40 hacks to get more out of Google Keep

1. Introduction to Google Keep or Google Notes

‘Google Keep’ or ‘Google Notes’ is a powerful tool from Google designed for both personal organization and task management in teams. The app offers a variety of features that allow users to create notes, manage tasks, set reminders and much more. In this guide, the most important functions and application options of Google Keep are explained in detail so that you can utilize the full potential of these tools.

Google Keep is available for browsers, Android and iOS and logically synchronizes between all devices. As it is free, there are no device limits [as of early 2025].

You can create different lists for different projects, subdivide tasks and sort them by priority or due date to organize your work efficiently. But first things first.

2. Google Keep features

Google Keep provides a user-friendly platform for creating and managing notes – which, as the name suggests, is the app’s main function. With its simple interface and numerous customization options, it is an indispensable tool for daily organization. You can create notes in the form of text, images, voice notes or even handwritten entries.

In addition, Google Keep offers functions such as colour coding, labels and checklists to help you organize your notes in the best possible way. But it’s all step-by-step.

3. notes in Google Keep – the centerpiece

Creating and managing notes is at the heart of Google Keep. You can quickly create text notes, record important information and color-code them if necessary to better organize them.

In addition to simple text notes, Google Keep also allows you to add images or record voice notes that can be automatically converted to text (more on this later). This makes Google Keep a versatile tool that is suitable for various use cases.

4. task management in Google Keep – checklists

Google Keep offers a simple but effective way to manage tasks. With the checklist function, you can create to-do lists that you can tick off one by one. Furthermore, to-do lists can be prioritized and organized by importance or due date. This allows you to manage your to-do lists efficiently and keep track of your tasks.

Important: Unfortunately, you can only add due dates to complete notes, not the (sub)tasks they contain.

5. reminders in Google Keep – time or place

One of the most useful features of Google Keep is the reminder function. You can create reminders based on time or location that will notify you at the right time OR the right place. These reminders can also be synchronized with Google Calendar so you don’t miss any important appointments or tasks.

In addition to the time-based reminder, the location-based reminder can be a nice little feature if, for example, you walk past the supermarket or DIY store and are reminded to go shopping or quickly save a to-do for the next office day in the evening, which then pops up when you enter the office building the next day.

6. use of Google Keep in everyday life – sharing notes

Google Keep is a versatile tool that can be used for personal, family or professional purposes. In everyday life, you can use it for shopping lists, idea management or as a digital notebook.

For companies, teams or families, Google Keep offers the option of managing tasks and notes together, which facilitates collaboration and increases productivity.

Lists and notes can also be shared privately (a Google account and the app are required), which can make coordination within the family much easier.

One missing feature that is often mentioned at this point is password protection. Notes cannot be password-protected in Google. However, as you only actually create notes with your own account and then share them with other/third accounts, password protection is not necessary in my opinion. If you want to protect content – of any kind – from other eyes in the same account or on your smartphone, you should use a different app for this.

7. Advantages of Google Keep – Keep it simple

Google Keep is characterized by its ease of use and flexibility. It is easily accessible, both via the browser and mobile apps, and makes it possible to quickly capture and organize information.

However, simplicity is a double-edged sword. Personally, I have come to appreciate that there is no formatting. This means that all links and text can simply be copied and always appear the same in the respective notes.

Evernote and OneNote offer more “design options” here. However, I personally want a notes app and not Office. Instead, I have the “real Office” (e.g. Google Docs), which you can also import the notes into.

8. integration of Google Keep with other Google services – Google Docs

One of the strengths of Google Keep is its integration with other Google services such as Google Drive, Gmail, Google Task, Google Calendar and Google Office. You can export notes directly to Google Docs, display reminders in your calendar or link tasks to your emails. This integration ensures a smooth workflow and improved organization.

9. Google Keep for business – sharing notes (part 2)

Google Keep is not only useful for individuals, but also for companies. Teams can work together on notes, distribute tasks and manage projects more efficiently. The ability to share and edit content in real time makes Google Keep a valuable tool for collaboration in companies.

This brings us to the first sticking point. As much as I appreciate Google Keep in my private life, I am a Microsoft user at work. The simplicity of the app is useful for private applications – even with family or friends or for SMEs – but a little too spartan in a professional environment with complex projects. Here I appreciate the “Microsoft Universe” or professional project management tools.

Sharing notes is child’s play with Google Keep. You can share notes via email (add employees) or, if another person has already been shared, via a link (the URL in the browser is the deep link) and edit them together with others.

10. google keep as a productivity tool – voice notes

With its wide range of functions, Google Keep is an excellent productivity tool. You can record your thoughts and ideas immediately, create to-do lists and organize your daily work. The voice notes are particularly useful, allowing you to quickly take notes without having to type long texts.

This function is ideal if you want to quickly record an idea without having to enter long texts.

Voice notes can also be integrated into to-do lists.

The “text to voice function” is a perfect additional function for voice notes. I now use this function several times a day. Either I dictate an e-mail or a paragraph for a blog article and have it transcribed legibly with a short prompt in ChatGPT 3.5 or higher.

A significant acceleration of my everyday life – both privately and professionally. I will gladly send you the “mini-prompt” on request.

One small drawback is that sometimes the voice recordings are not saved. It is therefore advisable to record and transcribe several and shorter voice notes rather than having hours of monologues that are not saved. The second minimal disadvantage is that you have to speak very quickly or structure your thoughts a little beforehand. As soon as you stop speaking (short pause for speaking and thinking), the recording is interrupted or stopped. However, this can all be learned and practiced after 2-3 voice messages.

A small positive side effect. Even if you can’t organize your own thoughts at the moment, it can help to simply “speak away” and let ChatGPT structure your thoughts. As a kind of brainstorming session, or rather, as a kind of “how am I supposed to know what I’m thinking before I hear what I’m saying” ;-).

11. Google Keep vs. other note-taking apps

Google Keep is often compared to other note-taking apps such as Evernote, Microsoft OneNote or Apple Notes.

While each of these apps has its own strengths, Google Keep scores highly for its ease of use and seamless integration into the Google ecosystem. For users who already use other Google services, Google Keep is a logical choice.

12. data protection with Google Keep

Data protection is an important issue when it comes to digital note-taking apps. Google Keep stores all data securely in the cloud. Your data is encrypted and protected by your Google account.
According to statements on the WWW, the data and texts in Google Keep are not analyzed/read out. [see also ‘Outlook’ at the end of the article]

Of course, we all know that Google, as a cloud provider, has access to the notes at all times. Just like Apple, Microsoft, Evernote and co. Every user should be aware of this – keyword: sensitive data.

13. Offline access to Google Keep

You can also use Google Keep without an internet connection. The app saves notes locally on your smartphone and synchronizes them automatically as soon as you are online again. This is particularly handy if you are on the move and have no access to the internet.

14. customization options in Google Keep

Google Keep offers numerous customization options to organize your notes in the best possible way. You can color-code notes, add labels and customize the user interface according to your needs.

These customizations help you to manage your information efficiently and find it again quickly.

• Color coding in Google Keep
  The colour coding in Google Keep allows you to organize your notes visually. You can color-code notes by category or priority, which helps you quickly find what you’re looking for and keep track of things. To do this, you need to open the three-dot menu in a Keep note and select a color. This makes it easier to identify the content later and assign it to a purpose.
  It makes sense to use color codes for tasks or appointments. If you work on desktop, you can also use the categories tab for the Keep extension in Chrome to assign category names by color.
  Maybe all your work-related notes are green and your personal notes are blue – or maybe urgent notes are red while everyone else is gray. Backgrounds are also available – unfortunately you can’t select your own photos.
• Using labels in Google Keep
  Labels are another useful feature in Google Keep to categorize your notes. You can create labels to sort notes by projects, topics or priorities and then easily find them again using the search function.
  Hashtags can be used as labels to find notes more quickly. When you create a note in the app and write the #label name, the app suggests that you use an existing label or create a new one. This is a practical shortcut.
  You can enter a label directly into a note even faster by adding a hashtag to it – for example “#personal”, “#web projects” or “#business ideas”.
  Keep will even suggest existing labels as soon as you start typing.
  Once you’ve selected the label you want, you can either leave the hashtag text in the note or delete it.
• Eliminate unnecessary elements
  When you insert URLs into a note, Keep usually adds a series of preview boxes with links to these websites at the bottom of the note. These boxes can be handy for quickly accessing the links, but they can also cause a lot of unnecessary clutter both within the notes and in your main note list – especially if you tend to include a lot of URLs in your notes, they can quickly get out of hand.
  If, like me, you find these boxes annoying rather than useful, tap the menu icon in the top left corner of Keep, select Settings and uncheck the switch next to Show rich link preview. This will make your note list look much tidier.
• Emojis and numbers
  As labels are sorted by alphabet and unfortunately cannot be re-sorted using drag & drop, it can be advantageous to force your own sorting using numbers – “Office” then becomes “1 – Office”. Emojis can also be a nice little gimmick – if you like it playful, for example – to help you see the labels more quickly.
• Header images
  The size of the header images is actually very flexible. However, I have found that too large a height takes up too much space – both on the screen and on the smartphone screen – and can therefore be more of a nuisance than a help. The golden rule should therefore be: as low as possible, as high as necessary. Otherwise, however, a header image can be a great help in capturing the respective note directly with the eye and thus bringing some order back into Google Keep. I use header images at least for all long-term notes.

15. Drawings in Google Keep

For visual notes, Google Keep offers the option to create and save drawings. You can make sketches directly in the app and link them to your notes. This function is particularly useful if you want to record ideas graphically.

16. checklists in Google Keep

Checklists are a central component of Google Keep. You can create to-do lists, tick them off and sort them by priority.

17. archiving function in Google Keep

One thing that put me off Google Keep at the beginning was the fact that all new notes are automatically displayed in the main section. I was familiar with labels, but at some point the main section was far too confusing with 20-30-40 notes – especially on the smartphone screen.

The solution was as simple as it was effective. Google Keep offers an archiving function that allows you to remove completed or older notes from the main section, but still keep them accessible. Archived notes can be restored at any time, allowing you to keep your notes section (main section) clean and organized.

However, I personally find the word “archive” misleading here. Although the notes are moved to the archive – and therefore out of the main section – for me this is not an archive in the classic sense. If I no longer need a note, it is deleted and not archived. If the content really needs to be saved for the long term, it is moved to Google Docs or other software. The archive is therefore a trick to make the individual notes “invisible”. They can then be found as usual via the labels, which then act as a kind of “subfolder”. This turns labels into (thematic) notebooks like in Evernote. All archived notes can still be found and edited both for the search and in the labels.

18. search function in Google Keep

Google Keep’s search function is extremely powerful and allows you to quickly find specific notes (even archived ones). You can search for text, labels, colors or even content in images, which helps you navigate your notes efficiently.

19. reminder function in Google Keep

The reminder feature in Google Keep is versatile and easy to use. You can create reminders based on time or location (not both at the same time) that integrate seamlessly with other Google services like Google Calendar and Google Assistant to make sure you don’t forget any important tasks.

20. integration of photos and images in Google Keep

Photos and images can be easily integrated into Google Keep. You can insert images directly into your notes to create visual reminders or capture important information. This feature is especially useful for visual thinkers or for gathering inspiration.

21. text recognition from images in Google Keep

Google Keep has an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) feature that allows text to be extracted from images and turned into editable notes.

This feature is ideal for capturing information from scanned documents, photos or other image sources, such as bullet points on a board, handwritten notes from a meeting or a quickly snapped photo of a magazine page. If you want to use these texts later, you would have to laboriously type them out, unless you use Google Keep. Thanks to optical character recognition (OCR), Keep can transcribe the text contained in images.

All you have to do is take a photo and select the text extraction option. Keep will then do the rest.

22. Handwritten notes in Google Keep

For users of tablets or smartphones with stylus support, Google Keep offers the option of creating handwritten notes. These can be combined with text notes or saved separately, which further increases the flexibility of note creation.

In addition, handwritten notes can be found later via the search function based on the text they contain.

23. Create a smart shopping list

When you create a shopping list in Google Keep, you can access it from all devices that are synchronized with your Google account. If you link the list to Google Assistant, you can edit it using voice commands.

To do this, you need to follow these steps Create a list in Google Keep and give it a title. Say Hey Google, open the Assistant settings.

If voice activation is not activated, open the Assistant app. Create a shopping list in the Google Keep mobile app.

Tell Google Assistant to open its settings menu. Scroll down the Assistant’s settings menu and tap Notes & Lists. Check the box next to Google Keep.

If you now say: Hey Google, add (item) to my list (list name) or Hey Google, remove (item) from my list (list name), Google Assistant will act accordingly.

24. insert notes into Google Docs using drag & drop

You can use Keep directly in Google Docs by simply copying the notes you have created with Keep into documents.

When you are in a document, click on Tools and then on Keep-Notepad.

This will open a sidebar that contains all the relevant options.

You can scroll through the list or use the search to go directly to the note you want. You can then simply drag and drop it into the document.

If you’re in the Keep app and want to send a note, select the three-dot menu in the relevant note and copy the content into a document from there. You can even create notes using the Keep notepad while viewing a document.

As a bonus, Keep automatically creates a source link: When you access the note in Keep, you can always see which document it was created in.

25. Helpful Chrome extension – Quick&Dirty

You can use the Chrome extension to create notes while surfing the Internet, which are saved directly with the URL. When you return to this URL later, the extension will display the note in the appropriate context.

26. Send notes from Keep to other apps – sharing is caring

Some teams save information from messaging or social media apps in Keep for later use.

On the other hand, some users quickly prepare email or social media drafts in Keep.

If you click on the three dots in the bottom right corner of the Keep app and then select “Send”, you can choose an application through which you want to share a note.

27. Pin notes – important first

Keep your most important notes easily accessible by using Keep’s pin feature. Simply click on the pin icon in the top right corner while you are editing a note or after you have selected it in your main note list. This note will then appear in the special “Pinned section” above all your other notes so that it is always at hand.

To detach a note at any time, simply click on the thumbtack icon again.

28. Format Google Notes [currently only in the Android app]

Google Keep also allows you to format texts to make them clearer and more appealing. With just a few clicks, users can format texts in bold, italics, H1, H2 or strikethrough. They can also create bulleted and numbered lists to present information in a structured way. These functions make it easy to highlight important points and create clear notes.

The ability to format text makes using Google Keep even more effective and helps to quickly capture and organize information.

Unfortunately, the formatting does not appear in the browser, but only in the app.

29. Use search effectively

1. click on the search field at the top of the main screen of the Google Keep app to use the search function.
2. scroll down to see additional search tools, such as filtering notes by reminders, lists, images, URLs, colors or labels.
3. use specific criteria to filter your notes and quickly find the information you need.
4. you can also search for labels by clicking on the three-line menu icon in the top left corner of the app and selecting the desired label.

By using these search and filter options in Google Keep, you can efficiently manage your notes and access them based on specific criteria.

30. Send content from other apps to Keep

Easily add content directly to your Keep notes from any other app on your phone. Whether it’s a web URL, a photo, a screenshot or a highlighted snippet of text, simply search for the share command or icon in the app and then select Keep from the list of options.

The content will then be transferred directly to a new note that you can view and find later.

31. Find your favorite view

You can easily change the view of your notes in Keep. Simply click on the icon with the two thick horizontal lines at the top of the app’s search bar. This will switch you from the standard multi-column view (grid view) to a less dense single-column configuration (list view).

32. Undo

For a long time, Keep missed one of the most popular commands in any text editor: the Undo button. Fortunately, this is no longer the case: the next time you accidentally delete an entire section of text or make another rash change, look out for the arrow pointing to the left at the bottom center of the screen. If you have undone something, you will also see an arrow pointing to the right; you can use this to restore what you have undone if necessary.

33. copy/duplicate notes

Have you ever wanted to use a note as a template or starting point and work on it without changing your original copy?

In Keep, there’s an unobtrusive option to do just that: open a note, then tap the three-dot menu icon in the bottom right corner and select “Create copy”. You will then be redirected to an exact copy of the note, while your original version remains untouched.

34. Convert any note into a list

You can easily turn an existing note into a list by tapping the plus icon in the bottom left corner of the screen when editing the note and then going to Checkboxes.

Keep will then add a checkbox at the beginning of each new line so you can check off the items when you’ve completed them.

35. Manage Google Keep notes with Android widgets

Google Keep offers you three handy Android widgets for your Android home screen that you can customize in size. The first widget is a quick capture tool with four buttons for creating notes, checklists, voice input and taking pictures with your camera.

The second widget has the same buttons as the first, but additionally you can preview the entire notes menu or some notes without opening the app. The third widget allows you to pin a note directly to your screen. This is how you use it:

1. press and hold an empty area on your home screen to bring up the options.
2. tap on Widgets.
3. search for Keep Notes.
4. select the widget you want and follow the instructions to add it to your home screen.

I particularly like using the last widget. For example, the to-do list can be placed directly on the screen, scrolled through and opened with one click. Very nice to keep a quick overview.

36. Shotcuts – For those who prefer the keyboard to the mouse

Not my cup of tea, as I really like working with a mouse on my laptop, but some people swear by it – Shotcuts. Google Keep also knows a few shortcuts.

Keep shortcuts outside a note

Open a new text note – C
Open a new list – L
Search Google Keep – /
Show shortcuts – ?

Shortcuts in a note

Exit note – Esc
Toggle checkboxes – Ctrl + Shift + 8
Indent checkbox – Ctrl + ]
Dedent checkbox – Ctrl + [

37. Email to Note – Create a note from an email (GMail)

If you want to create a note from an email (GMail), you can either copy the text and paste it into a new note or use the handy keyboard shortcut in Gmail on the web.

And this is how it works: After opening an email, click on the Save notes icon in the right sidebar. Then click on the Add note button and your email will be displayed as an attachment in a new note. Give the note a name, select “Done” and then you can jump directly from the note to the email with a tap.

38. Print a Google Keep Note

Unfortunately, Google Keep does not have its own print function. Therefore, a workaround must be used. The respective note must first be converted into a Google document and then printed out regularly from there – see point no. 8.

39. Determine the order of the notes – drag & drop

In addition to the pinning function, it is also possible to move individual notes to the desired position using your finger or mouse pointer. This creates a kind of “three-level structure”. The pinned notes at the top, then the placed notes themselves, then all other notes. “Unfortunately”, however, new notes are always saved at the top. So if you create a lot of notes, you have to keep adjusting the order manually. Unfortunately, the order cannot be changed in the archive.

40. Bulk Editing Your Notes

Sometimes it is helpful to edit a whole batch of notes at once. You can do this either by clicking with the mouse on all the notes in the top left-hand corner by the checkmark or by using shortcuts.

To select all your notes, use this key combination

Windows = CTRL + A
Mac = CMD + A