Background Shading Fill Color in Note Containers:
Note Containers should have a user-selectable background shading or fill color using any hue from the color pallete. This would be similar to a MS-Word text box. Also, could have visible border with user-set-able attributes of width, style, and color. Several other users, I think, might have posted this same suggestion but instead referring to the item as "textbox" rather than Note Container.

34 comments
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Anonymous commented
Ridiculous that such basic functionality still hasn't been implemented
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Babar commented
Come on Microsoft. Get someone to recode from the ground up if needed and release it as an update but you must have this basic functionality and don't use laziness as an excuse to not focus on your customers. Stop making Apple look so good!
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Duley117 commented
Came here with the same issue but actually found a backway to solve. If you select the box of text (as if you were moving it), all text within should be highlighted. While highlighted, select Insert>Table>1x1 row/ column. This will turn the box into a table that can be formatted freely. Then use the Table Layout ribbon to change the box of text to have unique background colors and borders.
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Petter D commented
This should be added ASAP.
Coloured text boxes would make working with OneNote so much easier.
The boxes are coloured when moving them (grey) and it looks nice. It would be so easy to implement. Please do it already. -
Jeremy1158 commented
Yes, a fill color for text boxes is the ONLY way I can even use OneNote. Almost all of my notes take place over an image which is the subject of my notes. No fill color, no deal and I'm blown away that such a ubiquitous feature in EVERY OTHER NOTE TAKING SOFTWARE is not available. I miss the ease of Jing!
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norma beez commented
Just because there's a 5 step workaround using a table, doesn't mean it's convenient. Inserting a Style / Fill / Outline menu (as found when right clicking a text box in MS Word) shouldn't be all that difficult to add.
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Anonymous commented
Surprised this is still not a thing. Wouldn't this be simple to implement? Microsoft, please add this?
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Meena commented
Microsoft is just too lazy and huge. Unlike apple, they are not nimble and do not understand what a customer needs before the customer themselves realize it.
Difference between good and great !!! -
Gavin White commented
I agree. I'm really surprised this isn't a feature yet and this suggestion is four years old... it seems like a relatively simple and obvious feature that should be included.
Part of the incentive of using OneNote is so students can organize and move things around. The 1x1 table doesn't allow students to move parts of their notes around as freely as the standard text boxes.
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A. D. commented
The "use table instead of note container background color" idea is too cumbersome when it comes to colorize already filled note containers.
Selecting am empty table outside of a table (in order to change colors) isn't easy, too.
And, why on earth does a note container's frame have to become transparent at all when a note container is de-selected? There should be an option in OneNote to keep note containers' frames visible at all times.
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Kam commented
typical MS.
1 - insert a table (1x1)
2 - go to layout> hide borders and layout>shading (pick you colour)
3 - enter text. hit 'return' when you want a new line. You now have a shaded box!! -
Jo commented
Would help to visualize better all the notes, and help with keeping things organised !
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Anonymous commented
If you use a 1x1 table, you get all the functionality that you're asking for. It's a little hokey but it works.
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Mette Durholm commented
This feature would make this wonderful tool more usable. I would like to move the containers around just like sticky-notes on a blackboard.
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Anonymous commented
Thought this might already be a feature as seems like a basic need for organisation of text blocks. Would love to see this happen soon.
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Travis Terrell commented
Just searched to see if this was doable. Good ol' Microsoft. Sitting on a widely-supported idea for 3.5 years. (I think OneNote development is somewhat dead. I suspect any future development will be for the (severely crippled*) UWP app or web-based OneNote.
*Given that the UWP app currently has 1/10 the features of the main one, it will be a very long time before we see new features like this being implemented--or until it's even at feature-parity with the standard version of OneNote.
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G commented
It looks like people have been asking about this since 2010 on other forums... MS just doesn't have the same tier of advancement as they used to...
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Luis G Rodriguez commented
Jesus!!!! All this time and this still does not work? Whats wrong with you MS? Background for containers and Formattable Text Boxes are a must by now
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Anonymous commented
the single-cell table idea works really good. Thanks for the suggestion!!
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Anonymous commented
I use (and like) the single-cell table workaround. It's quick and easy.