How do I add my first task?
Open Tasks, click Add a task, type what needs doing and press Enter. The app reads any day or time in your words and shows it as a chip.
Open Tasks in the sidebar, click the box that says Add a task, type what needs doing and press Enter. If your words hold a day or a time, as in “call the bank tomorrow at 3pm”, the app reads them and sets the day and the start time for you.
Tasks is switched on from the start and sits in the Do group of the sidebar. If the entry is missing, switch on Tasks in Settings → Assistant and tasks. Your tasks stay on your computer, and Tasks needs no account.
#Add a task from the list
- Click Tasks in the sidebar.
- Click the box that says Add a task and type. Small chips appear in the box as you type. Each chip is something the app read from your words: a day and time, a length, a repeat or a reminder.
- To file the task, type
#and a category name. To put it in a goal, type@and pick the goal from the list that opens. - Press Enter.
The task is in the list. A task for today sits under Today, a task for the coming week under Next 7 days, a task for a later day under Later, and a task with no day under No date.
You can also add a task without opening the window. See how to add a task from the floating icon.
#When the app asks which one you meant
A bare hour such as “at 3” could be morning or evening. The box shows both readings as choices, and Enter waits until you click one. Typing “3pm” settles it before you ask. A weekday that could mean two different days, such as “next Friday”, gets the same two choices.
#Add a task with details
Click the sliders button at the right end of the box. Its tooltip says Add with details. The words you typed carry over into a form with a Title and Notes, a Status (To do, In progress or Waiting), When, Deadline and Reminder, a Goal, a Category, a Priority and a Repeat. The next article, how When, Deadline and reminders work, covers the time fields. Press Add task to save the form, or Cancel to leave it.
#Finish a task and open its options
Click the round mark at the left of a task to finish it. A line opens under it that reads “Done. How did it go? (optional)”. Type a note, attach a file, and press Enter to keep it or Esc to skip. An Undo link stays for a few seconds.
Hover a task and small buttons appear at its right. The star makes it one of today’s three, which the planning article explains. The More menu holds Add sub-task, Status, Priority, Category, Move to tomorrow, Someday and Remove.
#The other buttons on the Tasks page
The buttons at the top right of the Tasks page switch the view (List, Board, Calendar, Mind Map), open Goals with the flag, and open a small menu under the three dots with Completed tasks, Week report, Reminders and Recently removed. The magnifier searches your tasks. See the four views.
#When it does not work
Which time did you mean? Pick one of the two.Why: Your words held a bare hour with no am or pm, and the box does not guess.
Fix: Click one of the two choices under the box, or type the time with am or pm.
Two times were said. Keep just one of them.Why: Your words held two times, for example "at 5 or 6", and a task has one start.
Fix: Delete one of the times, then press Enter.
The date reader works on English words. A repeating task cannot have a deadline and cannot join a goal. One Enter adds one task; to add several at once, use the second step of a new goal, which takes one task per line.
If you have switched on the Assistant, it can also add and change tasks for you. See how the Assistant changes your tasks.