Creative Uses of Google Keep to Organize Your Day

Google created Keep to serve as a note-taking app. The bright colors in the design were carefully selected to ensure that your schedules are easy to distinguish. It is also available on all major mobile platforms and as a Chrome extension. If you find yourself working from home, Keep has many features that will help your organize your day and keep you focused.

1. Voice memos

If you are in a hurry and don’t want to type, you can use Google Keep to record and transcribe voice messages. To create a voice memo, you must use a mobile device.

1. Tap the microphone icon at the bottom of the screen.

2. Allow access to the microphone if permission is requested.

3. On screen, a microphone icon surrounded by a red circle will appear. Begin talking to record your message.

4. The recording will end when you stop speaking.

5. On the screen that appears you will see the text of your message and an audio file. Tap in the Title area to name your file. You can edit any errors in the message as well.

Tap the three dots in the lower-right corner to share, make copies, or add labels, colors, and collaborators.

2. Transcribe Text from a Handwritten List

Sometimes ideas come quickly, and you jot them down on a piece of paper. If you want to share that list with a colleague or save it for a while, Keep can transcribe it from handwritten notes.

1. Take a photo with your phone.

2. Click the “Share” icon.

3. Select Keep.

4. Open the image by tapping on it.

5. Tap the three dots at the top.

6. Select “Grab image text.”

The text will appear below the image.

3. Labels

Google Keep does not support the use of folders and sub-folders. However, you can organize your notes with labels.

1. Open the note in Google Keep.

2. Tap the three dots in the lower right-hand corner.

3. Select Labels (on mobile apps) or “Add a label” (on the website).

4. Check a label you have already created or type in the empty field to create a new label.

4. To-Do Lists

Google does have an app dedicated to creating to-do lists called Google Tasks, but Google Keep will also create these lists for you. To create a to-do list in Keep:

1. Tap the “New list” icon in the bottom-left corner on mobile or at the end of the “Take a note” bar on a desktop.

2. Type your to-do item.

3. Press the Enter key to add the next one.

4. When you finish your task, tap the checkbox to remove it from the list.

You can also convert an existing note into a to-do list. To do it on the website, open the note, tap the three-dot icon, and select “Show checkboxes.”

On the mobile app, tap the plus sign in the bottom left corner to find the Checkboxes option.

5. Reminders

Are there things on your list you need to remember to do at a specific time or while you are in a particular place (like a store)? Create reminders in Keep and you won’t forget.

1. Click a note.

2. At the bottom left, click Remind me. It looks like a bell with a plus sign.

3. You can set reminders to go off at a certain time or place:

• Time reminder: click one of the default times or “Pick date & time” (the clock icon). You can also set the reminder to repeat.
• Location reminder: click “Pick place” (the location pin icon). Enter the name or address. Make sure Keep can access your location.

6. Note from email

If you receive an important email but don’t have the time to read it at that moment, you can add it to Keep if it is in Gmail.

1. Click on the Keep shortcut on the right side of the screen.

2. Click “Take a note.”

3. The title of the email will display in the new note. Type a note to yourself about the email if you wish. Once you save it, you can add a reminder so you can remember to read it after a busy day.

7. Share Errands and Manage Your Shopping

For families where each person has a responsibility, this is a remarkable solution. Google Keep’s reminder and collaborator feature allows you to do this seamlessly.

If you have a joint errand to undertake, each person can tick the chores off as you complete them. Doing this updates the rest of the team. Think of it as a mini project management software! Here’s how to use this feature:

1. Hover over any note you have created. It will reveal a set of options underneath.

2. Click on the icon encircled in red. It will pop up a container requesting an email to add to your note. Fill in this email and click “Save.”

3. You can add as many emails as you need. This feature sends a copy of your plans to your collaborators’ emails so they can contribute to the task. Be sure they’re all on board with your ideas before including their emails on your list. These collaborators also need to have Google Keep installed on their devices.

8. Extensions

If you are researching a project, you may find it helpful to add the Google Keep extension to your Chromium-based browser. Then you can quickly and easily add a webpage that you may want to refer to later to your Keep notes.

With the extension, when you locate a web page that you want to save, click the icon on the right end of the address bar.

Keep is easy to use and available across all of your devices. It is one of many note-taking apps available to keep you organized – and working from home definitely requires organization.