What Is Meant by Archive in Google Keep and How It Differs From Delete

Organizing notes in Google Keep can be tricky because it doesn’t offer a folder structure for notes. But it offers other organizational options like color coding notes, labels, and even the archiving feature. Wait, what do we mean by archiving in Google Keep? Does this question also concern you? Find the answer in this article.

The archiving function works differently in different applications. For example, you can archive photos in Google Photos, chats in WhatsApp, messages in Facebook Messenger, and posts on Instagram. Archive is often confused with deletion or recycle bin. Also, let’s see how Archiving differs from deleting in Google Keep.

The post will cover everything you want to know about archive, how to do it, unarchive notes on mobile and desktop, and the difference between archive and delete features.

What is the archive in Google Keep

Archiving is a smart way to clean the home screen of the Google Keep app. It hides your notes from the main view. Think of it as a special folder in Google Keep where you can hide your notes.

When a note is archived, it disappears from the main screen of the Google Keep app and goes into the Archive section. But the note is not deleted. Archived notes remain hidden until you manually unarchive them. And when you unarchive a note, it will reappear on the main screen.

Archiving a note does not hide it under its labels. This means that the note will be visible in the labels added to it. You can edit or make changes to archived notes without checking them out. Archived notes will also appear in search results. Archiving a shared note will have no impact on the others.

In short, you get all the features of Google Keep (color code, reminders, labels, etc.) when a note is archived, except that it is not visible on the main screen.

How to archive a Google Keep note

Let’s check the mobile and the computer separately.

How to unarchive notes in Google Keep

On the Google Keep website on the computer, click the Archive tab in the left sidebar. Here you will find all archived notes. Hover your mouse over the note you want to unarchive, then click the Unarchive icon.

Pro tip: Learn about different ways to access Keeps Notes on the web.

On mobile, open the Google Keep app. Tap the three bar icon at the top. Select Archive.

Tap the note you want to unarchive. Tap the unarchive icon in the upper right corner.

Archive or delete in Google Keep

When you delete a note in Google Keep, it also disappears from the main Keep screen. You might be wondering how Archive is different from deleting in Google Keep. Well, the deleted note goes to the recycle bin or to the Deleted folder where it stays for seven days after which it is permanently deleted from your account. You cannot access deleted notes after seven days. However, you can restore the notes within seven days of deleting them. And you can even permanently delete notes manually from Trash without waiting seven days.

Unlike archiving, you cannot edit the deleted note without restoring it, which is only possible within seven days. Deleted notes will not appear in search results and will lose added reminders. Additionally, if you delete a note shared with others, those notes will also be deleted for them.

Which one to use: archive or delete

While they may seem similar at first, each has a different use case. You should archive notes that you do not currently need or hide them from the main view for now. Archiving them will clean up the clutter on the main page or Google Keep screen. Unarchive them if necessary. On the other hand, delete the notes you don’t need anymore even in the future.