > Send to OneNote > Print to OneNote > Set default location to choose where your printouts will go. 

Why You’ll Love It 

• Paperless capture: Eliminate stacks of handouts by storing everything digitally. 


• Offline access: Once synced, your “printed” pages are available on any device—even without internet. 


• Search & OCR: Find keywords inside your printouts using Search or extract editable text with right-click → select Copy Text from this Page of the Printout or Copy Text from All the Pages of the Printout. 


• Annotation: Highlight, draw, or pin tags right on top of your documents. 


• Share: Collaborate on your captured content with colleagues, classmates, or family. 

Meet the Two OneNote Virtual Printers 

With the OneNote Windows app, you may find two virtual printers in your system’s list to enable ‘print to OneNote’: 

1. OneNote (Desktop) 


2. OneNote (Desktop) – Protected 

They work identically—both send your content into OneNote—but the “Protected” one is a Print Support App (PSA) based on the Microsoft IPP class printer driver, introduced to comply with Windows Protected Print (WPP) mode.  When WPP is enabled, all non-IPP-based printers, including the OneNote (Desktop) printer, are uninstalled. In this case, you can use the ‘OneNote (Desktop) – Protected’ printer to print to OneNote. Learn more about the OneNote virtual printers from our support article here: Print documents and files to OneNote – Microsoft Support. 

Scenarios to Try 

• Save travel itineraries, receipts, or recipe cards in a “Trip Planning” or “Kitchen” notebook. 


• Print your W-2s, 1099s, and deduction receipts to tag each document by category and year in your ‘Tax Filing’ notebook and be audit-ready when tax season arrives. 


• Print lengthy documents—such as research reports, white papers, or draft manuscripts—and use your digital pen to highlight key points, jot down questions in the margins, or markup edits directly on the page. 


• Print monthly expense reports or vendor invoices to annotate approvals, flag pending items, and keep your budget on track. 


• Print insurance policies, medical bills, or prescriptions into a “Health Records” notebook—search for key terms and annotate treatment notes in one secure spot. 


• Print meeting agendas and slide decks, then highlight decisions, stamp action items, and link back to related notes for seamless follow-up. 


• Print workout plans, meal prep guides, or nutrition charts so you can check off completed sessions, add personal adjustments, and track progress over time. 

Ready to streamline your workflow? Next time you’re staring at a slide deck, PDF form, or complex diagram, skip the screenshot—and just ‘Print to OneNote’ instead. Your future self (and your recycle bin) will thank you! 

Availability  

This feature is currently available on OneNote on Windows. Learn more about availability and requirements for this feature here: Print documents and files to OneNote – Microsoft Support. 

Feedback 

We’d love to hear how printing to OneNote works for you! Share your feedback and suggestions by clicking Help > Feedback in the OneNote app—your insights help us make the feature and the product even better!