What Are Labels in Google Keep and How to Use Them Effectively

Google Keep is one of the simplest and most powerful note-taking apps on the market. I use it for several reasons, including taking small notes. Google Keep is so fast that you can use it as a clipboard to transfer text between multiple devices. The only problem I have is that it does not offer folders to organize notes, as is present in some note taking applications. To compensate for this, Keep offers labels. What are labels and how do I use them in Keep? Find the answer in this article.

I organize my notes in different folders and sub-folders. And the same thing is missing in Keep. Google Keep has labels, among other techniques, for organizing notes. The labels are easy to use and help organize notes without folders.

Let’s go to the world of labels in Keep and see how to use labels in Google Keep.

What are labels in Google Keep

Remember that particular school notebook that had different sections for each subject? Each section had a label to classify and identify notes inside, such as math, science, English, etc.

A similar concept is available in Google Keep in the form of labels. You can organize your notes by subject, subject, priority, relevance, etc., using labels. For example, you can have labels for personal and professional notes, shopping lists, students, etc.

The labels are accessible from the left panel on the desktop and inside the side drawer in mobile applications or from notes. By clicking on a label, you will filter your notes and display only the notes with that particular label.

How many labels can you add to Keep

You can create up to 50 labels in Keep. Each note can have multiple labels. The tags added to the note will be displayed at the bottom of a note.

How to create and add a label to notes

Let’s check out the desktop and mobile apps separately.

Create and add labels to the desktop

There are three ways to create a label. To add a label, follow the last 2 methods.

Method 1: Create a label before creating a note

Open the Keep website and click the Edit Labels option in the left panel.

A pop-up window will open. Type the name of your label in the Create a new label section and check the box next to it.

Method 2: Create and add a label when creating a note using a hashtag

When you create a new note or edit an existing note, you can also create a label at that time. To do this, type the hashtag symbol # followed by your label on a desk in the note. Make sure there is no space between the symbol and your label. For example, #work, #cars, etc. As soon as you start typing after the # symbol, you will see the existing labels, if any. Click on an existing label if you want to add it to your note.

Continue typing the label name if you want to create a new one. Click the Create Label Name option that appears.

If a label has been successfully created or added, it will appear as a link in your note. By clicking on it, you will see other notes of the same label.

Method 3: Create or add a label when creating a note using the menu

In the Keep note, click the three-dot icon on the note. You will see the Add Label option.

Enter your label in the available box. To add an existing label, check the box next to it.

How to create and add labels on Android and iOS

There are two methods. We are going to take a look.

Method 1: Create a label before creating a note

On mobile apps, tap the three bar icon in the upper left corner of the Keep app. Choose Create new label or Edit at the top.

Enter the name of your label in the Create new label box and tap the checkmark icon to save it.

Method 2: Create or add a label in a note

Open the note in Keep and tap the three-dot icon at the bottom. Choose labels. Type the name of the label in the Enter label name text box and press Create to create a new one. Check the box next to the existing label to add an old label.

How to modify or delete note labels

Here are the steps for desktop and mobile applications.

Edit or delete a label on the desktop

There are two ways to do this. In the first method, open the note and hover your mouse over the label in a note. You will see the cross icon. Click it to remove the note label. Add a new label, as shown in the section above.

Another way to remove labels is to click the three-dot icon on the note. Choose Edit Labels from the menu.

Uncheck the box next to the label you want to remove from the note. Check the boxes next to the labels you want to have in your note.

Edit or delete a label on mobile applications

Open the note and tap the label at the bottom that you want to delete or change. On the next screen, uncheck the box next to the labels you want to remove. Select to add new labels.

Otherwise, tap the three-dot icon at the bottom and choose Labels. Uncheck to remove or select to add new labels.

Who can see your labels

Only you will be able to see your labels. So if you share your notes with others, they won’t have access to them.

Point: Learn how to move Keep notes to another account.

How to rename or delete a label

On the desktop, click the Edit Labels option in the left panel of Keep. In the Edit Labels pop-up window that appears, click the pencil icon next to the label you want to rename. Save the label using the check mark icon. Hover your mouse over the label and the left icon will turn into a delete icon. Click on it to remove the label.

On mobile, open the sidebar in Keep by pressing the three-bar icon at the top. Tap Edit next to the labels. Tap the edit icon next to the label. Rename it and tap the checkmark icon. Tap the delete icon to delete the label.

Note: Deleting a label will not delete the notes it contains.

How to rearrange labels

Keep organizes your labels alphabetically. He offers no other way to sort them. But you can add numbers before your labels if you want to organize them according to your preferences.

How to create subtags

Some of the Google Keep alternatives also allow you to create subfolders. You can get somewhat similar functionality by using labels in Keep.

To do this, you will need to create labels in the following format:

• Main subject
• Main subject / sub-subject 1
• Main subject / sub-theme 2

For example, I have the main label for Guiding Tech or GT. The subtags will be in GT / Article and GT / ToDo format.

Organize notes efficiently in Keep

Labeling your notes is just one way to organize your notes. You can color code your notes or pin them at the top for faster access. You can even archive notes to hide them from your view instead of deleting them. And the best part, you can select multiple notes and organize them together.