Creating and Editing Your Google Keep Notes from the Side Panel

Using Google Keep is more convenient when using side panel for quick and easy integration into your Docs and more. This guide shows the steps for accessing, editing, and creating keep notes using the side panel feature.

June 23, 2020
Valiant Technology
3 min

Did you know that you can access simplified versions of G Suite and third party applications in other G Suite applications such as Docs, sheets, and Gmail? All you need to do is open the side panel. One really handy use for side panel is to access Google Keep, the note application. This syncs with any Keep location including your phone. This means you can take meeting notes on your mobile device and quickly access them from within a more formal Google Doc later. Here’s how.

Locating your Keep notes

Simply viewing your keep notes from within a document is easy. First, access the side panel by clicking the small arrow at the bottom right of the page. Keep will be the second option on the default view.

The side panel takes up very little room on this Drive browser window.

Clicking on Keep will open your basics notes with your newest notes at the top. Within certain applications, such as Docs pictured below, any notes that have been associated with the document will be under the related section.

The default view in Keep already shows details in notes.

This is a simplified version of Keep and is missing some features. If you need those features, click the dot dot dot options menu on any note to open the full version of Keep.

Link to open the full Keep application from the side panel view.

Creating a new Keep note from the side panel

The side panel has a one click option to “take a note” right at the top of the panel.

Think of something on the spot? Take a new note.

Click the plus sign or right on the words to open fields for a title and the body of the note.

Title is optional but can be useful for organization.

Enter your information and click done to save the note.

This quick note may have important information you want to see on the keep application on your mobile device.

If you are in a file application such as a Doc or a Sheet, this note will automatically be associated with this document. You can remove the relation by hovering over the title of the file located at the bottom of the note, and then click the x.

Click the x to remove source. The note will no longer be associated with that file.

Incorporating Keep notes into Docs and other files

Sometimes you will have keep notes that you want to add to the document you’re working on. There are two very easy and quick ways to do this that aren’t using copy and paste shortcuts.

The first way is to use the options menu indicated by the vertical dot dot dot. Within this menu is the option to add to document. Clicking this will add the text from your note to wherever your cursor was in the file.

Add to document inserts the note where you left off.

The second option is to simply drag and drop the note into the document. As before the text will appear as written in the note. While this option seems easier, it is sometimes difficult to click on the right part of the note that will drag it instead of highlighting the title.

If you feel more comfortable you can drag content from Keep and drop it into your Doc.

More side panel uses

The side panel has more default options such as Calendar and Tasks, but also allows for third party add-ons for many of your favorite G Suite apps. Familiarize yourself with this feature and help increase your organization and productivity.