OneNote for Windows 10 Is Dead: Your Migration Guide to OneNote (Desktop) or Loop

What Happened to OneNote for Windows 10?

On October 14, 2025, the OneNote for Windows 10 app — the UWP version that shipped with the operating system — officially reached its end of support. This was not a surprise retirement. Microsoft had signaled the deprecation well in advance, aligning it with the broader end-of-support timeline for Windows 10 itself.

What does end of support actually mean for you? The app still opens. Your notebooks remain readable. But that is where the functionality stops. There will be no new features, no security patches, and no bug fixes. Over time, compatibility issues with newer Windows updates, cloud services, and third-party integrations are almost certain to emerge. If you are still using OneNote for Windows 10, you are effectively running abandonware.

The good news is that Microsoft has not abandoned the OneNote ecosystem. Quite the opposite. The company now offers two active, supported destinations for your notes: the modern desktop OneNote app (often called OneNote for Microsoft 365 or simply OneNote Desktop) and Microsoft Loop, a newer collaborative workspace platform. Each serves a fundamentally different use case, and neither is a drop-in replacement for the other.

This guide walks through both migration paths step by step, compares what you gain and lose with each option, and recommends a hybrid approach that lets you test Loop without abandoning the OneNote structure you have already built.

Your Two Migration Paths: OneNote (Desktop) vs. Microsoft Loop

Before diving into the step-by-step instructions, it helps to understand the fundamental difference between these two destinations. They are not competing products in the same category. They are built for different workflows.

• OneNote (Desktop) is a direct upgrade. It is the same notebook-and-section paradigm you already know, with a full Office ribbon interface, local notebook support, and every feature the UWP app had — plus several it did not. The migration is seamless because your notebooks already live in OneDrive. You simply open them in the new app.
• Microsoft Loop is a paradigm shift. It replaces static notebooks with portable, real-time collaborative components that can be embedded across Teams, Outlook, and other Microsoft 365 apps. Loop has no notebooks, no sections, no page hierarchy in the traditional sense. It is designed for teams that need live, shared workspaces — not for individual note-taking with inking, math equations, or offline access.

The decision between them depends on how you use notes today. If you are a power user who relies on handwriting, complex equations, local notebooks, or password-protected sections, the desktop OneNote app is the clear choice. If your team needs real-time collaboration on shared documents and you can live without offline mode and inking, Loop is worth evaluating.

Option A: Migrate to OneNote (Desktop) — The Seamless Path

For the majority of OneNote for Windows 10 users, the desktop OneNote app is the recommended migration target. It is free, it runs on both Windows 10 and Windows 11, and it preserves every feature you are accustomed to — including local notebooks, full inking support, math equation rendering, and password-protected sections.

The migration process itself is almost anticlimactic in its simplicity. Because both the UWP app and the desktop app store notebooks in the same OneDrive location, there is no export step, no file conversion, and no data loss.

Step-by-Step Migration to OneNote (Desktop)

1. Download and install the free OneNote desktop app from the Microsoft Store or directly from the official Microsoft website. It is listed as "OneNote" — not "OneNote for Windows 10."
2. Launch the desktop app and sign in with the same Microsoft account you used in OneNote for Windows 10.
3. Your existing notebooks will appear automatically in the notebook list. They are stored in your OneDrive and sync seamlessly. No import step is required.
4. If you have local notebooks (stored on your hard drive rather than in OneDrive), use File → Open to navigate to the .one or .onetoc2 file. The desktop app supports local notebooks natively.
5. Verify that all sections, pages, attachments, and handwritten notes have transferred correctly. Compare a few recent pages between the two apps before uninstalling the UWP version.

One important detail: the desktop app is free for everyone. You do not need a Microsoft 365 subscription to use it. It installs on both Windows 10 and Windows 11, and it will continue to receive updates and support for the foreseeable future.

Option B: Adopt Microsoft Loop — A New Way to Work

Microsoft Loop represents a fundamentally different approach to note-taking and collaboration. Instead of organizing information into notebooks and sections, Loop uses portable components — live tables, task lists, Kanban boards, and rich text blocks — that can be embedded across Microsoft 365 apps. A Loop component created in Teams can appear in an Outlook email and update in real time across all locations.

For teams that collaborate heavily on shared documents, meeting notes, and project plans, Loop offers capabilities that OneNote cannot match. But the migration path is far from seamless.

The Hard Truth: No Direct Migration Tool Exists

As of June 2026, there is no official tool to migrate OneNote notebooks into Microsoft Loop. This has been a known gap for years. A Microsoft Q&A thread originally opened in 2023 asking for a migration path remained unanswered as of 2025, with one commenter noting, "2025 and still no migration. It's a shame, Microsoft." The only method available is manual copy-paste.

Step-by-Step Migration to Microsoft Loop

1. Ensure you have a Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard, Premium, or Enterprise subscription. Loop is not available with free Microsoft accounts or Office 365 subscriptions.
2. Open loop.microsoft.com or launch the Loop app from the Microsoft 365 app launcher. Create a new workspace for each major topic or project you want to migrate.
3. Open your OneNote notebook side by side with the Loop workspace. Select the content from a OneNote page — text, tables, images — and paste it into a new Loop page. Formatting may not transfer perfectly; expect to spend time adjusting layouts.
4. Rebuild your notebook structure manually. Loop does not have sections or section groups. Use pages and subpages within workspaces to approximate your original hierarchy.
5. For attachments and embedded files, download them from OneNote and re-upload them into the corresponding Loop page. Loop supports file attachments but does not render them inline the way OneNote does.
6. Export critical notebooks as PDF from OneNote before starting the migration. This gives you a static backup in case anything is lost during the copy-paste process.

The manual nature of this migration means it is only practical for users with a small to moderate number of notes. If you have accumulated hundreds of pages across multiple notebooks over several years, Option A (desktop OneNote) is almost certainly the better choice.

Feature Comparison: What You Gain and What You Lose

The table below compares the three OneNote variants and Microsoft Loop across the features that matter most to existing OneNote users. Use it to identify which gaps are dealbreakers for your workflow.

The most significant gaps for individual power users are the absence of offline mode and handwriting support in Loop. Multiple sources, including first-hand accounts published on XDA Developers in late 2025, confirm that Loop lacks "excellent drawing/inking tools" and "robust math equation support." These are not minor omissions — they are core features that define how many people use OneNote.

The Hybrid Approach: Using Loop Components Inside OneNote

You do not have to choose one or the other. Microsoft has built a bridge between the two products: Loop components can be embedded directly into OneNote pages. This hybrid approach lets you keep your core notebook structure in the desktop OneNote app while experimenting with Loop's real-time collaboration features.

Here is how it works in practice:

• Create a Loop component — a task list, a voting table, or a rich text block — from within Teams, Outlook, or the Loop app.
• Copy the link to the component.
• Paste the link into a OneNote page. The component renders as an interactive, live-updating embedded element. Any team member with access can edit it, and changes sync across all locations where the component appears.

This is particularly useful for meeting notes. You can keep your permanent notes and reference material in OneNote (with full inking and offline access) while embedding a live Loop task list that tracks action items across your team. The task list updates in real time, and everyone sees the same data whether they are viewing it in OneNote, Teams, or Outlook.

The hybrid approach is also the safest way to evaluate Loop without committing to a full migration. You can add Loop components to a few OneNote pages, test the collaboration workflow with your team, and decide later whether to move more content into Loop workspaces.

Licensing and Governance Requirements

OneNote Desktop is free for everyone. You can download it, install it on any Windows device, and use it without a subscription. This is true whether you are an individual user, a student, or part of a large enterprise.

Microsoft Loop is a different story. It requires a Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard, Premium, or Enterprise subscription. Consumer Microsoft 365 plans (Family, Personal) and free Microsoft accounts do not include Loop access. This licensing requirement alone rules out Loop for many individual users and students.

For organizations that do adopt Loop, IT administrators should be aware of the governance controls available. External sharing of Loop components can be managed through SharePoint PowerShell. The relevant command targets the Loop application ID:

Set-SPOApplication -OwningApplicationID a187e399-0c36-4b98-8f04-1edc167a0996

This command allows administrators to control whether Loop components can be shared with users outside the organization. It is a critical governance step for any enterprise deploying Loop, especially in regulated industries where data residency and external sharing policies are strict.

Which Path Should You Choose?

The right migration path depends on how you use OneNote today and what you need from a note-taking tool going forward. The decision framework below summarizes the key trade-offs.

• Choose OneNote Desktop if you rely on handwriting, inking, math equations, password-protected sections, or offline access. This is the path for individual power users, students, and anyone who treats OneNote as a personal knowledge base rather than a team collaboration tool. The migration is seamless and free.
• Choose Microsoft Loop if your primary need is real-time team collaboration on shared documents, task lists, and project plans. Loop excels where OneNote falls short: live co-authoring, portable components that travel across Microsoft 365 apps, and structured database views like Kanban boards. Be prepared for a manual migration and the absence of inking, math, and offline mode.
• Start with the hybrid approach if you are unsure. Migrate your core notebooks to OneNote Desktop (the seamless path), then add Loop components to a few pages to test the collaboration workflow. You can expand your use of Loop over time without ever fully leaving OneNote.

For a broader look at how OneNote and Loop compare across more dimensions, see our dedicated Microsoft OneNote vs Loop comparison. If you are considering leaving the Microsoft ecosystem entirely, our general migration guide covers export options and destination tools beyond OneNote and Loop.