To make a checklist in OneNote, type your list, select it and choose the To Do tag on the Home tab, or press Ctrl+1. Each line gets a box you click to tick. Find Tags then gathers every unticked item across your notebooks onto one summary, which makes OneNote a good home for a personal to-do list or a list of meeting actions.
This guide walks through each step, a to-do page template you can reuse, how to share the checklist and see who changed it, and where a OneNote checklist stops being the right tool for a team process.
Before You Start: Which OneNote
OneNote for Windows 10 reached the end of support on 14 October 2025 and is now read-only: Microsoft says you can view and export notes but not edit them. The steps below are for the OneNote app on Windows, which comes with Microsoft 365. OneNote for Mac, the web and phones can make the same checklist, with fewer of the extras; the differences are noted in each step.
How to Make a Checklist in OneNote, Step by Step
Type the list
On a new page, type one item per line, starting each with a verb. Give the page a clear title, such as the date or the name of the process, so Find Tags shows where each item came from.
Add the To Do tag
Select the lines and choose To Do in the Tags gallery on the Home tab, or press Ctrl+1, which Microsoft lists for Windows and the web in its OneNote shortcuts. On an iPhone, tap the To Do icon above the keyboard; on an iPad, use the Tag icon on the Home tab (tags on iPad and iPhone).
Tick the items
Click a box to tick it, and click again to clear it. To take the box off a line, right-click it and choose Remove Tag, or press Ctrl+0 (apply a tag to a note).
Find the open items
Choose Home > Find Tags to open the Tags Summary pane, which lists every tagged item. Use the Search drop-down to choose where to look, such as this section or all notebooks, and select Refresh Results. Create Summary Page puts the results on a new page (search for tagged notes). On a Mac, search for the tag's name instead (tags in OneNote for Mac).
Add a tag for each person
For a shared list, create a tag for each owner and add it beside their items, so Find Tags can show one person's steps. In OneNote for Mac, open the Tags gallery on the Home tab and choose Create New Tag. Microsoft notes that OneNote for the web doesn't support custom tags or Find Tags.
Add a reminder with Outlook
In OneNote on Windows, select an item, select the arrow beside Outlook Tasks on the Home tab and choose when to be reminded. OneNote adds a flag, the task appears in Outlook, and ticking it in either app completes it in both (create Outlook tasks in OneNote). The task goes into your own Outlook, so it reminds you rather than the person who owns the step, and OneNote for the web has no Outlook commands.
A Reusable To-Do Page Template
For a checklist you run again and again, keep it as a page template. Choose Insert > Page Templates: OneNote's built-in templates include planners and to-do lists, and a template can only be applied to a new page with no notes on it.
To reuse your own checklist, build it on a page, then choose View > Paper Size > Save current page as a template. It appears under My Templates the next time you open Page Templates (create or customise page templates). OneNote for Mac doesn't support page templates; copy the page instead.
To print the checklist, choose File > Print in OneNote on Windows, which prints one page at a time. OneNote for the web also prints single pages.
An Example Checklist Page
Here is a new-starter IT checklist as a OneNote page, with a To Do tag on each line and a tag for each owner. The Due column counts days from the start date, so the same template works for every new starter.
| To Do | Task | Owner tag | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☐ | Create the user account and email address | IT | Day −3 |
| ☐ | Order and set up the laptop | IT | Day −3 |
| ☐ | Add to payroll | HR | Day −1 |
| ☐ | Book the welcome meeting | Line manager | Day 1 |
| ☐ | Grant access to shared drives and tools | IT | Day 1 |
Share It and See Who Changed What
A shared checklist lives in a shared notebook stored in OneDrive or SharePoint. Select Share at the top right, then Share Entire Notebook, choose whether people can edit or only view, and send the invitation. Microsoft's guide to sharing a notebook notes that you can no longer share a single page, and that the Android app can't share a notebook.
To see who changed what in OneNote on Windows:
- History > Hide Authors switches on the initials of whoever wrote each note (show authors).
- History > Recent Edits lists the pages changed in a date range (check recent changes).
- History > Page Versions shows earlier versions of the page, which you can restore. In OneNote for the web and on a Mac, it is under View > Page Versions (review the history of a page).
Where a OneNote Checklist Runs Out
OneNote is a good place for your own to-do list and for notes that hold a team's know-how. Teams usually hit the same limits when one checklist becomes a process that runs every week or for every new starter:
The five limits teams run into
- Every run is a new page. A template gives you a clean page, but someone has to create it each time, and nothing starts one on a schedule.
- An owner is a tag. A tag shows whose step it is but doesn't tell them, and an Outlook task reminds whoever created it.
- Any editor can tick any box. Nothing stops a step being ticked out of order, or unticked later.
- There is no record of each tick. Author initials and page versions show who changed a page, not who ticked which step and when.
- Sharing is all or nothing. You share the whole notebook, and Find Tags, custom tags and Outlook tasks don't work in OneNote for the web.
That is the point where checklist software earns its place. In CheckFlow a template starts a fresh checklist on schedule, every task has an owner and a due date, halts keep steps in order, approvals record the decision, and every run is kept with who did what and when. For your own to-dos, CheckFlow's Tasks Grid holds standalone tasks beside the steps you are assigned in checklists. Generate with AI turns a checklist pasted as text, or a page printed to PDF, into a template you can edit, and the free AI checklist generator builds one from a single sentence. Recurring checklists shows how a checklist can start itself every week or month.
Make a Checklist in Other Apps
The same checklist in the other tools your team may use: Excel, Google Sheets, Word, Microsoft Teams and Lists and Notion.
Sources
- Microsoft Support, "What is happening to OneNote for Windows 10"
- Microsoft Support, "Create a To Do Checklist in OneNote"
- Microsoft Support, "Keyboard shortcuts in OneNote"
- Microsoft Support, "Tag notes in Microsoft OneNote in OneNote for iPad or iPhone"
- Microsoft Support, "Apply a tag to a note in OneNote"
- Microsoft Support, "Search for tagged notes in OneNote"
- Microsoft Support, "Use tags to categorize and prioritize notes in OneNote for Mac"
- Microsoft Support, "Differences between using a notebook in the browser and in OneNote"
- Microsoft Support, "Create Outlook tasks in OneNote"
- Microsoft Support, "Apply a OneNote template to a page"
- Microsoft Support, "Create or customize page templates"
- Microsoft Support, "Create pages, sections, or notebooks in OneNote for Mac"
- Microsoft Support, "Print a page of your notes in OneNote for Windows"
- Microsoft Support, "Print notes in OneNote for the web"
- Microsoft Support, "How to share a OneNote notebook"
- Microsoft Support, "Show authors in a shared notebook in OneNote for Windows"
- Microsoft Support, "How to check recent changes in a notebook in OneNote for Windows"
- Microsoft Support, "Review the history of a page"
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I add a checkbox in OneNote?
Select the line and choose the To Do tag on the Home tab, or press Ctrl+1 on Windows or in OneNote for the web. On an iPhone, tap the To Do icon above the keyboard. Click the box to tick it.
How do I make a to-do list in OneNote?
Type one item per line, select the lines and press Ctrl+1 to add a To Do tag to each. For a list you reuse, apply a to-do page template from Insert > Page Templates, or save your own page as a template.
How do I find unticked items in OneNote?
Choose Home > Find Tags in OneNote on Windows. The Tags Summary pane lists every tagged item in the scope you choose, and Create Summary Page puts them on one page. On a Mac, search for the tag's name. OneNote for the web has no Find Tags.
Is there a to-do list template in OneNote?
Yes. OneNote on Windows has built-in page templates, including to-do lists, under Insert > Page Templates, and you can save any page as your own template. OneNote for Mac doesn't support page templates.
Can I share a OneNote checklist with my team?
Yes, by sharing the notebook it is in: select Share, then Share Entire Notebook, and choose whether people can edit. You can't share a single page. For a checklist several people run every week, checklist software such as CheckFlow assigns each step and starts each run on schedule.
