How to make the most of Google Keep

As half of my job as a tech writer, and as half of my ongoing efforts to get organized in some unspecified time sooner or later, I’ve examined a whole pile of note-taking apps by way of the years: the simple, the delicate, the quirky, the AI-powered, and on it goes. It’s a popular app class, and there’s no shortage of selections.

Amid all these fully totally different alternatives, one of many apps that I uncover myself incessantly coming once more to is Google Preserve. It’s fast and simple to get spherical, it actually works on almost any machine, and while you dig a bit bit deeper into its vibrant sticky observe interface, there are many useful choices to take advantage of.

Whether or not you’re a gift Google Preserve shopper attempting to do further with the app in any other case you’re questioning whether or not or not Google Preserve has adequate to tempt you away from regardless of note-taking system you’re using on the second, these are a few of its most fascinating choices.

Proper from the start, the colorful Publish-it observe look of Google Preserve offers you a neat technique of arranging your notes: yellow for to-dos and blue for procuring lists, as an example, or regardless of matches you.

There are 11 fully totally different pastel colors to select from furthermore the default white, and on excessive of that, you’ve obtained 9 background footage it is advisable use as a substitute, defending themes like celebration, areas, recipes, and music.

These backgrounds may be swapped spherical at any time by clicking on the paint palette icon on the bottom of every observe.

Google Preserve borrows a trick from Gmail with labels: specific individual notes can have various labels, so one factor may be tagged with “family” and “urgent” or “ideas” and “journey.” It’s a useful technique of bringing order to your notes, while their numbers become the handfuls or an entire bunch.

Labels may provide help to with searches as properly. As you’d rely on from a Google product, Google Preserve has a search function that’s fast and proper: click on on contained in the search discipline on the excessive of the web interface, and it’s possible you’ll limit your query to notes that match a certain label (or class or coloration).

On the web, your labels are listed to the left for easy entry. To use a label on an open observe, click on on the three dots on the bottom of the observe, then Add label (or Change labels).

If it is advisable have the chance to check off objects in a list, it’s easy: in an open observe, click on on the three dots (or the plus icon within the mobile app) on the bottom of the observe and select Checkboxes. 

Google Preserve lets you collaborate on notes with totally different people, too, with out the attribute ever getting overly tough. Click on the collaborator icon on an open observe (the decide with a plus subsequent to it), then enter the e mail addresses of the contacts it is advisable share it with. (On the mobile app, you’ll uncover the icon by clicking on the three dots on the bottom of the show display.)

You don’t get to see who makes which edits reminiscent of you do in Google Docs, nonetheless you do get updates when anyone makes modifications to a observe, and you may even see on the bottom of each observe who your collaborators are.

As with collaboration, reminders are a genuinely useful attribute utilized in a straightforward means. You may get notifications from the Google Preserve app at a selected time and even when you attain a selected place (while you’ve obtained the mobile apps put in). Reminders may be set to repeat, so it’s possible you’ll organize a household chore guidelines that gives you a nudge on the similar time every week.

To set a reminder on the web mannequin, merely click on on on the little Remind me icon on the bottom of each observe (which seems to be like like a small bell), then set the alternatives as needed. On the mobile mannequin, the icon is on the excessive of the show display.

Typically, you create a observe that you simply actually need to have the chance to find immediately. In that case, it’s possible you’ll pin the observe to the excessive of your guidelines by tapping the pin icon on the excessive of the observe. Nevertheless, be careful about overusing this; I sometimes uncover that if I pin too many notes, they modify into merely as robust to find as if I didn’t pin them the least bit.

You can’t solely add photos to notes using the image icon on the bottom of the observe nonetheless you can also extract the textual content material from them as properly. Within the web mannequin, merely click on on the three dots, then Seize image textual content material. Within the mobile mannequin, faucet the image, then the three dots within the greater correct and Seize image textual content material. As prolonged because the letters within the image or in your drawing are legible adequate, you get a duplicate of them printed beneath — one factor which may be very useful for those who’re, as an example, taking {a photograph} of a enterprise card.

You’ll be able to add hand-drawn scribbles. Within the web mannequin, click on on the three dots after which Add drawing; within the mobile mannequin, click on on the plus icon and Drawing.

Notes may be shortly remodeled into paperwork in Google Docs by clicking on the three dots on the bottom of a observe and choosing Copy to Google Docs. (Within the mobile app, click on on the three dots and select Ship > Copy to Google Docs.)

There are only a few further choices which will be accessible in Preserve’s mobile apps for Android and iOS.

• You’ll be able to doc voice notes by tapping on the mic button on the bottom of the show display (Android) or tapping the plus icon after which Recording (iOS). The created observe may have every the audio file as an embed and the transcript of the audio because the accompanying textual content material. This may be notably useful while you need to shortly doc a thought for later use; while you’ve received the Preserve Fast seize widget in your homescreen, it’s possible you’ll faucet it or say “Google, take a observe” to doc your new observe.

• You can also add {a photograph} to an open observe by tapping the plus icon after which Take image. If it is advisable start a model new observe with {a photograph}, merely faucet the image icon on the bottom of the show display and select each Take image (for a model new image) or Select image (to decide on one out of your image gallery — the latter will be accessible on the desktop mannequin of Preserve).
• When you’ve obtained the Android mannequin of Preserve, now you may format your textual content material. You can also make it daring, italicized, underlined, or crossed out; you can also change the measurement to an H1 or H2 heading. Search for the icon with an underlined A on the bottom of the observe. (Sadly, this isn’t however accessible within the iOS or desktop mannequin.)