I want to put the floating search bar in OneNote back in the page list

Question

I want to put the floating search bar in OneNote back in the page list

Mary Branscombe 35

The new position for the OneNote search bar floats it right over the page title and content unless the window is full screen or you hide all the OneNote tools by switching views. Just minimising the search bar won't help because when you open it, it will still be in the way of content you are looking at as part of your search process. How do we give Microsoft good feedback to help fix this?

the Answers discussion is full of feedback but that site will no longer work soon https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/in-onenote-the-search-bar-has-moved-how-do-i-put/61b0cc27-62d9-4e65-8e91-64edc73f7dcd?page=1
the feedback item for the floating search bar is here https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/35666fd7-843d-f011-a2d9-7c1e5299279a
the comment section on the blog has at least one official Microsoft reply (unlike the feedback site) but it's buried deeply in the stream of replies https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microsoft_365blog/more-room-for-your-notes-in-onenote/4411729?after=MjUuM3wyLjF8aXwxMHwxMzI6MHxpbnQsNDQzMTI3Myw0NDIxMzk1
hopefully picking this up here will avoid momentum on feedback being lost

Mary Branscombe 35 Reputation points

2025-08-01T15:03:41.5866667+00:00

the Answers discussion is now locked but has been migrated here https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5436664/in-onenote-the-search-bar-has-moved-how-do-i-put-i?forum=msoffice-all&referrer=answers

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Mary Branscombe 35 Reputation points

2025-08-01T15:03:41.5866667+00:00

the Answers discussion is now locked but has been migrated here https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5436664/in-onenote-the-search-bar-has-moved-how-do-i-put-i?forum=msoffice-all&referrer=answers

Answer 1

Flora-T 3,045 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Mary Branscombe

Thank you for taking the time to share such a thoughtful and well-documented post, and I completely understand your concern.

The current floating position of the OneNote search bar has been a common point of feedback, especially from users working with limited screen space or relying on the ability to quickly glance at page titles while searching. I appreciate how clearly you've described the impact on your workflow.

While there’s currently no built-in option to revert the search bar to its previous position in the page list, I’d like to offer a few steps to help ensure your feedback reaches the right teams and contributes toward meaningful improvements:

Leaving a constructive comment on this official blog post helps reinforce that this issue is affecting everyday users.
Send in-app feedback directly from OneNote app through Help > Feedback then make a clear suggestion. This routes your feedback straight to the OneNote team.
Microsoft has responded to user comments on this Feedback Portal. You need to describe your experience in more detail: what kind of tasks it interferes with, or how it impacts your workflow. The more context Microsoft sees, the better.

For further reference: Send feedback to Microsoft

While we await official updates, here are some workarounds that may temporarily help:

Maximize your OneNote window when searching to reduce visual overlap
Hide the notebook/page list temporarily in case you need more space
Minimize the search bar when not in use, though I know this isn’t ideal

Your feedback is sincerely appreciated and plays an important role in guiding future improvements. Thank you for your patience and continued advocacy for accessibility.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Flora-T 3,045 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-07-14T05:42:02.2533333+00:00

Dear Mary Branscombe

I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback, it truly means a lot. I understand how important this issue is to you, and I want you to know that your voice is heard. Ensuring a smooth, accessible, and user-friendly experience is something we care deeply about, and insights like yours play a key role in helping us improve.

While I don’t have access to internal engineering teams or influence over product development decisions, I’m here to support you as best I can, whether that’s clarifying documentation, sharing helpful tips, or making sure your concerns reach the right people. Please keep the feedback coming, it really does help drive change.

I’d be grateful if you could mark my initial answer as Accepted. It helps others find this thread more easily and acknowledges the support you received.
Flora-T 3,045 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-07-16T00:48:49.4366667+00:00

Hi Mary Branscombe

It has been a while, and I am writing to see how things are going with this issue.

Have you had a chance to check the replies provided?

Any update would be appreciated.
Mary Branscombe 35 Reputation points

2025-08-01T15:02:39.53+00:00

I've been waiting to see if the promised update that the OneNote Team said would be 'coming in a month' actually arrived so we would know if feedback is really getting through, but it's now August and there has still been no announcement on when users can get options to revert this extremely disruptive change and there is no reply from Microsoft that I can find on the feedback site that you claim has a reply in; in fact other people in that feedback thread have noticed that your reply here says there is a reply and complained that there isn't, so I don't feel I can mark this as an accepted answer when it's incorrect, and there is no feedback from the product team.
Flora-T 3,045 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-04T04:17:11.8833333+00:00

Hi Mary Branscombe

Thank you for your continued engagement and for sharing your honest feedback.

I understand this improvement has been a common concern as it disrupts many users' workflow.

I've double-checked the sources, and you're absolutely right that the Feedback Portal thread isn't the exact page where Microsoft's reply is located. The correct link is actually the blog post titled "More Room for Your Notes in OneNote", where an official response from Microsoft is buried in the comments section. It's not immediately visible, which understandably caused confusion.Thanks for pointing that out since it's important to keep the feedback conversation accurate and transparent.

In this post, Microsoft also encouraged users to send feedback directly from the OneNote app to ensure suggestions like yours go straight to the product team and help them better understand how changes impact everyday workflows.

I know workarounds provided above aren't the fix you were hoping for, but I really appreciate your patience and advocacy. I'm also hopeful that Microsoft will address this as soon as possible.
Mary Branscombe 35 Reputation points

2025-08-07T18:18:55.46+00:00

The latest comment from the OneNote team still doesn't address the issue I and many other users have and have repeatedly explained in feedback; shrinking the icon doesn't make the feature usable again, the box is in the way when we look at the results of a search!

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microsoft_365blog/more-room-for-your-notes-in-onenote/4411729/replies/4439956
Jesse C 10 Reputation points

2025-08-07T21:51:50.1066667+00:00

I said this in the previous "help" forums that got shut down, that the fix for this issue is NOT another update to change OneNote, the correct and ONLY fix is a full roll back the the previous version from a year ago before they butchered it.

And after they roll it back, if they want an "improvement" I suggest it comes in the form of a company policy that anyone who even suggests changing it again gets fired, out of a cannon.

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I want to put the floating search bar in OneNote back in the page list

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