Why it's a strong pick

OneNote Web Clipper is published by Microsoft and is free to use, per Microsoft Support. It offers three clip types and a preview toolbar for highlighting. It also detects articles, recipes and product pages. The trade-off: Full Page and Region clips are screenshots, not text. Only Article clips are editable text and images.

What it does

You sign in with a Microsoft account, choose a clip type, and send the clip to your OneNote notebook. Microsoft says the clipper works with most modern browsers and can detect an article, recipe or product page. A preview toolbar lets you highlight text, switch between serif and sans-serif, and change the text size.

Key features

Full Page clip. Saves the whole page as a screenshot image.
Region clip. Saves a part of the page as a screenshot image.
Article clip. Saves the article as editable text and images.
Preview toolbar. Highlight text, switch serif or sans-serif, and change text size.
Page detection. Microsoft says it detects article, recipe and product pages.
Clips go to OneNote. They land in your OneNote notebook.

Who it's for

OneNote Web Clipper suits people who already keep notes in OneNote and use a Microsoft account. It is a good fit if you want to highlight an article before saving it. If you do not use Microsoft's apps, Google Keep or Evernote Web Clipper may fit better. For local files, try Obsidian Web Clipper.

What is the difference between Article, Full Page and Region clips?

Article saves editable text and images. Full Page and Region save a screenshot image of the page or a part of it. Microsoft Support describes it this way. Pick Article when you want to search or edit the words later. Pick Full Page or Region when you want to keep how the page looked.

Does OneNote Web Clipper need a Microsoft account?

Yes. You sign in with a personal Microsoft account (Outlook, Live or Hotmail) or a work or school account. Microsoft says to use the same account you use with OneNote. The extension is free to use, but the clips need a notebook to land in.

What permissions does OneNote Web Clipper ask for?

We could not read the permission list from the store when we checked. Check the install prompt in Chrome before you add it. A clipper reads the pages you save, so look at what it asks for. Permissions can change between releases.

Does OneNote Web Clipper collect data?

We could not read the developer's privacy policy when we checked; read it before installing. Clips are saved into your OneNote notebook, so Microsoft stores what you clip under your account. Use the same Microsoft account you use with OneNote.

FAQ

Is OneNote Web Clipper free? Microsoft Support says it is free to use. You need a Microsoft account, personal or work or school.

Who makes it? Microsoft. You can also install it from onenote.com/clipper.

Can I edit a clipped page? Article clips are editable text and images. Full Page and Region clips are screenshots.

Good to know

Choose the clip type on purpose. Region and Full Page clips are images, so you cannot search or edit their words. If you want text you can search and edit, use Article. Also check that the notebook you want shows up as a target before you rely on it.

Other note-taking tools to compare

OneNote Web Clipper is one of 8 picks in our note-taking guide:

Notion Web Clipper: Made by Notion. Save a web page into a Notion page or database in a few clicks. Notion account needed.
Google Keep: Google's own extension for saving page info, selections and images into Keep notes. Free, Google account needed.
Evernote Web Clipper: Clip articles, full pages and screenshots into your Evernote account, then mark them up. Free extension, Evernote account needed.
Obsidian Web Clipper: Obsidian's own free extension. It highlights pages and saves them into your local vault as Markdown. Needs the Obsidian app.
Joplin Web Clipper: An open-source extension that saves web pages and screenshots into your Joplin notes.
Hypothesis: An open-source extension for highlighting, annotating and tagging web pages and PDFs.
SiYuan Clipper: The official extension that clips web pages into the SiYuan note app. It needs SiYuan to work.

Want to archive pages instead? See Web Clippers and Archivers.

Also see: Evernote Web Clipper alternatives