I’ve tried plenty of productiveness instruments through the years—some too advanced, some too fundamental, and some that simply didn’t click on. However Google Maintain? It’s the one I hold coming again to.
It’s easy. It hundreds quick. It syncs throughout gadgets with out drama. I exploit it each single day—whether or not I’m making a grocery record, saving article concepts, or setting reminders for random ideas that strike whereas strolling. It’s a low-maintenance device that does precisely what it’s purported to. However right here’s the factor—beneath that simplicity, there are just a few options that go fully unnoticed by most customers.
These lesser-known instruments have quietly made an actual distinction for me, and truthfully, they deserve far more consideration than they get.
Seize Textual content from Photos
Among the best issues about Google Maintain is its built-in OCR (Optical Character Recognition), and but, hardly anybody talks about it.
Let’s say you’ve taken a photograph of a handwritten recipe, a printed flyer, or perhaps a screenshot of your laptop. As an alternative of typing every part out, you possibly can have Maintain extract the textual content for you in seconds.
Simply open the observe with the picture, faucet the picture, then hit the three-dot menu and choose “Seize picture textual content.” Maintain will scan the picture and pull out all readable textual content proper into the observe.
It’s not flawless, however it’s surprisingly correct. I’ve used it to digitize every part from messy whiteboard notes to my desktop screenshots. It principally turns your cellphone right into a mini scanner with simply a few faucets.
Location-Based mostly Reminders That Really Make Sense
We’ve all set time-based reminders—“Name Mother at 4 PM” or “Ship the file earlier than 6.” However typically, time isn’t the set off—you simply have to be reminded whenever you’re someplace.
That’s the place location-based reminders are available. In Google Maintain, whenever you add a reminder, you possibly can decide a selected location, like a grocery retailer, workplace, or pharmacy. Maintain will then remind you whenever you’re bodily close to that place.
The right way to Set Location-Based mostly Reminders in Google Maintain
Open the Google Maintain app in your cellphone.
Create a brand new observe or open an present one.
Faucet the reminder icon (bell) on the prime proper of the display.
Within the pop-up menu, faucet “Decide a spot.”
Kind in a location.
Choose the right location from the strategies and faucet Save.
You’ll now see the situation listed on the backside of your observe. Maintain will notify you whenever you’re close to that spot.
Shade-Code and Label Your Notes With out Overthinking It
Most productiveness apps like to overcomplicate observe group. Folders, subfolders, notebooks, nested tags—it may be overwhelming quick. Google Maintain avoids all that with a easy combo: colours and labels.
You may assign any observe a shade—simply faucet the palette icon. Personally, I exploit inexperienced for private notes, blue for work, yellow for errands, and crimson for something pressing. It makes the app really feel much less like a wall of sticky notes and extra like a visible dashboard.
Labels work like tags. I’ve labels like “Meals,” “Inspiration,” “Work,” “Buy,” and lots of extra. You may even add a number of labels to a observe and filter them later. It’s fast, clear, and it really works.
The right way to Add Labels to Notes
Open or create a observe within the Google Maintain app.
Faucet the three-dot menu within the backside proper nook.
Faucet “Labels.”
Choose an present label or kind a customized one (like “Concepts” or “Groceries”) after which create it by tapping the + button.
You may add a couple of label to a observe.
Later, faucet the menu icon from the house display to view notes by label.
Ship Notes to Google Docs with One Faucet
Typically a fast observe turns into one thing greater. Perhaps it’s a brainstorming session that turns into an article draft or a gathering abstract that wants formatting and sharing. As an alternative of copy-pasting into Google Docs, Maintain enables you to ship it there straight.
Simply faucet the three dots on any observe, choose “Ship,” and select “Copy to Google Docs.”
It creates a brand new doc in your Drive with all of the observe’s content material. You even get a hyperlink to open the doc immediately.
I exploit this always when fleshing out article concepts or turning tough notes into one thing extra polished.
Some methods I exploit it:
- Increasing fast concepts into full articles
- Transferring assembly notes right into a shareable doc
- Drafting emails or outlines whereas on the transfer
It’s not a flashy characteristic—however it’s extremely helpful when you’re somebody who writes, shares, or simply wants construction past bullet factors.
Voice Memos with Auto-Transcription
Typing isn’t all the time essentially the most sensible choice. Perhaps you’re strolling, cooking, otherwise you simply don’t really feel like watching your display. That’s when Google Maintain’s voice memo characteristic turns out to be useful—and sure, it additionally transcribes what you say.
To do that, create a brand new observe, faucet the + icon, then select “Recording.”
Maintain will report your voice and transcribe it into textual content proper under the audio clip.
I exploit this after I’m too lazy to kind or when an concept hits mid-walk. It’s nice for dumping fast ideas with out dropping momentum. Each the audio and the transcription are saved within the observe, so you possibly can revisit or edit them later.
Bonus: Use the Energy of AI to Create Lists
This one’s new—and sure, it’s AI-powered, as a result of we dwell in 2025 and every part has AI now.
Whenever you open Maintain, you’ll discover a “Assist me create a listing” button on the backside proper. Faucet it, kind a immediate like “snacks for a street journey” or “packing record for a weekend in Goa,” and Maintain will use Google’s Gemini AI to generate a listing for you.
I attempted it just lately to plan Indian snacks for a household get-together. Some strategies have been on level, others… not a lot. However you possibly can edit the immediate or tweak the record manually earlier than tapping “Insert.” It’s not excellent, however it’s a enjoyable shortcut when you’re in a rush.
Will I exploit it day by day? In all probability not. However it’s good to have in your again pocket.
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