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In OneNote for iPad or iPhone, you can easily customize the color and thickness of your pen while handwriting or drawing notes.

iPad

Change the color of the selected pen

  1. On the Draw tab, Pen or text Highlighter you want, and then tap the downward-facing arrow next to the pen to change the color.

  2. Sixteen solid colors are available on the menu, with more available when you tap More Ink Colors.

    If you are a Microsoft 365 subscriber, there are an additional eight effects available: Rainbow, Galaxy, Lava, Ocean, Rose Gold, Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

    Note: If you want to remove anything you’ve drawn or highlighted, tap the Eraser button on the Draw tab. With the eraser selected, tap the ink or highlighter strokes that you want to erase.

  3. To exit Drawing mode so you can text, pan and zoom, on the left of the Draw tab, tap the Text tool.

Change the thickness of the selected pen

  1. On the Draw tab, tap the pen you want, then tap the downward-facing arrow next to the pen to change the thickness.

  2. Select a thickness or use the plus or minus sign to make your pen thicker or thinner. There are five pen thickness settings ranging from .25 mm to 3.5 mm.

    Note: If you want to remove anything you’ve drawn, tap the Eraser button on the Draw tab. With the eraser selected, tap the ink or highlighter strokes that you want to erase.

  3. To exit Drawing mode so you can text, pan and zoom, on the left of the Draw tab, tap the Text tool.

Erase ink strokes

To erase what you've drawn, tap Eraser and choose one of the following:

  • Stroke Eraser: This removes entire drawing gestures with one tap.

  • Eraser: This lets you manually erase portions of your drawing.

    Note: If you remove something you didn't mean to erase, tap Undo The undo button in OneNote. in the upper-left corner of the app.

  • To exit Drawing mode so you can text, pan and zoom, on the left of the Draw tab, tap the Text tool.

Note: You can erase an ink stroke drawing quickly be first selecting the entire drawing or multiple drawings using the Lasso Select tool. On the Draw tab, select the Lasso Select tool, draw a selection around the ink stroke or drawing, and then press and hold the center of the selection until the toolbar appears. Tap Delete. Learn more about using the Lasso Select tool.

Customize existing ink strokes

If you want to change the color or thickness of ink strokes that you have already drawn, you can easily make adjustments.

  1. On the left of Draw tab, tap the Lasso Select tool to select any existing ink stroke (or strokes) whose color or thickness you want to adjust.

    Tip: To select or move an ink stroke or drawing quickly without using the Lasso Select tool, tap the stroke or drawing to display selection handles, and then move or customize the ink stroke or drawing.

  2. Click or tap the Pen or text Highlighter that you want to use, tap the downward-facing arrow that appears next to your selection, and then do any of the following:

    • Tap to select your preferred ink color.

      Tip: If the color you want isn’t shown in the palette, tap More Colors.

    • Tap the + symbol as often as you want to increase the pen or highlighter thickness.

    • Tap the symbol as often as you want to decrease the pen or highlighter thickness.

  3. To exit Drawing mode so you can use text, pan, and zoom, on the left of the Draw tab, tap the Text tool.

Note: To remove a pen, tap the pen and then tap the downward-facing arrow next to the pen. Flick down and tap Delete.

iPhone

This feature is currently not available when using Microsoft OneNote on iPhone.

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