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How to Mark All Notes as Read in Microsoft OneNote

Chanuka Geekiyanage Sep 28, 2026 870 views

Question details

Clear unread note indicators and mark all notes as read in Microsoft OneNote.

How to Mark All Notes as Read in Microsoft OneNote

Product: Microsoft OneNote
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: A user is seeing unread indicators on their notebook pages and wants a quick way to mark all changes as read simultaneously.
Observed behavior: Unread note indicators persist in the notebook interface, making it difficult to track genuinely new updates.

Before you start

Ensure your OneNote notebook is fully synced to the cloud before clearing unread indicators, so you do not miss recent changes made by collaborators.

Solution 1Recommended

Use the History Tab to Mark Notes as Read

The most straightforward method to clear unread highlighting across your OneNote notebook.

OneNote provides a dedicated option within its ribbon to instantly mark all unread changes as read. This is especially useful for shared notebooks where edits frequently trigger unread indicators.

Open the History Tab

Navigate to the top ribbon in Microsoft OneNote and click on the 'History' tab.

Select Mark as Read

Click the 'Mark as Read' button in the toolbar. From the dropdown menu, you can choose to mark the current page, section, or the entire notebook as read to clear the indicators.

Use the History Tab to Mark Notes as Read

Quick Shortcut: Pressing Ctrl + Q will instantly mark the current notebook page as read.

Solution 2

Toggle the 'Show Unread Changes' Setting

Use this method if unread indicators remain stuck or if you want to temporarily disable tracking for unread changes.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why do my OneNote pages keep showing up as unread?

This usually occurs in shared notebooks when other users make edits. It can also happen if you use OneNote across multiple devices and a sync registers your own edits from another device as 'new' changes.

Can I mark just a specific section as read instead of the whole notebook?

Yes. When you click the 'Mark as Read' button in the History tab, you can choose 'Mark Section as Read' from the dropdown menu to apply the action only to the current section.

How do I easily find all unread changes in my OneNote notebook?

You can use the 'Recent Edits' feature located in the History tab. This allows you to filter and review all recent modifications, making it easy to see exactly what has been updated before you mark the notebook as read.

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