What is Google Keep?
Calling all Google Workspace users!
Are you looking for an effective and straightforward way to record and manage your notes, tasks, images, links, and business ideas?
Look no further than Google Keep, a free note-taking and organization app found right inside your Google Workspace account.
Google Keep is essentially a digital sticky note board, ideal for jotting down quick thoughts, drawings, or checklists, saving images, or even recording voice memos.
Google Keep is free, easy to use, and allows you to record and save an unlimited number of notes (that can hold up to 20,000 characters) in one location.
Basically, with Google Keep by your side, you can organize your thoughts and access them from your phone or desktop at any moment!
How to use Google Keep?
It’s important to note that you can use Google Keep through the standalone app (web or mobile version) or the sidebar in your other Google Apps.
Here’s how you can use Google Keep through the dedicated Google Keep App:
● Download the Google Keep app from the App Store (iOS) or Google Play Store (Android), or go to the Google Keep website to use it on your desktop.
● Log in with your Google Workspace account details (the one you use for Gmail, Google Docs, etc.).
● Create a new note by tapping the ‘+’ icon at the bottom-right corner of the screen (mobile app) or typing within the ‘Take a Note’ box (desktop).
● Add a title and description of what your note is about.
● Click the ‘Image’ icon to add an image (if required).
● Add a reminder by selecting the ‘bell’ icon below the task description.
● Tap the three dots menu (or, on desktop, the label button) to add a label to your note to easily find them later.
● Click the ‘Color’ icon to pick different colors for your notes so they’re visually organized.
● Select the ‘Pin’ icon to pin any important notes to the top of the interface for quick access.
● Click the ‘Collaborator’ icon (the little person with a + sign) and enter the email address of anyone you want to share your note with.
To use Google Keep within your other Google Apps:
● Login to your Google App of choice (Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs, etc).
● Select the ‘Google Apps’ icon in the top right-hand corner.
● Scroll down through the different Google Apps and select ‘Google Keep’ or
● Locate the right-hand side panel within your Google App interface.
● Click the Google Keep icon (this looks like a lightbulb).
● Start recording notes within the sidebar panel.
You can also open the Google Keep web app from the sidebar panel by selecting ‘Open in new tab.’
Check out this step-by-step tutorial on how to use Google Keep here.
What are the main features of Google Keep?
Although simple, Google Keep is jam-packed with features that make it super useful for organizing your thoughts, tasks, and ideas.
Here are some of the key features that set it apart from other note-taking apps:
1. Note creation
Google Keep allows you to create five different types of notes! These include:
● Text Notes: Simple notes where you can type anything from to-do lists to random thoughts.
● Checklists: Best for creating to-do lists or any tasks that need to be tracked and checked off as completed.
● Voice Notes: Perfect for when you’re on the go, simply record a voice memo that gets transcribed into text.
● Photo Notes: Attach photos directly into your notes.
● Drawing Notes: Draw sketches or diagrams within notes to help bring your visual reminders or ideas to life.
2. Organization & categorization
With Google Keep, simply organize your notes through labels to quickly find different notes.
This is great for cross-functional teams or individuals using the platform for personal and work purposes.
Additionally, you can color-code your notes for easy visual organization to further differentiate your notes at a glance.
And finally, pinning notes to the top of the page allows quick and easy access to your most important ideas and notes.
3. Reminders
Set location-based or time-based (for specific dates and times) reminders for individual tasks.
Once set, Google Keep will automatically notify you when it’s time to act on your note!
4. Collaboration
Share your notes with others and collaborate in real-time. This is great for group projects or cross-functional teams.
Additionally, once you’ve shared a note, all collaborators can edit it, seamlessly adding or removing content as needed.
5. Search & filtering
The search function allows you to find your notes by text, labels, colors, and even image content (thanks to Google’s image recognition).
You can also easily filter notes by labels or colors to quickly access related content.
6. Integration with Google Apps
As mentioned, Google Keep can be accessed within the sidebar panel of any Google App within Google Workspace.
Additionally, you can transfer a Google Keep note directly to Google Docs to transform it into a bigger idea or add notes to docs through voice commands using Google Assistant.
7. Archive notes
What if you don’t want to delete a note but want to remove it from your active list? You can archive it!
The best thing is that your archived notes are still searchable and won’t just clutter your main screen.
But don’t worry, you can also permanently delete notes for those that are no longer required.
What are the limitations of Google Keep?
Google Keep is great for quick notes and simple organization, however, it’s certainly not as comprehensive as other note-taking tools like Evernote or Notion.
The apps simple structure lacks many of the advanced formatting features that you’d find in apps like Google Docs or Microsoft Word, such as bold, italics, and underline options.
And while you can use labels and colors to organize notes, there’s no folder system or hierarchical structure for even finer organization.
If you’re looking to keep lots of notes in specific categories or subcategories, Google Keep can feel a bit clunky.
For more detailed organization, you'll need to rely on labels or color-coding, which isn’t ideal for complex projects.
There's also no support for task management features like project timelines, subtasks, or due dates and priority levels, and collaboration features for shared checklists are basic.
While you can add images and voice memos, Google Keep doesn’t support rich media like embedded videos, maps, or other interactive content.
And finally, for users who need more robust task management or customization, Google Keep is simply too simple!
Unless….you use a Sheetify CRM business toolkit.
Sheetify CRM and Google Keep
Did you know you can record notes and create reminders through Google Keep and our Sheetify CRM products?
Sheetify CRM consists of three business toolkits: Sheetify CRM, Sheetify Bookkeeping, and Sheetify Projects.
Built entirely with Google Sheets and Apps Scripts, these Google Sheets templates give small and micro business owners the ability to manage their entire business within Google.
Whether its managing customers, projects, or finances (or all three!) these Sheetify business toolkits seamlessly integrate with all your favorite Google Apps.
Including Google Keep!
Using the right-hand side panel within the Sheetify CRM Google Sheets template, you can quickly record, save, and pin notes or lists to your Google Keep account.
If you’re using all three Sheetify products, I highly recommend using labels to keep all relevant notes for each business toolkit together.
By using Sheetify CRM and Google Keep, all your project ideas and notes with clients and leads are organized and synced automatically across all your devices within Google Keep.
Learn more about how you can add notes and record interactions within Sheetify CRM here.
