# A OneNote meeting notes template you set up once and reuse for every client > For freelancers and consultants who keep meeting notes in OneNote: the sections a meeting notes page needs, how to apply and save page templates in the desktop versions of OneNote that support them, how to organise notebooks and sections by client, how to fill the page during a Google Meet or Microsoft Teams call, and how the notes reach OneNote afterwards. Canonical: https://trackheros.com/blog/onenote-meeting-notes-template/ Author: Sami Kanafani Updated: 2026-10-25 **In short:** A OneNote meeting notes template needs a heading (client, meeting, date), attendees, agenda, notes, decisions, actions with owners, and open questions. In OneNote for Microsoft 365, 2024, 2021 or 2016, build the page, choose View, Paper Size, Save current page as a template, and apply it from Insert, Page Templates. On paid plans, TrackHeros sends Google Meet and Teams notes by webhook to Zapier or Make, which create the page. | Fact | Detail | | --- | --- | | Versions with page templates | OneNote for Microsoft 365, OneNote 2024, 2021 and 2016 | | Apply a template | Insert, then Page Templates | | Save your own | View, Paper Size, then Save current page as a template | | Limit | Templates apply only to new pages without notes on them | OneNote's built-in page templates are generic, from decorative backgrounds to planners and to-do lists; a meeting template that fits your clients is one you make yourself, once. This guide is for freelancers and consultants who keep meeting notes in OneNote. It covers the sections a meeting page needs, how to save and apply your own template in the versions of OneNote that support templates, how to lay out notebooks by client, and how the notes from a Google Meet or Microsoft Teams call reach the page. The OneNote details come from Microsoft's help as of October 2026. ## What should a OneNote meeting notes template include? The same sections every time, in the same order, so any page can be read in thirty seconds a month later: ```text [Client] – [Meeting] – [Weekday date] Attendees: names, and which side they are on Agenda: from the invitation Notes one line per point, with markers: D decision, A action, # figure, Q question Decisions one sentence each Actions what – who – by when Open questions still waiting, and who owes the answer Next meeting date, or "none planned" ``` Three choices make the template work: - **The client's name first in the page title.** OneNote search and the page list read titles, and "Weekly status" alone matches every client you have. - **Decisions and actions at the bottom, apart from the notes.** They are the part you copy into the recap and the part a client asks about later. - **A date with the weekday.** "Tuesday 3 November" survives being read in another country; "03/11" does not. ## How should the template change by meeting type? Keep the skeleton and change one section. A kickoff, a weekly status call, a requirements session and a review each have one thing the others do not need: | Meeting | Add to the template | | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------- | | Kickoff | Scope in and out, roles, the first milestone | | Weekly status | Last week's actions, each marked done or not | | Requirements | The client's exact words for each rule, and ambiguities | | Review or sign-off | What was accepted, by whom, and what was not | Save each as its own template, "Client meeting – weekly", "Client meeting – requirements", so choosing the right one takes a second. The [kickoff agenda](/blog/client-kickoff-meeting-agenda/) and [requirements gathering](/blog/requirements-gathering-meeting/) guides cover what those meetings need in more depth. ## How do you create a page template in OneNote? Build the page once, then save it. Microsoft's page on [creating or customising page templates](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-or-customize-page-templates-2c92ef65-06aa-4b01-9bae-4fc2e7361806) gives the steps for OneNote for Microsoft 365, OneNote 2024, OneNote 2021 and OneNote 2016: 1. Add a new page, with Add Page or Ctrl+N. 2. On the ribbon, choose View, then Paper Size, and set the size and margins. 3. Add the headings and sections above. 4. At the bottom of the Paper Size pane, choose Save current page as a template. 5. Name it, for example "Client meeting", and choose Save. Leave the client, meeting and date as placeholders in square brackets, so you overwrite them rather than forget them. Templates you save appear under My Templates in the Templates pane. ## How do you apply the template to a meeting? From Insert, then Page Templates. Microsoft's page on [applying a template](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/onenote/apply-a-onenote-template-to-a-page) says to expand the categories in the Templates pane and choose the template. One limit matters: OneNote templates can be applied only to new pages that don't already contain notes. If you have started writing, create a page from the template and paste your notes into it. Microsoft lists templates for the desktop versions above and does not mention OneNote on the web or on a Mac, so if you work there, keep a blank "template" page in each client's section and duplicate it instead. ## How should you organise OneNote by client? One notebook per client, or at least one section per client, and never a "Meetings" section shared by all of them. A shared section is where Client A's page ends up open on screen during Client B's call. | Level | Holds | | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | | Notebook | One client, or your own business | | Section | A kind of meeting: weekly status, requirements, reviews | | Page | One meeting, from the template | Name pages the same way every time, client, meeting, date, and the page list sorts itself. [Keeping client meeting notes separate](/blog/keep-client-meeting-notes-separate/) covers the habits that stop notes crossing between clients. ## How do you fill the template during a call? With markers, not sentences. During a Google Meet or Microsoft Teams call, write one line per point in the Notes section, starting with D, A, # or Q, and move only the decisions and actions into their sections afterwards. [Taking notes during a meeting you are also running](/blog/take-notes-while-running-a-video-call/) has the full method, and Microsoft's Meeting Details button can drop an Outlook meeting's details onto the page first, as [Google Calendar and OneNote](/blog/google-calendar-onenote-meeting-notes/) explains. Share one window when you present, never the whole screen: OneNote's page list shows every client's meetings by name. ## What does a filled-in page look like? Short. Most of the page is markers; the last three sections are what anyone else will read: ```text Client A – Weekly status – Tuesday 3 November Attendees: Maya (Client A), Tom (Client A), you Agenda: import job, admin access, next release Notes D import runs nightly, not hourly # 3 admin users, not 5 Q keep old exports? Maya to check A me: revised estimate Thu Decisions The import runs nightly. Actions Revised estimate – you – Thursday 5 November List of admin users – Tom – Friday 6 November Open Whether old exports must be kept – Maya Next Tuesday 10 November ``` Ten minutes after the call is enough to turn the Notes lines into the sections below them. If it takes longer, the notes were too long. ## How does TrackHeros get notes into OneNote? Through a webhook rather than a direct connection; TrackHeros has no OneNote connection. On paid plans ([pricing](/pricing/)), it posts each finished Google Meet or Microsoft Teams meeting, with the summary, decisions, action items with owner and due date, and attendees, to an https address you choose, one per client. Point each client's webhook at a Zapier or Make automation that creates a page in that client's section, and the page arrives with the summary, decisions, actions and attendees filled in. On any plan, you can copy a meeting's minutes for email and paste them into a page. TrackHeros records the call, makes the transcript, and keeps every client's notes in a sealed workspace of its own, so the routing to OneNote never has to guess which client a meeting belongs to. The payload and set-up are in [sending meeting notes to any app](/blog/send-meeting-notes-to-any-app/). ## Frequently asked **Does OneNote have a built-in meeting notes template?** The desktop versions' Templates pane offers ready-made layouts, from decorative backgrounds and planners to to-do lists, and generic meeting notes pages are among those commonly found there. They are generic; a page built around your clients' meetings, saved once as your own template, fits better and takes a few minutes. **Can I use page templates in OneNote on the web or on a Mac?** Microsoft lists page templates for OneNote for Microsoft 365, OneNote 2024, OneNote 2021 and OneNote 2016, and its template pages do not mention the web or Mac versions. Where templates are not offered, keep a blank template page in each section and copy it for every meeting. **Can I apply a template to a page I have already started?** No. Microsoft says templates can be applied only to new pages that don't already contain notes. Create a new page from the template and paste what you have written into it. --- TrackHeros is in early access: https://trackheros.com/#early-access