Google Keep is highly effective for capturing quick paragraphs of text, but if you are trying to manage a grocery shopping trip or a multi-step work project, a standard text paragraph is useless. You cannot easily mark items as completed. To transform a static block of text into a dynamic, interactive task list, you must enable the Checkboxes feature in Google Keep.
How to Create a New Checkbox List
If you are starting a brand new project, you can instruct Google Keep to format the note as a checklist from the very beginning.
- Open Google Keep on your computer browser or mobile app.
- Look at the “Take a note…” bar at the bottom of the screen.
- Instead of clicking the main text box, click the New List icon on the far left side (it looks like a small square with a checkmark inside it).
- A new note will open with a placeholder that says “List item”. Type your first task (e.g., “Buy Milk”) and press Enter.
- Google Keep will automatically drop down to the next line and generate a new checkbox for your second task.
How to Convert Existing Text into a Checklist
If you already typed out a long paragraph of tasks yesterday and now realize it would be much easier to manage as a checklist, you do not need to delete it and start over.
- Open the existing text note in Google Keep.
- Click the three-dot menu icon (More) at the bottom of the note.
- Select Show checkboxes from the drop-down list.
Google Keep will instantly analyze your text and convert every single line break (every time you pressed Enter) into a separate, interactive checkbox.
Managing and Indenting Tasks
Once your list is created, clicking a checkbox will strike a line through the text and automatically move it to a hidden “Completed items” section at the bottom of the note, keeping your active tasks perfectly clean.
If your project is complex, you can create sub-tasks. Hover your mouse over a list item, click and hold the six-dot grid icon that appears to the left of the checkbox, and drag the item slightly to the right. This indents the task, making it a sub-task of the item above it. If you check off the parent task, all the indented sub-tasks will automatically be marked as completed simultaneously.