How to Organize and Summarize Meeting Notes in OneNote 2016
Question details
The user needs a method to automatically collect and generate a summary report of recurring topics and subtopics across multiple meeting note pages.
- Product
- OneNote 2016
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Compiling specific text, decisions, and subtopics from various meeting minute pages into a single, organized summary report.
- Observed behavior
- OneNote 2016 cannot automatically summarize or collect arbitrary text from multiple pages natively; notes must be structured or manually tagged to generate a compilation.
Ensure you have OneNote 2016 installed and open the notebook containing all the meeting pages you wish to organize and summarize.
Use Custom Tags and the Find Tags Feature to Create a Summary
Since OneNote cannot extract untagged text automatically, manually applying specific tags to recurring topics allows you to compile them into a unified summary page.
OneNote requires structured data to organize information across different pages. By consistently applying tags to specific subtopics during your meetings, you can use the built-in search features to pull all tagged items into a single report.
Open a meeting notes page in OneNote 2016. Select the text relating to a recurring topic, navigate to the 'Home' tab on the ribbon, and click a tag from the 'Tags' gallery (e.g., 'Discuss with Manager' or a custom tag you created for the project).
Go through your other meeting pages and apply the exact same tags to related subtopics so OneNote can group them properly.
Return to the 'Home' tab and click on the 'Find Tags' button to open the Tags Summary pane on the right side of your screen.
In the Tags Summary pane, set the 'Group tags by' dropdown to 'Tag name'. Select your search scope (e.g., 'This Notebook') from the 'Search' dropdown, then click 'Create Summary Page' at the bottom. OneNote will generate a new page compiling all tagged notes.
Design and Apply Structured Meeting Templates
Create a standardized meeting template to ensure subtopics are always documented in the same format, making manual review and tagging much easier.
Try WPS Office for Smarter Meeting Notes and Summaries
If manual tagging in OneNote 2016 is slowing down your workflow, consider using WPS Office for your meeting minutes. WPS Office is a powerful, lightweight productivity suite equipped with WPS AI, which can instantly summarize meeting transcripts and extract action items without tedious manual tagging.
- 1. Download and Install WPS Office: Visit the official WPS Office website to download the free suite and install it on your computer or mobile device.
- 2. Draft or Import Meeting Notes: Open WPS Docs to write your meeting minutes from scratch, use a free built-in template, or paste your existing notes.
- 3. Use WPS AI to Summarize: Highlight your meeting text, activate the WPS AI assistant from the toolbar, and prompt it to generate a comprehensive summary and action item list instantly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can OneNote 2016 automatically summarize untagged text?
No, OneNote 2016 does not feature built-in automated text extraction or AI summarization for untagged content. You must manually apply tags or use third-party automation integrations to collect arbitrary text into a summary.
How do I create custom tags for specific meeting subtopics in OneNote?
Navigate to the 'Home' tab, click the drop-down arrow in the Tags gallery, and select 'Customize Tags'. Click 'New Tag', name your custom tag (e.g., 'Budget Review'), choose an icon, and click 'OK'.
Does the summary page update automatically if I add new tagged notes?
No. The summary page generated by the 'Find Tags' feature is a static snapshot created at that exact moment. If you add new tags to your meeting notes later, you will need to run 'Find Tags' again and generate a new summary page.
