Are you a student going back to school soon? Well, Windows 11 has your back throughout your studies. There are a ton of great apps that you can use on your brand new laptop to assist you in your schoolwork and even your homework. We even have a guide if you're looking to buy a new laptop for the first time. But the focus of our latest back to school series is best Windows app for school, so, read along for more!
At the top of our list is Microsoft OneNote. Just be aware, that there are two versions of OneNote to deal with here. There's the one that comes with Microsoft Office, and then the Microsoft Store version which is downloaded through the store for free known as OneNote for Windows 10. Microsoft is merging the two apps as one sometime down the line, but right now, OneNote for Windows 10 is more feature complete.
Anyway, OneNote is a great tool to use for note-taking as it features a variety of page styles, ways to organize notes, and cool ink styles to help make your notes look stylish, especially if you own a device with pen support. You also can use it to solve math problems. Notes can sync up across your devices, too, if you use a Microsoft Account, so you can take your notes anywhere you go. Download OneNote below, or check it out as part of your Microsoft 365 install, or Office 2021, 2019 install that often comes with your school's subscription.
There will come a time when you're going to end up working on a project with someone in your school. That often means sharing ideas and brainstorming certain things. You might do this via text or messages, but a better place to do it is with Microsoft Whiteboard. This is a collaborative digital canvas with the ability to post sticky notes, and images, annotate and ink with your pen, and a lot more. It's almost the same as a real whiteboard!
We've already highlighted two apps that you can use to take notes and share ideas, but Microsoft Journal is the third. This is an app that is designed for you to use your PC's pen. It's an ink-first page-based canvas where you can use gestures to erase, move words around, highlight things, mark up PDFs with ink, and move your ideas forward. Check it out in the video above.
Next on our list is a fun app to use in your downtime at school. If you're not the best artist, you can use the Tracing app to learn how to draw! This app lets you load up an image, put it in the background, and draw over it. You can select different types of pens and stencils combine image layers, and more. Download it today via the link above.
Need to grab text from an e-book, or something else and paste it into a document for your essay or research? Text Grab is a quick tool that can be used to take the text off whatever is your screen. It does not need to run in the background and works quite easily in just a few clicks. We actually reviewed the app, so check it out here!
One thing you're going to do a lot of at or during school is studying. One way to do that studying is with index cards. You might make physical cards with paper, but Index Cards app on Windows 11 lets you do it digitally, instead!
Are you the creative type? Fresh paint is one of the best free drawing apps on Windows for art students. It has all kinds of brushes, tools, and even cool instructional drawings that you can try out. The app is free, and there are paid upgrades available.
Have troubles with Math in school? Math Solver is a classic Windows app that's here to help. You can use this app to solve Polynomials, Fractions, Linear Equations, and a lot of other math problems.
We've just picked out our favorite apps for education, but there are a lot more. You can always open the Microsoft Store, and scroll through the various categories to find your favorite apps. There's a ton to choose from and Microsoft is always changing up the store to surface fresh new apps. And, as always, we remind you to drop us a comment below and let us know which apps you're using!