The password protection utilized in OneNote keeps your notes safe. Whether used in a scholastic, corporate, or business setting, the encryption and versatility of OneNote will give you control over who, and when, specific sections in your notebook can be accessed.
OneNote is an incredible tool for getting organized and creative. The ability to lock, and unlock, specific sections within a notebook lends itself to many educational applications. Teachers can sharing the entire semester’s notes in one Notebook and unlock one section at a time. They can also place different versions of tests, quizzes, and study guides within each section, and then alternating between them and a new section to prevent hacking.
If you haven’t used this capability before, it’s a relatively straightforward process. Locking down sections of your notebook is the easy part; coming up with a password you won’t forget, on the other hand, may be a bit more difficult.
Adding a section password:
When a notebook section has been protected with a password, all of its pages are locked and hidden from view. For additional security, password-protected sections will automatically lock after a designated period of inactivity.
Right-click the name of the notebook section that you want to protect.
Choose “Password Protection “
Choose “Add Password”
Type the desired password into the Enter Password box.
Retype your password into the Confirm Password box. Press Enter, and you’re set.
How to lock all password protected sections
If passwords have been applied to one or more sections in your notebook, they can all be locked simultaneously.
Right-click on any protected (but currently unlocked) section, choose Password Protection
Choose Lock Protected Sections. All protected sections will be locked immediately.
In order to unlock a protected section:
Protected sections will be locked automatically when you exit OneNote. To unlock, simply:
Click on the section you want to unlock.
Type the password into the Password box
Press Enter.
How to change the password for a protected section:
Right-click on any protected (but currently unlocked) section whose password you want to change.
Choose Password Protection
Choose Change Password. (If this option isn’t available, then you must create a password for that section.)
Enter the current password into the Old Password box.
Enter the new password in the New Password Box.
Re-enter the new password into the Confirm Password box. Press Enter.
NOTE: Each section in your Notebook is independent of the other sections. Changing a password for a section will only affect that section. The above steps must be repeated in order to change passwords for all other sections.
Removing the password from a protected section:
Right-click on any protected (but currently unlocked) section whose password you want to remove.
Choose Password Protection.
Choose Remove Password.
Enter the current password in the Remove Password window, and press Enter.
Important notes about passwords:
Passwords cannot be applied to entire notebooks, only to sections within notebooks.
All passwords are case-sensitive.
Protected sections will not be included in notebook searches. Sections must be unlocked in order to be searched.
OneNote uses 128 bit AES encryption to secure password-protected sections. This is the same level of encryption that banks and the government use to protect military intelligence and personal banking records. If you forget any of your section passwords, no one will be able to unlock those notes for you (not even Microsoft Technical Support). Use caution when adding passwords to your notebook sections and when changing them. It is strongly recommended that you write down all passwords and store them in a secure location.
This is one of the many features that Microsoft offers. Want to learn more about what OneNote and what Windows 10 can offer for your classroom? Click below.
