( A promptly side note, by the direction : My editor, who uses an iPhone ( pant ! ), says all these tips work pretty much the like in the Keep app for io. A few menu choices are slenderly different, but it should be easy enough to figure things out if you or anyone you know prefers that dash of device. )
Contents
Part I: Organization
1. Label yourself organized
just like Gmail, Keep relies on labels rather than folders or notebooks to make your memos manageable. You can add a label to a note by tapping the three-dot menu icon in the lower-right corner of the app ‘s editing screen and selecting “ Labels ” — or by touching and holding a note in the main list view and then tapping the label icon in the upper-right corner of that screen. ( You can select multiple notes at once, besides : Just touch and hold any note until it becomes outlined, then tap any other notes to add them into the mix. ) Faster so far, you can actually type a label directly into a note by prefacing it with a hashtag — “ # Personal, ” “ # Web Projects, ” or “ # Business Ideas, ” for model. Keep will even pop up suggestions for existing labels ampere soon as you start typing, and once you ‘ve selected the pronounce you want, you can either leave your hashtag text in the bill or erase it .
JR Raphael/IDG
The Keep app will suggest labels equally soon as you type a hashtag — and once you ‘ve selected a tag, you ‘ll see it beneath your text .
2. Get colorful
In accession to labels, Keep lets you organize notes by color. possibly all of your work-related notes are green and your personal notes are blue — or possibly pressing notes are red while all others are grey. You can come up with any numeral of systems to make the colors useful either on their own or in conjunction with the regular textbook labels. To change a note ‘s color, tap the three-dot menu icon in the lower-right corner of the editing screen and then touch whatever color you want to apply. From the main list watch, you can besides select any note ( or combination of notes ) and then tap the palette icon in the upper-right area of that screen .
3. Put a pin in it
Keep your most crucial notes easily accessible by embracing Keep ‘s fall function : just tap the thumbtack icon in the upper-right corner while editing a eminence or after selecting it in your independent note number. That note will then appear in a special “ Pinned ” section above all your other notes so it ‘s never out of scope. ( To unpin a note at any time, fair tap its thumbtack icon again. )
4. Archive aggressively
When a note nobelium longer needs your contiguous care, get it out of your main note list by swiping it toward the left or the right from that view — or by tapping the archive icon ( a folder with a down-pointing arrow on it ) in the upper-right recess while you ‘re editing it. Whichever means you do it, that ‘ll archive the note — and just like in Gmail, it ‘ll then remain well accessible via search or browse but wo n’t command premier real estate and clutter up your “ inbox. ”
5. Search like a pro
Speaking of search, Keep ‘s search serve can do a lot more than good look for basic text. Tap the search box at the top of the app ‘s main shield and then scroll down a sting. Among other things, you ‘ll see tools for filtering your notes to show only those with reminders, lists, images, or URLs attached deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as only notes assigned to a particular color or label. 
JR Raphael/IDG
Keep ‘s search function has ample options for filtering your notes to help you find what you need .
You can besides browse through your notes by label by tapping the three-line menu icon in the app ‘s upper-left corner and then selecting whichever label you want to view .
6. Check the trash
Make a mental note : If you always ca n’t find a late note, take a glance in Keep ‘s Trash section to see if it might have gotten deleted by accident. Just tap the three-line menu icon in the app ‘s upper-left corner and then select Trash from the panel that appears. That ‘ll let you see every erase note from the past seven days and optionally restore any item into active condition, if you ‘re therefore incline. You can besides empty your trash manually while you ‘re there, in case you ever delete something medium and want to make certain it ‘s completely gone .
7. Remember to set reminders
One of Keep ‘s most potent features is its native consolidation with Google ‘s cross-platform reminder system. When you need to remember to look at a note at a particular time or evening place — like your home, your position, an airport, or the grocery — good tap the bell icon in the upper-right corner of the note-editing screen. That ‘ll allow you to set whatever condition you want for when the eminence should pop up as a presentment on your telephone. The admonisher will besides appear in Google Calendar deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as in the “ Updates ” yellow journalism of the Google Android app ( and therefore besides in the Google panel that lives to the impart of the main family screen on certain Android devices ). In all of those places, you ‘ll see your Keep reminder grouped together with reminders set from the Google app, the Google Calendar app and web site, any Google Home devices, and any Google search prompts .
8. Find your reminders
Ca n’t remember what reminders you have pending ? What a predicament ! The simple solution : Tap the three-line menu icon in Keep ‘s upper-left recess and choice “ Reminders. ” There, you ‘ll see a list of every notice to which you ‘ve attached a reminder and precisely when or where it ‘s set to alert you. You ‘ll besides see notes for which reminders were already sent but never marked as “ done. ”
Part II: Note-taking
9. Collect your spoken thoughts
Take a notice on the rifle by speaking it into Keep and letting the app transcribe your words. You can start recording in one of three ways : tap the microphone picture in Keep ‘s bottom toolbar, tap the plus icon in the lower-left corner and then select “ Recording ” while editing a note, or tap the microphone picture in Keep ‘s home screen doodad. then, just yammer away. When you ‘re finished, Keep will place its recording in the soundbox of the eminence and besides attach an audio recording of your voice for good measure ( and/or necrosis — yes, that in truth is what you sound like ) .
JR Raphael/IDG
When you record a voice memo, Keep gives you both a transcription and an audio read of your words .
10. Embrace Keep’s image-saving smarts
Got a text file or early ocular you want to hang onto for future reference ? While editing a note, tap the summation picture in the lower-left corner of the filmdom and blue-ribbon “ Take photograph. ” You can then snap a agile photograph to attach to the note. If you ‘d preferably use an existing picture from your call ‘s gallery, select “ Add image ” alternatively. Either way, what ‘s particularly useful is the fact that Keep can grab words out of the picture and turn them into regular text — and you can then search for those words to find the information late. To make that happen, precisely tap on an effigy within any note, then tap the three-dot menu icon in the lower-right corner of the screen and select “ Grab image textbook ” from the menu that appears. You can besides edit, highlight, or draw on an trope by selecting the paintbrush icon from that lapp menu .
11. Transform your scribbles into words
If you ever have a ocular theme you want to jot down, touch the paintbrush picture in Keep ‘s toolbar or appliance ( or if you ‘re already editing a note, tap the summation picture and then select “ Drawing ” ). You can sketch or write away on your screen — with a stylus or even equitable your finger — and then store your result along with any other note elements. The coolest part : fair like with the camera-captured images, you can have Keep grab any words out of your trace and then turn them into searchable and copy-ready text. Select the drawing, then front in that same three-dot menu picture in the upper-right corner of the screen door to find the dominate .
12. Turn any note into a list
You probably know you can start a raw tilt by tapping the checkmark icon in Keep ‘s toolbar or widget — but did you know you can besides convert any existing note into a list with a couple quick taps ? While editing a bill, touch the plus icon in the lower-left corner of the screen and then tap “ Checkboxes. ” Keep will add a checkbox to the start of every new line, and you can then gain the geeky satisfaction of checking items off as you complete them.
Read more: Google drive
13. Copy notes as needed
ever wish you could treat a notice as a template or starting point and work on it without affecting your master copy ? Keep has an easily overlooked option for doing fair that : Open a note, then tap the three-dot menu picture in the lower-right corner and choice “ Make a copy. ” You ‘ll then be taken to an claim replica of the note while your original interpretation remains untouched .
14. Undo when you need to
For far besides long, Keep lacked one of the most care for commands of any text editor program : the sacred “ Undo ” button. thankfully, that ‘s no long the encase : The following fourth dimension you by chance delete an entire section of text or make any other ill-advised changes, search for the arrow that circles around to the left in the bottom-center sphere of the screen. once you ‘ve unmake something, you ‘ll besides see an arrow that circles around to the right ; that one can redo what you undid as needed .
Part III: Customization
15. Find your favorite view
Keep may show your notes in multiple columns by nonpayment, but you do n’t have to keep it that way. See that icon with two thick horizontal lines toward the acme of the app ‘s search barroom ? Tap it, and the app will switch from its standard multicolumn opinion ( a.k.a. Grid View ) into a less dense single-column shape ( List View ) .
JR Raphael/IDG
Keep ‘s multicolumn view, at left, and single-column view, at right .
16. Take a shortcut
Keep ‘s appliance is n’t your alone choice for keeping time-saving note-taking functions on your home screen. The app besides has some handy shroud shortcuts that ‘ll let you jump directly to some of its most normally practice functions. To find them, press and hold your feel to the Keep picture ( either on your home screen or in your app draftsman ). That ‘ll pop up a series of shortcuts for creating a new text note, sound recording note, photograph note, or tilt note. And a bonus tip : In addition to accessing them there, you can press and hold any of those shortcuts and then drag ’em onto your home plate riddle for even easier one-tap access .
17. Give your eyes a break at night
If you ‘re working in a dim environment, note that Keep will automatically match your device ‘s Dark Theme setting, provided that you ‘re using Android 10 or higher. But if you ‘re using an older Android adaptation and/or barely want Keep to get blue without the stay of your telephone being affected, take a glance in the app ‘s settings. There, you ‘ll see an choice called “ Theme. ” And no matter what type of device you ‘re using, you can adjust it so that Keep will constantly default to a dark theme for less blazing view .
18. Eliminate unnecessary elements
Whenever you include URLs in a note, Keep typically tacks a series of preview boxes onto the notice ‘s bottom edge with links to those websites. Those boxes can be a convenient way to get to your links promptly, but they can besides create a draw of unnecessary clutter both within the notes and in your main note list — and specially if you tend to include lots of URLs in your memos, they can cursorily get out of operate. If, like me, you find those boxes to be more distract than beneficial, tap Keep ‘s three-line menu icon in the upper-left corner, select “ Settings, ” and deactivate the toggle next to “ Display rich connection previews. ” Your note list will look meaningfully clean as a consequence .
19. Take control of Keep’s list behaviors
By default, Keep adds new items to the end of a number and sends checked-off items to the bottom of a bill, beneath all of the active voice items. But guess what ? You can change either of those behaviors : precisely tap Keep ‘s three-line menu icon, choice Settings, and then deactivate the toggles next to “ Add new items to bottom ” and/or “ Move checked items to bottom. ” That ‘ll cause raw items and checked-off items, respectively, to show up at the top of a number alternatively of the penetrate .
20. Customize Keep’s reminder times
When you set a new note reminder, Keep offers a serial of one-tap presets — but the app ‘s default settings for good morning, afternoon, and evening might not be correct for you. You can customize those times to suit your own agenda by tapping the app ‘s three-line menu picture, selecting “ Settings, ” and then adjusting the times for each daypart under the “ Reminder Defaults ” lead. Just note that the times you set in Keep will besides carry over to Gmail and be used for the default option snooze times there .
Part IV: Collaboration and integration
21. Team up with a colleague
Want to brainstorm ideas or tackle a disturbance list with a colleague ? Or possibly even maintain an evolving shopping number with your significant early — one that you both can update anytime, anywhere ? easy peasy : Open up a note, then tap the three-dot menu icon in the lower-right corner and choice “ Collaborator. ” Start typing the person ‘s list or Gmail address, and Keep will show you a list of suggestions from your contacts as you type ; you can either tap one of its suggestions or continue entering an e-mail address manually. And if you want to add more collaborators beyond that, equitable keep entering names or Gmail addresses as needed. once your note-making companions are connected, you ‘ll all be able to edit the bill on your own respective devices — whether they ‘re Android, io, or any desktop platform — and you ‘ll all see any changes and additions as they ‘re made .
22. Switch accounts with ease
If you use multiple Google accounts — like one for function and one for personal purposes — Keep makes it ace simpleton to switch between different personalities from properly within the app. Tap the round visibility icon in the app ‘s upper-right corner ( the one that shows either your personal profile photograph or the first letter of your mention ), and you ‘ll be able to toggle to any other account associated with your telephone. You can flush add a new report onto your telephone from that same spot, if you need to. For an even quicker account-switching shortcut, swipe your feel up or down on the profile picture rather of tapping it. That ‘ll hertz you through all the accounts associated with your telephone in forward or back ordain .
23. Let other apps feed Keep
Do n’t forget that you can share stuff from any other app on your earphone immediately into your Keep notes — whether it ‘s a web URL, a photograph, a screenshot, or evening a snip of highlighted text. Just expect for the “ Share ” command or icon wherever you are and then select Keep from the list of choices. The content you ‘re viewing will beam properly into a new note for your screening and discover pleasure .
JR Raphael/IDG
Select text anywhere in Android, then tap “ Share ” and select Google Keep — and you can save that textbook into a newly note right then and there .
24. Don’t be afraid to call in a Doc
Let ‘s face it : While Keep excels in lots of basic note-taking areas, the app decidedly has its limits. once a note turns into more of a document — with tons of text and the need for advanced edit tools — Keep credibly is n’t the place you want to be working. fortunately, there ‘s an excellent way around that : When a note exceeds Keep ‘s capabilities, just tap the three-dot menu icon in the lower-right corner of the editing screen, select “ Send, ” and then select “ Copy to Google Docs. ” That ‘ll dump your stallion note into a new Docs document, where you can edit away to your heart ‘s capacity. If Docs is n’t your cup of tea, you can use the “ Send via other apps ” choice in that same menu to send the full text of your note into any early app that can handle it — whether it ‘s another Android parole central processing unit, an electronic mail or texting app, or a collaboration cock like Trello or Slack .
25. Access Keep from other Google apps
When you ‘re working on a calculator and wish you could access all those bright thoughts you collected on your Android phone, pretend a bantam genie popped up and granted your wish — because here it is : You can actually get to your Keep notes from the desktop versions of Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs. And everything you saved from your phone will be justly there and waiting. just attend for the right side panel in any of those apps — or if the panel is n’t visible, look for a modest white tab with a left-facing arrow in the lower-right corner of the screen. Once the panel ‘s capable, you can click the Keep icon within it and watch, search, or even edit your notes in that identical same browser pill. In Docs, any new notes you take will mechanically contain a link to the document you were working on at the clock time. And possibly most useful of all : From the Keep panel, you can click the three-dot menu picture within any note to copy its integral contents immediately into your document.
With capabilities like these, who needs internal genius repositing, anyhow ? This article was primitively published in May 2016 and most recently updated in August 2020 .
