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I just got a question from a OneNote user about how to share notebooks with someone who isn’t on their network. They had no problems with storing the information up on SkyDrive, but thought that once the information was on SkyDrive, it had to be edited with the web app only. Since this is a common misconception, I thought I would share my answer with all of you.

Most people don’t seem to realize that you can store your notebooks on your SkyDrive, but work with them in the client app.It is one of the big pluses of the integration between the web apps and the client.

The sharing process can be started from the SkyDrive or from your computer. In OneNote 2010 pre-service pack, this was a bit tricky. But now that the service pack is out there, it is a straight forward process.

The first thing you need to decide is whether you are starting with a notebook that already exists on your SkyDrive or one that you have on your computer or networked drive.

If the notebook is already on SkyDrive, you just need to add it to your local list of notebooks:
1)Open it with the web app and find this button:

(This button will be at the far right of the ribbon.)

2) Once you have done this, the notebook will remain open just as any other notebook does. It will be stored on your SkyDrive and can be shared from there, but doesn’t have to be edited from the web app.

If, on the other hand, you already have it open in OneNote and it is stored on your hard drive or a networked drive, you need to tell OneNote to move it to your SkyDrive. If you don’t have the service pack, that is a painful process. BUT with the release of SP1 for Office 2010, the process is much cleaner.

In OneNote, go to File, then to Share. Make sure your web location shows “Windows Live SkyDrive” as an option.

If your SkyDrive location doesn’t show, click the button labeled “Add a new network drive”. This should take you to your SkyDrive page and you can add the new folder there. (If it gives you an error, just go to the SkyDrive. You can still add the folder manually.) Once you have added the new folder, go back to OneNote and click the Refresh button at the bottom of the page. Your new folder will now show in the list.

Once your folder show, you can click the folder name and then the “Share Notebook” button.

No matter how you got your notebook to your SkyDrive, you now need to set up the sharing up for the document. (By default, things go in a private folder.)

1. Go back to your SkyDrive and find the notebook in the list of folders and documents stored there.
2. Find and click the icon to the far right of the name of the notebook.:
3. This will bring up the document’s information tab.
4. Make sure the sharing information shows. In the information tab. (It is a twisty, so you may need to click the triangle to show the section.)
5. Click “Edit Permissions and you will go to the permissions page for the notebook, which looks like this:
6. Type your client’s email address in the box labeled “Add additional people” and click save. (You can also select from the contact list if you have one set up.
7. Make sure the box to the right of the address says “can edit”, then click save.
   Complete the email notification for the person you just added and click send.

Your notebook is now shared and the recipients now have the same permission to edit the notebook as you do. Changes they make will sync as long as they are connected to the web, as will yours.

One thing: If the files you are sharing need to be truly confidential (HIPPA or equivalent), you probably don’t want to put them on SkyDrive. The system is secure, but I personally wouldn’t trust it to be THAT secure. In those cases, you probably want to use either SharePoint or Office365 to store the files.