How to insert images, files, and voice notes into OneNote

Microsoft OneNote has become one of the most versatile productivity tools for organizing digital content, whether it's text, images, documents, voice notes, or even videos. Whether you use it in an educational or professional setting, knowing how to insert different types of multimedia can make all the difference in keeping your notes well-structured and visually appealing.

Whatever your goal, from recording the progress of a meeting to saving images or class recordings, inserting all types of files into OneNote is a key feature that, when used correctly, can transform your notes into truly dynamic and attractive information hubs.

Inserting images into OneNote

One of the most common ways to enrich OneNote pages is with images. You can add them in a variety of ways, and each method has its own usefulness depending on the context. Let's look at them one by one.

From a public URL

If you have access to an image hosted online with a public URL , the easiest way to insert it is with the tag <img src="https://image-url" /> . This will display it directly on your page.

Inserting binary data

Once you have the image files on your computer, you can send them using a multipart request. In your input HTML, you would include ` <img src="name:identifier" />` and then attach the binary data as another part of the submission. Base64 or other encoding formats are not required.

Capture a web page as an image

OneNote also allows you to insert screenshots of entire web pages as images . To do this, use `data-render-src="https://url-of-the-page"` . The API renders that URL as a static image, allowing you to archive it visually.

Insert HTML rendered as an image

In cases where you want to represent an HTML block as an image (for example, diagrams or complex structures), you first send the HTML as part of the request and then use <img data-render-src="name:html-block" />.

Extract text from an image

One of OneNote's hidden gems is the "Copy text from image" option . Once you insert the image, right-click and select this option to copy the text automatically detected by OCR to the clipboard .

Format compatibility

OneNote accepts images in formats such as BMP, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and GIF . If you have an unsupported format, you can convert it beforehand or send the image as an attachment.

Insert videos into OneNote

To add videos to a page, OneNote uses iframes . It supports platforms such as YouTube, TED, Dailymotion, Vimeo, Sway, Sketchfab, and others.

How to insert a video

You must use the tag <iframe data-original-src="https://video-url" width="340" height="280" /> . These parameters can be modified to customize the size of the embedded player.

Insert attachments in OneNote

If you want to add documents like PDFs, Word files , Excel spreadsheets, or any other type of file, you can do so using the `<object>` tag . This works just like attaching the file to an email, but within your notes.

Label format

Use: `<object data="name:identifier" data-attachment="file.extension" type="type/mimetype" />` . This will display a file icon in your note that can be easily opened.

PDF files as images

One of the great advantages is that PDF files can be rendered as images so that their pages are directly viewable, using <img data-render-src="name:part" />.

Insert voice notes and transcripts

OneNote lets you easily record and add audio or video notes . It also features automatic transcription, converting the content into editable text.

How to record audio or video

From the Insert menu , select Record Audio or Record Video . A player will be inserted into the note, and the file will be attached with its date and time.

Automatic transcription

OneNote lets you upload MP3 or MP4 files and transcribe them. You can choose between:

• Only text
• Text with speaker identification
• With timestamps
• Combination of speaker and timestamps

Alternative insertion methods

Screenshots

You can capture a portion of your screen by pressing Windows + Shift + S. Then simply paste that content into OneNote using CTRL + V.

Drag from the explorer

You can also open your pictures or documents folder and drag the file directly into OneNote. This is one of the fastest ways to insert content from your computer.