Have you heard of cloud computing? Cloud computing is when you have a document stored on another computer and then your document is automatically shared to your main computer across the internet. Even better, it can be automatically shared to your phone and to any computer you work from. This means that your documents are always available to you, no matter which computer you happen to be working on.

I use cloud computing for taking notes. The application I use for this is Microsoft OneNote. OneNote lets me capture notes that are stored on the cloud. I then have access to those notes on my phone and on all of the computers I work from.

This is a great advantage. I can easily capture notes on my phone during the day. Then, when I have more time, I can sit down at my computer to review those notes because they are stored in the cloud and are automatically downloaded to my computer. The reverse is also true. Any notes I capture on my computer are automatically sent to my phone. I can then review those notes at any time by simply browsing to the OneNote app on my phone.

What I enjoy most about using a cloud based note taking system is that I always have my phone with me. This means that when something comes up that I need to remember, I just open the OneNote app on my phone and record the thought I want to capture. That note is then available to me later from both my phone and from my computer.

Taking notes is not the only thing you can do with cloud computing. For example, another valuable tool provided by Microsoft is Microsoft OneDrive. This is a shared network folder where you can upload documents, pictures, and other files. Just like Microsoft OneNote, these files are shared across all of your devices.

What this means is you have access to your most important files whenever and wherever you need them. You can review your files from your phone when away from your desk and you can work on them from your computer once you return to your desk.

One great thing about Microsoft’s cloud computing platform is that OneNote and OneDrive are both available as apps for Apple iPhones. This means that all your files and notes in the cloud are available on your iPhone as well as on your Microsoft Windows computer. You can even download and install the Microsoft OneNote and OneDrive applications on an Apple computer.

OneNote and OneDrive come as part of a Microsoft Office 365 subscription. I find the yearly subscription fee for this product to be an affordable option and the cloud storage that comes with your subscription gives you a place to store your notes and files in the cloud. You can install the Microsoft Office apps on your phone, on a Windows computer, and even on an Apple computer. You can also get a license for installing the software on up to 5 computers at once, which is great if you have both a desktop computer and a laptop computer. I recommend a Microsoft Office 365 subscription to anyone who wants the benefits of cloud computing that I outline in this article.

While I use Microsoft for my cloud computing platform, it is important to note that Microsoft is not the only option. Both Apple and Google offer cloud computing platforms. If you have an iPhone you have access to an iCloud drive, which is a cloud based network folder where you can store your files. There is also Google Drive provided by Google, which I believe is available from Android phones, although I am an iPhone user so I cannot speak personally to what is available from an Android device.

So far we talked about the primary advantage of cloud computing, which is making your notes and files available across all of your devices. There is also another key advantage to cloud computing. This advantage is that you won’t lose your files if your computer’s hard drive crashes.

Without cloud computing, if your hard drive crashes you will lose all of your files. Chances are you won’t be able to recover them. If you were lucky enough to have a backup of your files on another computer, or maybe on an external hard drive, you can recover your files. This assumes you setup a file backup strategy and that you remembered to backup your files recently.

With cloud computing, your files are automatically backed up for you in the cloud. You don’t have to do anything and you don’t need to remember to run a backup procedure. The cloud software does this for you by keeping the files on your computer synchronized with the copies of your files in the cloud. This means you won’t lose your important files if you hard drive fails. Your files will be waiting for you in the cloud and can be downloaded to your replacement hard drive or new computer once you have it set up.

Conclusion

Cloud based computing is a powerful tool. It gives you access to your notes and files across all of your devices. It also protects your files in case your computer’s hard drive fails.

I encourage you to take advantage of cloud based computing. It is a powerful and effective tool for ensuring you have access to your most important notes and files no matter where you are. You can also take notes anywhere as long as you have your phone with you, and those notes will show up on all of your devices.