How do I record audio in OneNote Android?

OneNote is a popular note-taking app developed by Microsoft that is available on multiple platforms including Android. OneNote allows users to take text, image, video and audio notes in digital notebooks. One of the key features of OneNote is its ability to record audio directly within the app.

The Android version of OneNote has full audio recording capabilities built right in. This allows Android users to easily capture audio notes, meetings, interviews, lectures and more directly within the app. The audio recordings are then synced automatically to the cloud and available across all OneNote platforms.

This guide will provide step-by-step instructions for how to record, insert and manage audio recordings in OneNote for Android.

Prerequisites

In order to record audio in OneNote for Android, you’ll first need to make sure you have:

• An Android device running Android 5.0 or later. OneNote’s system requirements specify that devices need to be running Android 5.0 Lollipop or later in order to run the OneNote app (Source: Microsoft OneNote on Google Play).
• The OneNote app installed. You can download the free OneNote for Android app from the Google Play store. A Microsoft account is required to use the app (Source: Microsoft Support).

Once you have an Android device running version 5.0 or later and have downloaded the OneNote app, you’ll be ready to start recording audio.

Access the Recording Screen

To access the recording screen in OneNote for Android, first open the note you want to record audio in. Tap the microphone icon in the top right corner of the screen. This will open the recording toolbar at the bottom of the screen.

According to this Microsoft forum post, the OneNote mobile app for Android allows audio recording, while the OneNote web app does not.

Start Recording

To start an audio recording in OneNote for Android, simply tap the microphone icon in the top bar. This will open the recording screen. According to OneNote Android will only dictate, can’t audio record, tap the red record button at the bottom to begin recording audio.

As mentioned on Reddit, once you tap the record button, OneNote will immediately start capturing audio through your device’s microphone.

Stop Recording

To stop recording your audio, simply tap the red stop button in the bottom toolbar. This will end the recording session and save the audio clip within your note.

According to the Microsoft Support article, “To capture notes using voice input, click the Mic button, record your thoughts, and then click the Mic button again to end the recording and save the note.”

Once you tap the stop button, the audio recording will be embedded into your note and you can playback or edit it as needed.

Play Back Recording

Once you finish recording in OneNote for Android, you can play back the audio to listen to it. To play a recording:

1. Open the note where you recorded the audio.
2. Tap on the audio icon to open the recording panel.
3. Tap the play button to listen to the recording. You can pause and rewind as needed.

The playback controls allow you to start, stop, pause, and scrub through the recording to listen to the specific parts you want. You can play recordings as many times as needed.

If the recording is long, it may take a few seconds to load before you can press play. Make sure the audio has fully loaded before trying to play it back.

To stop playback, simply tap the pause button or tap outside of the recording panel.

Insert Recording

To insert an audio recording into a note in OneNote for Android:

1. Open the note where you want to insert the recording.
2. Tap the plus icon (+) and select “Record audio.”
3. Follow the steps to record your audio as outlined above.
4. Once you finish recording, tap “Insert” to insert the recording into your note.

The recording will now be embedded in your note as an audio file that you can play back directly within OneNote. Tapping “Insert” is the final step to fully add the newly recorded audio to the current note.

Source: How to Record and Play Audio in Microsoft OneNote Mobile App

Edit Recording

After recording audio in OneNote for Android, you have several options to edit the recording:

To trim the start or end of a recording:

1. Tap on the audio icon to open the recording toolbar.


2. Tap the “Edit” button (scissors icon).

3. Drag the start and end sliders to trim the recording length as desired.

4. Tap “Done” when finished trimming.

To rename a recording:

1. Tap on the audio icon to open the recording toolbar.

2. Tap the “Edit” button (scissors icon).

3. Tap on the file name to change it.


4. Enter a new name and tap “OK” to save changes.

To share a recording:

1. Tap on the audio icon to open the recording toolbar.

2. Tap the “Share” button (arrow icon).

3. Choose a sharing method like email or social media.

To delete a recording:


1. Tap on the audio icon to open the recording toolbar.

2. Tap the “Delete” button (trash icon).

3. Confirm deletion by tapping “Yes”.

Recording Settings

OneNote for Android allows you to customize the audio quality and source when recording audio notes. To access the recording settings, tap the gear icon in the top right corner of the Recording screen.

Under Audio Source, you can choose between the phone’s microphone or an external Bluetooth microphone if you have one paired. The external microphone may provide higher quality recordings.

The Audio Quality setting lets you select Low (8kbps), Medium (32kbps), High (128kbps) or Best (256kbps). Higher quality settings will result in larger file sizes but better audio fidelity. Medium quality provides a good balance for typical voice recordings.

You can also enable or disable noise cancellation to reduce background noise. This can help improve clarity, especially when recording in noisy environments.

Testing different combinations of settings can help you find the optimal configuration for your particular recording needs. Just be aware of the trade-offs between audio quality and file size when choosing quality levels.

Sources:

Record longer and write simultaneously on Android?
byu/audentis inOneNote

Conclusion

OneNote for Android provides a simple and useful audio recording feature to complement note taking. By accessing the recording screen through the microphone icon, you can easily start and stop recordings. Playbacks are done right within OneNote, and recordings can be inserted inline with text notes. With the ability to control settings like audio quality, OneNote makes it easy to capture audio on Android.

In summary, OneNote’s built-in audio recording allows you to:

• Record audio directly in the app
• Playback recordings for review
• Insert recordings alongside text notes
• Adjust audio quality as needed

Some additional tips for effective audio recording in OneNote for Android include:

• Use a headset for better audio quality
• Reduce background noise when possible
• Take notes while recording to retain context
• Review recordings and supplement with text notes