Taking, organizing, and sharing meeting notes with other participants is a big job. Google Docs' meeting notes make storing and organizing details unique to a new or existing calendar event easier. Take jottings, create action lists, and sync them with your Google Calendar with a few clicks. You'll open Google Docs in a desktop browser, as Google hasn't extended the feature to the best Android tablets and phones. Besides that, the process is simple.

How can you add meeting notes in Google Docs?

You can create a meeting note in Google Docs and attach the document to an existing event in your calendar. The feature pulls the event details, such as the date, title, and attendees, from your Calendar and hyperlinks to them. You don't have to fill in the information from scratch.

You can message hyperlinked attendees via Google chat, start a video call with Google Meet, and schedule an event with them from Docs. Use Action Items to create tasks with neat checklists and assign them to attendees. The attendees receive an email notifying them of the action. When you insert an event into Docs as an organizer, a notification on the right panel lets you know that your notes aren't attached to the Calendar. There are also options to attach or ignore it. Choosing the former pins notes to the Calendar, where you can view them anytime.

If you're not an organizer, you only receive a notification that some attendees can't access your document. The message appears with the option to dismiss or share the notes with them. You can give viewer, commenter, or editor access to your document. When you dismiss the notification, your notes become inaccessible to others.

How to add meeting notes to a new event in Google Calendar with Docs

You can use the pre-installed Google Calendar add-on to create a new event and attach your document as a meeting note without leaving Docs. Here's how:

1. Open Google Docs in your computer browser.
2. Click the Calendar icon on the right panel.

   

3. Click the date at the top of the add-on to expand the calendar.

   

4. Select a date.
5. Select a time to expand the event details.

   

6. The event title changes to your document's title. You can alter it if you want.
7. Enter key information such as the guests, event location, and more.
8. Under the description section, click Attach [your document title] to pin it to the event as a meeting note.
9. Click Save.

   

How to add meeting notes to existing events in Google Calendar

Docs lets you attach your meeting notes to existing Calendar events. Attendees don't receive an automatic notification unless you share the notes or give them access. There are two ways to add meeting notes to existing events in Docs: use the Insert menu or add the notes with a keyboard command.

Add meeting notes from the Insert menu in Docs

1. In Docs, click Insert.
2. Hover your mouse icon over Building blocks.
3. Select Meeting notes.

   

4. A list of meetings appears. Click a meeting to insert it into the document.
5. If you don't see the meeting you need, type the title to search for it.

   

6. Under Notes, type your meeting notes. These can be any details you wish to share with attendees.
7. On the right side of your screen, Docs prompts you to attach your document to Calendar. Click Attach.

   

Add meeting notes with keyboard commands in Docs

1. Press Shift + 2 to insert the @ symbol in your document. This command works on Windows and MacBook computers.

   

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2. Go to the Building blocks section in the menu that appears and click Meeting notes.

   

3. Select an event or type the title to search for it.
4. Under Notes, type your meeting notes.
5. On the right side of your screen, Docs prompts you to attach your document to Calendar. Click Attach.

How to use Meeting notes to assign action items to people in Docs

You can create tasks and assign them to people with Docs' meeting notes. This is handy for consolidating meeting details without using the Tasks add-on. While the add-on only allows you to check off assignments, you can leave comments on action items, which you can't do with Tasks.

1. Press Shift+2 to insert the @ symbol in your document. A menu appears with options to share your document.
2. Click Meeting notes.
3. Select an event or type the title to search for it.
4. Under Action items, type your tasks.
5. Double click a task to highlight it.

   

6. Click the comment icon from the toolbar. The icon is a tiny chat bubble with a + inside it.

   

7. A new tab appears on the right side of your screen. Press Shift + 2 to insert the @ symbol into the text field. This action expands a list of people.
8. Select names from the list to tag them to the task. Or type their names to search for them. You can also leave a small note for them beside the tag.
9. Click the checkbox under the text field to assign the task. Leaving the box unchecked only mentions the person. They won't know they received a task unless they view the document.

10. 

    Click Comment.

Take and organize notes like a pro

Google's meeting notes offer many benefits for you and your team. The feature ensures you don't forget essential information and allows easy collaboration as you share your notes on a cloud-based platform.

Since Docs requires an internet connection and meeting notes are unavailable on the mobile app, it's difficult to access the feature instantly. If you need a faster way to take notes, these alternative note-taking apps help you organize your jottings like a pro.