Google Keep’s dashboard can quickly become a chaotic grid of plain, white rectangles, making it incredibly difficult to visually distinguish between a grocery list, a work project, and a personal journal entry. To organize your dashboard and make your most important notes visually distinct at a glance, you can customize the background of any individual note using solid colors or beautiful, illustrated images.
How to Change the Note Color
Applying a solid background color is the fastest way to organize your notes visually (e.g., making all work notes blue and all personal notes green).
- Open the Google Keep app on your mobile device or navigate to the desktop web interface.
- Tap or click on an existing note to open it.
- Look for the Palette icon (it looks like a small artist’s paint palette). On a smartphone, this icon is usually located at the bottom-left corner of the screen.
- A horizontal menu will slide up, displaying twelve distinct solid colors ranging from pastel red to deep blue.
- Tap a color. The entire background of that specific note will instantly change to match your selection.
When you return to the main dashboard, that note will stand out as a bright block of color against the sea of white notes.
How to Apply Custom Background Images
If solid colors are not distinct enough, Google Keep also provides a set of highly stylized, beautifully illustrated background images that represent specific themes (like a grocery basket, a nighttime cityscape, or a notebook texture).
- Open the note and tap the Palette icon again.
- Look directly above the row of solid colors. You will see a second row featuring small circular image thumbnails.
- Swipe left on the image row to see all available illustrations.
- Tap an image to apply it.
The illustration will automatically wrap itself around the note. The text of your note will seamlessly float on top of the image, and Google Keep will dynamically adjust the font color (switching between black and white) to ensure your writing always remains perfectly readable against the background art.
Combining Images and Colors
You do not have to choose between a color and an image; you can combine both simultaneously to create a highly custom aesthetic. If you select the “Grocery Basket” background image, and then select the “Yellow” solid color, Google Keep will tint the entire illustration with a custom yellow wash, giving you ultimate control over the look and feel of your dashboard.
To remove the customization and return the note to its default state, simply open the Palette menu and tap the “Default” icon (a white circle with a slash through it) on the far left side of the menu.