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Is it possible to easily align all the paragraphs in a OneNote page? I looked through the options for any mention of "Snap" but could not find anything. My goal is to be able to select all the paragraphs on a page and quickly make them the same width and left-aligned. It's difficult to do because as soon as you start moving one, the boxes disappear from the others which means you have to guess, especially at the right side.

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  • It's much easier to enter all of your text into the same container. This ensures that they're aligned and lets you move it as a group. Personally I would cut and paste all text into the same box.
    – Roger
    Jan 28, 2015 at 17:45
  • 1
    The problem is that I'm linking to specific paragraphs from other documents, which I think is a very handy feature. Jan 28, 2015 at 17:46

7 Answers 7

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There is a snap to grid feature that can be turned on/off. Select Draw and then the drop down arrow at Shapes at the bottom you'll see Snap to Grid. Selecting that turned mine on and now I am able to align various attachments and text boxes to present neatly on a page.

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  • Good to know they've added this at some point in the last 7 years :) Dec 8, 2022 at 15:42
  • Even though I don't use OneNote anymore, I have confirmed that this works. Dec 8, 2022 at 15:45
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There isn't really an easy way to do this automatically, but OneNote does tend to snap to a grid when you move text boxes by hand, you just have to sort of "eye it" when it is snapping into alignment with other text boxes.

One other option is to enable grid lines in your OneNote view, which will help you eye it at least: On the Ribbon, go to the View tab, and in the Page Setup area, there is a Rule Lines option where you can choose a grid to be displayed of various sizes. You can also check to have your pages always created with these grid lines.

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  • I can't see the Rule Lines setting in the OneNote 2016 for Mac version?
    – mhvelplund
    Feb 4, 2016 at 8:10
  • this KB article from MS seems to indicate the setting is still there in 2016. I can't verify though on my machine. support.office.com/en-us/article/… There is a 'tip' right below the first image saying you can add rule lines too...the image looks like the rule lines button is right there next to backgrounds
    – Brad P.
    Feb 9, 2016 at 17:46
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I have found a simple solution to this problem, which I was struggling with as well. When you single click below the text in the existing note container, OneNote wants to add the new text to the existing container. Clicking farther down, or somewhere else on the page then creates alignment issues, because OneNote doesn't really have an "align" or "snap" feature.

To avoid all of these problems and form a new container, just double click instead! And, if you want to make sure that the new container is aligned with the existing container, just double click over to the far left, and the new container will be positioned to the default, left edge.

Double clicking also works to insert a new container ABOVE the existing one, you just need to make sure that there is enough room up there to double click without accidentally clicking on the note date or the existing note. Again, doing your double-clicking way off to the far left helps there too.

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  • 1
    This, coupled with setting narrow ruled paper as paper style really helps in keeping track of lines and the spacing between sections.
    – Raunaq
    Jan 18, 2018 at 8:22
  • Awesome! You solved my issue! ;)
    – Brandt
    Aug 17, 2020 at 13:27
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There is a virtual vertical line on OneNote pages that if you click to the left of, the new text box will not go further to the left.

Let me say it in different words: If you type a title when you start a new page. Look at where the first letter starts, and try and click (or touch) further down the page to the left of that letter, this will bring the pointer at that level of the page, but perfectly lined up with the first letter of the title. Try it if not clear and see what this does.

I hope this works for you too.

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You can try the table-workaround for alignment:

  1. insert a table and hide the tableborders
  2. put your content inside the table cells
  3. use the rows and columns to align your content.

Here is a Screenshot: table-demo.png

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This addon can do it getonetastic.com

It has all the options needed to organize the containers: Horizontal spacing, vertical spacing, Align Left Top ...
https://getonetastic.com/macroland&category=Containers

How to use it:

Close Onenote, download the addon and install it, it's easy, click click click. Now open Onenote and you will find new buttons in the toolbar (Home tab). click Download macros > Container > and choose vertical spacing for example , a new window will open, click Install. that's all.

now a new button has appeared in the toolbar called Containers. to use it press CTRL+A to select all your containers, or select the ones you want manually, then click in containers and select Vertical Spacing.

It's free if you will use it occasionally, or 15 dollars for heavy use.

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Just tested some fonts, I think the one that fits College ruled lines best is Microsoft YaHey with fontsize 18.

If you are using the narrowed ruled lines, you should be fine with Arial with fontsize 11.

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  • Hi Tulio, thanks for your contribution. However, the question is about left/right aligning different paragraphs containers, not about fitting a font onto the ruled lines. Aug 19, 2020 at 8:06
  • My bad hahaha, i kinda answered what I was looking for Aug 20, 2020 at 13:03
  • No problem, feel free to share your knowledge by asking the question that fits your answer and then answer it yourself. Users get to enjoy your tips (when they search the relevant question) and you get some reputation. Aug 20, 2020 at 13:17
  • Ty for the advice! Aug 20, 2020 at 13:55

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