How to export OneNote notes and move them to Barside

OneNote keeps notebooks in its own format, but OneNote for Windows can save any page or section as a Word document. Barside reads Word files and turns each one into a note, keeping headings, lists, tables and pictures. This guide shows the export, the import, what changes, and a plan for moving a few notebooks without stress.

Before you start

Barside is a free desktop app for Windows, Linux and Mac. Your notes live in a library on your own computer, with no account. It has workspaces for projects, linked notes, checklists and a task board, a calendar beside your notes, drawings, screen recording and call transcription, and AI features that use the AI account you connect.

One requirement matters for OneNote: the Word export needs OneNote for Windows. OneNote for Mac documents only a PDF export, and OneNote on the web exports pages as PDF or whole notebooks in OneNote's own format. If you use OneNote on a Mac, do the export on a Windows computer.

Step 1: Export pages or sections from OneNote for Windows

These steps follow Microsoft's help pages for OneNote for Microsoft 365, 2024, 2021 and 2016:

1. Open the notebook and go to the page or section you want to export.
2. Choose File > Export.
3. Under Export Current, choose Page or Section.
4. Choose *Word Document (.docx)** as the format.
5. Choose Export, pick a folder and save.
6. Repeat for each section.

With the keyboard, Alt+F, then S, then P for a page or S for a section, opens the same export. Microsoft notes that "you can only export the current page or section in your notebook", so a notebook with ten sections takes ten exports. Put them all in one folder.

Step 2: Import the files into Barside

1. Open Settings & backups → Notes from other apps → Import next to Import notes, or type import in the search bar.
2. Find OneNote and choose Choose .docx files.
3. Select all the Word files you exported.
4. Barside shows Ready to import: the notes and attachments it found and things to know.
5. Under Import into, keep A new workspace (From OneNote) or choose an existing one.
6. Choose Import, then Open workspace.

If anything goes wrong partway, Barside removes what it added: the import is all or nothing.

What comes along, and what changes

OneNote lets you place text boxes anywhere on a page. Barside notes flow from top to bottom, so content arrives in reading order. That is usually an improvement for searching and linking, but check pages that depended on layout.

A plan for moving several notebooks

1. Make a Barside backup with Export backup, so you can always go back.
2. Pick one notebook you use daily. Export each section as Word into one folder.
3. Import into a new workspace named after the notebook.
4. Use it for a week. Learn the keys on the OneNote keyboard shortcuts page.
5. Move the other notebooks, one workspace each.
6. Keep OneNote until you have checked the pages you care about most.

Barside imports up to 5,000 notes and 1 GB of files at a time, and Word files up to 200 MB each.

If something looks wrong

• A section arrived as one long note. That is how a section export works. Split it with the assistant if you connect an AI account, or export the important pages one by one.
• Layout looks different. Free-form pages become top-to-bottom text. Move the few blocks that need it.
• A Word file is skipped. It may be larger than 200 MB because of pictures. Export that section in smaller parts, page by page.

After the move

• Group with workspaces. Barside's workspaces play the role of notebooks, each with a color, and you can pin key notes to the top.
• Turn to-dos into checklists. Checklist items with due dates show on the task board.
• Draw again in Barside. Excalidraw drawings live inside notes and save as you draw.
• Link your notes with [[, and see them on the note graph.
• Save new pages from templates. The template gallery has class notes, meeting notes and planners you open in Barside with one click.

Is Barside a good fit for OneNote users?

Barside suits you if you mostly type your notes on a computer, want them stored on that computer rather than in a cloud account, and would like tasks, a calendar, reading and recording in the same app. It is free, and it works offline.

Stay with OneNote, or keep it alongside Barside, if you write by hand with a pen, need your notes on a phone or tablet, or share class notebooks with teachers and students. Those are things OneNote does well and Barside does not do.

OneNote and Barside, side by side

OneNote is free with a Microsoft account and syncs through OneDrive to phones and the web, with ink, free-form pages and Microsoft 365 integration. Barside keeps your library on your computer, works offline, and adds capture tools: screen recording, call transcription, web page saving and a read-it-later inbox. It has no phone app. The OneNote alternative guide compares them in detail, and the best note-taking apps list shows more options.