As a part of my job as a tech author, and as a part of my ongoing efforts to get organized in some unspecified time in the future, I’ve examined a complete pile of note-taking apps via the years: the easy, the subtle, the quirky, the AI-powered, and on it goes. It’s a well-liked app class, and there’s no scarcity of choices.
Amid all these completely different decisions, one of many apps that I discover myself recurrently coming again to is Google Maintain. It’s quick and straightforward to get round, it really works on nearly any machine, and when you dig somewhat deeper into its colourful sticky observe interface, there are many helpful options to make the most of.
Whether or not you’re a present Google Maintain person seeking to do extra with the app otherwise you’re questioning whether or not Google Maintain has sufficient to tempt you away from no matter note-taking system you’re utilizing in the intervening time, these are a few of its most interesting options.
Change the look
Proper from the beginning, the colourful Put up-it observe look of Google Maintain provides you a neat manner of arranging your notes: yellow for to-dos and blue for purchasing lists, for instance, or no matter fits you.
There are 11 completely different pastel colours to choose from apart from the default white, and on prime of that, you’ve bought 9 background footage you should use as an alternative, protecting themes like celebration, locations, recipes, and music.
These backgrounds may be swapped round at any time by clicking on the paint palette icon on the backside of each observe.
Apply labels to notes
Google Maintain borrows a trick from Gmail with labels: particular person notes can have a number of labels, so one thing may be tagged with “family” and “urgent” or “ideas” and “vacation.” It’s a useful manner of bringing order to your notes, whilst their numbers develop into the handfuls or a whole lot.
Labels might help you with searches as properly. As you’ll count on from a Google product, Google Maintain has a search operate that’s quick and correct: click on contained in the search field on the prime of the online interface, and you’ll restrict your question to notes that match a sure label (or class or coloration).
On the internet, your labels are listed to the left for straightforward entry. To use a label on an open observe, click on the three dots on the backside of the observe, then Add label (or Change labels).
Make a to-do listing
If you need to have the ability to test off objects in a listing, it’s straightforward: in an open observe, click on the three dots (or the plus icon within the cell app) on the backside of the observe and choose Checkboxes.
Collaborate
Google Maintain permits you to collaborate on notes with different folks, too, with out the function ever getting overly sophisticated. Click on the collaborator icon on an open observe (the determine with a plus subsequent to it), then enter the e-mail addresses of the contacts you need to share it with. (On the cell app, you’ll discover the icon by clicking on the three dots on the backside of the display.)
You don’t get to see who makes which edits such as you do in Google Docs, however you do get updates when somebody makes modifications to a observe, and you’ll see on the backside of every observe who your collaborators are.
Set reminders
As with collaboration, reminders are a genuinely helpful function applied in an easy manner. You will get notifications from the Google Maintain app at a particular time and even whenever you attain a particular place (when you’ve bought the cell apps put in). Reminders may be set to repeat, so you could possibly arrange a family chore listing that provides you a nudge on the similar time each week.
To set a reminder on the internet model, simply click on on the little Remind me icon on the backside of every observe (which appears like a small bell), then set the choices as wanted. On the cell model, the icon is on the prime of the display.
Pin your observe
Typically, you create a observe that you really want to have the ability to discover instantly. In that case, you possibly can pin the observe to the highest of your listing by tapping the pin icon on the prime of the observe. Nevertheless, watch out about overusing this; I generally discover that if I pin too many notes, they develop into simply as troublesome to search out as if I didn’t pin them in any respect.
Seize textual content from photographs
You can’t solely add photographs to notes utilizing the picture icon on the backside of the observe however you can even extract the textual content from them as properly. Within the net model, simply click on the three dots, then Seize picture textual content. Within the cell model, faucet the picture, then the three dots within the higher proper and Seize picture textual content. So long as the letters within the picture or in your drawing are legible sufficient, you get a replica of them printed beneath — one thing that may be very useful if you’re, for instance, taking a photograph of a enterprise card.
Scribble away
You may add hand-drawn scribbles. Within the net model, click on the three dots after which Add drawing; within the cell model, click on the plus icon and Drawing.
Flip a observe right into a Doc
Notes may be shortly transformed into paperwork in Google Docs by clicking on the three dots on the backside of a observe and selecting Copy to Google Docs. (Within the cell app, click on the three dots and choose Ship > Copy to Google Docs.)
Cell app solely
There are just a few extra options which might be out there in Maintain’s cell apps for Android and iOS.
- You may file voice notes by tapping on the mic button on the backside of the display (Android) or tapping the plus icon after which Recording (iOS). The created observe could have each the audio file as an embed and the transcript of the audio because the accompanying textual content. This may be particularly helpful if you’ll want to shortly file a thought for later use; when you have the Maintain Fast seize widget in your homescreen, you possibly can faucet it or say “Google, take a note” to file your new observe.
- You may as well add a photograph to an open observe by tapping the plus icon after which Take picture. If you wish to begin a brand new observe with a photograph, simply faucet the picture icon on the backside of the display and choose both Take picture (for a brand new picture) or Select picture (to pick one out of your picture gallery — the latter can be out there on the desktop model of Maintain).
- Should you’ve bought the Android model of Maintain, now you can format your textual content. You may make it daring, italicized, underlined, or crossed out; you can even change the scale to an H1 or H2 heading. Search for the icon with an underlined A on the backside of the observe. (Sadly, this isn’t but out there within the iOS or desktop model.)