What Are Google Keep Labels and How to Use Them Effectively

Key Takeaways 

• You can organize notes in different folders and subfolders using Labels in Google Keeps.
• You may create, edit, or remove Labels on the mobile app or the web version.

What are Labels in Google Keep?

Remember that particular notebook in school that had various sections for each subject? Each section had a label to categorize and identify the notes, such as Maths, Science, English, etc.

A similar concept is available in Google Keep in the form of labels. Using labels, you can organize your notes by subject, topic, priority, relevance, etc. For instance, you can have labels for personal and work notes, shopping lists, students, and more.

The labels can be accessed from the left panel on the desktop, inside the side drawer in the mobile apps, or from within the notes. Clicking on a label will filter your notes and show only those with that particular label.

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

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

Tip: Find out how to move Keep notes to your another account.

How to Create and Add Labels to Notes

Let’s check separately for desktop and Keep mobile apps.

Desktop

Method 1: Create Label Before Creating a Note

Step 1: Open the Keep website and click on Edit labels option in the left panel.

Step 2: A pop-up window will open. In the Create new label section, type the name of your label and hit the checkmark next to it.

Method 2: Create and Add Label While Creating a Note Using Hashtag

When making a new note or editing an existing one, you can create a label at that time, too. For that, type the symbol hashtag # succeeded by your label on a desktop in the note.

Step 1: Click Take a note at the top of the Google Keeps interface.

Step 2: Start typing; type the # symbol followed by your new label name, and click the Create option.

Mobile Devices

Method 1: Create a Label Before Creating Note

Step 1: On the mobile apps, tap on the three-bar icon at the top-left corner of the Keep app. Choose Create new label or Edit at the top.

Step 2: Enter your label name in the Create new label box and tap on the checkmark icon to save it.

Method 2: Create or Add Label Within a Note

Step 1: Open the note in Keep, tap the three-dot icon at the bottom, and choose Labels.

Step 2: Type the label name in the Enter label name text box and tap on Create to create a new label. Select the box next to the existing label to add an old label.

How to Change or Remove Labels From a Note

Here are the steps for desktop and mobile apps.

Desktop

Step 1: Open the note and hover your mouse over the label in a note.

Step 2: You will see the cross icon. Click on it to remove the label from the note.

Alternatively, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Click on the three-dot icon of the note. Choose Change labels from the menu.

Step 2: Uncheck the box next to the label you want to delete from the note. Then, select the boxes next to the labels you want to keep in your note.

Mobile Devices

Step 1: Open the note and tap on the label at the bottom that you want to remove or change.

Step 2: On the next screen, uncheck the box next to the labels you want to remove. Select to add new labels.

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

How to Create Sub-Labels

Some of the Google Keep alternatives let you create subfolders. However, you can get somewhat similar functionality using labels in Keep.

For that, you will have to create labels in the following format:

• Main Topic
• Main Topic/Sub Topic 1
• Main Topic/Sub Topic 2

For instance, I have the main label for Guiding Tech or GT. The sub-labels will be in the GT/Article and GT/ToDo format.

How to Rename or Delete a Label

Desktop

Step 1: Click on the Edit labels option in the left panel of Keep.

Step 2: In the Edit labels pop-up, click the pencil icon next to the label you want to rename. Then, use the checkmark icon to save the label.

To delete, hover your mouse over the label. The left icon will change to a delete icon. Click on it to delete the label.

Mobile

Step 1: Open the sidebar in Keep by tapping the three-bar icon at the top. Tap on Edit next to Labels.

Step 2: Tap on the edit icon next to the label. Rename it and hit the checkmark icon.

Tap on the delete icon to delete the label. Note that deleting a label does not delete the notes inside it.