Microsoft Really Wants You to Stop Using The Old OneNote

Microsoft has re-released OneNote so many times that it's hard to keep track. But what you need to know right now is that Microsoft really, really wants you off the OneNote app on Windows 10—and it'll make your life harder while you move off it.

Microsoft is taking increasingly aggressive steps to consolidate its OneNote user base onto the newer, "modern" version of the note-taking application, going so far as to intentionally degrade the performance of the older "OneNote for Windows 10" app. The company confirmed that it will deliberately slow down synchronization speeds for the legacy app starting in June 2025.

The OneNote app Microsoft is trying to move people away from was originally designed for Windows 10 and optimized for touch-screen devices. Microsoft has officially stated that OneNote for Windows 10 will reach its end of support in October 2025, coinciding with the end of support for Windows 10 itself. This part is not really surprising (and if you're going to stick with Windows 10 through ESUs you can just use the new app). What is surprising, however, is the fact that Microsoft is going all the way to actually degrade the experience on the older app. More specifically, you'll experience "slower sync performance," impacting real-time collaboration and access to notes across multiple devices. This means notes will take longer to synchronize between devices, making the app less useful for those who rely on quick updates.

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The company is not stopping there, either. Starting in July 2025, Microsoft will añsp begin displaying prompts and banners within OneNote for Windows 10, urging users to upgrade to the modern OneNote experience that's a part of the larger Microsoft 365 package. The modern OneNote app lacks the ability to email notes directly, a feature present in the legacy version, so it's not exactly "feature-complete," or at least probably not enough for Microsoft to try and aggressively force users to migrate. Some users have also reported that the modern app is less touch-friendly than its UWP predecessor, so that's another thing to keep in mind if you have a 2-in-1 laptop or a tablet.

While you can continue to use the app through October 2024, Microsoft trying to make it increasingly more unattractive and annoying to use is an unique choice. We've seen Microsoft being annoying with upgrade banners practically begging you to update your OS or apps/services, but actually intentionally making an app or service worse to get users off it is something we don't see too often.

On one hand, Microsoft's strategy with OneNote has been confusing, and the company is scrambling to streamline it. We have as many as three different OneNote experiences at the moment (the old Windows 10 app, the modern Windows 11 app, and the web app), and we don't even have the same set of features across all three. The company had previously committed to unifying the features of the legacy OneNote for Windows 10 app into the modern OneNote app, and we hope that this process is finished when the EOL date for the older app rolls around. We still have a few months left, but the clock is ticking.

Source: Windows Latest

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