The Microsoft Office suite is equal parts agitating and useful. Unfortunately, we spend most of our time dealing with the frustrating part and miss out on some really excellent productivity tools. If you’re a business professional that works from their computer and a mobile device, then you need to start using OneNote because it’s packed with features, if you know where to find them.

Take Audio and Video Notes

OneNote allows you to record audio and video through the “insert” tab. Clicking on the audio record option will immediately begin an audio recording. The video begins immediately as well but does pull up a pop-up window.

Both have extensive settings that you can set up and alter so you can really make it the most useful option for recording meetings or training sessions. It is also a great tool for those who work freelance and often talk through their work or need to make audio notes for their clients.

Extract Text from Images

Is there a more useful tool available? The recent Galaxy Note10 grabbed a ton of attention because of this specific function. Screenshot an image on your phone or save an image into your computer and drag it or paste it into your OneNote page. After your image is in place, simply right click and then select “copy text from the picture.”

For HR professionals and legal aids, this can save you tons of time. Avoid typing out anything that’s already on a poster, social media post, or image. Instead, copy the text, then use it, edit it, or apply it anywhere you need to.

One Click Emails

Unlike other Microsoft Suite options, OneNote has a button on the ribbon for emailing the page you’re on. Clicking the button will take you to Outlook, which isn’t everyone’s favorite, but it’s expected, given that you’re using a Microsoft application.

The advantage of one-click emailing is clearly the time-saving. If you already use Outlook, then you have your contacts, signatures, and templates in place, which can make sending a page as an email a task that only takes seconds.

Password Protect Sections

There are times when you want to protect your whole notebook, but because OneNote is meant for sharing, there’s a limited protection option. Instead of protecting everything, protect sections. When someone who can access your Binder attempts to go into that section, they’re prompted for a password.

Anyone working in the medical field or handling sensitive employee or customer data can rely on this feature. Where OneNote may not initially seem like a protected option, with this function, it is.

Use Your Features Carefully

As most people realize with Microsoft Office applications, the more features you use, the more risk you run of something crashing. You can do more extensive things like embed Excel spreadsheets, but you run the risk of everything coming down.

For ultimate productivity, use only the features you need to get going. Overall, OneNote could become the central location for your team’s meeting minutes and more. Use OneNote to keep track of various lists, information, and action items that you can extract from various lists and compile into one.