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Microsoft To-Do

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To Do Microsoft To Do is a cross platform app for creating, managing, and sharing Tasks and Lists. To Do is integrated with Office 365 so any task list can be easily created, edited, and shared from the office, home, or on the go.

Open Microsoft To Do

On this page:

Using To Do
Creating Tasks and Steps
Flag emails to create tasks
Create and share task lists
Tasks from Planner
My Day
To Do Apps
Access Tasks on Teams, Outlook Desktop, Webmail

Using To Do

To start using To Do, you can go to To Do directly or view the list of available apps on Office.com and click on To Do. You can also download the app on iOS, Android, Windows and MacOS.

Once you’re in To Do, you can navigate to your daily list, tasks (assigned to you and created by you), flagged emails and shared lists on the left:

to do navigation

Creating Tasks and Steps

Once you’ve logged onto To Do, you can view all tasks and lists you have created yourself or that have been assigned to you.

Create a new task

Go to the Tasks menu item on the left and then click on Add a task and give it a name.

Add details to your task

Click on a created task and add or update details on the details pane that opens to the right. Here you can add Steps, Reminders, Due dates and Repeat options.

Note: Reminders show up as a desktop banner on the To Do desktop app, as an event pop-up on Outlook desktop, and as a notification on the To Do mobile app. They do not show up on Outlook calendars.

Add Steps to your task

Steps allow you to break up a task into different checkpoints so that you can check off your progress through the task without needing to mark the whole task as complete.

To add steps to your task, click on Add Step in the task details window and keep clicking on Next step to add as many checkpoints as you need. Check off any step that has been completed and it will get crossed off on the list.

step tasks

Repeat your task

Under task details, click Repeat and select repetition option. To delete a previously set recurrence, hover over the recurrence detail tab and click x.

repeat task

delete task recurrence

Delete your task

Right click on the task in your main Tasks list and select Delete task in the menu

delete task

Mark as Important

Prioritize specific tasks by clicking on the star icon to the right of your task to mark it as important and have it show up in the Important tab from the nav options on the left.

Flag emails to create a task

You can flag emails to automatically create tasks. Flagged emails will show up on the Flagged Emails nav item in To Do and you can then assign them due dates and steps the same way you would for any Tasks you create on To Do.

Click on the Flag icon on an email you would like to flag and add as a task
View task under the Flagged emails nav section and assign due dates etc. You can also open the original email by clicking on the Open in Outlook link.

Create and share lists

The Lists feature allows you to create task lists that can be shared with other people, unlike normal tasks that are private. You can create a new group to collect similar lists under, or you can simply create new lists and share them with whoever you want to collaborate on those tasks with.

To create a list, click on the New list link and give your list a name.
Share the list by clicking on the Share icon on the top right corner of the list view
Click on Create Invitation link
Choose either Copy link and share it over a messaging app, or click on Invite via email, which will open up an Outlook message with the link in it that you can email to people
Once they join, you will see them in the list members section.

List Groups

If you would like to group similar lists for better organization, you can create them and then drag lists inside the new group. You can’t share groups, only lists within it individually, so groups are for your own organizational purposes.

Click on the Create group icon to the right of the New list link
Create a list with the New list link, or use an existing list and drag it within the Drag here to add lists space to add it into the new group

Tasks from Planner

All tasks assigned to you on Planner will automatically show up on To Do as long as the Planner app is connected.

Connect Planner

Make sure Planner tasks show up on To Do by confirming that it is connected.

Click on the settings icon on the top right corner in To Do and click on To Do Settings
Make sure Planner is enabled under Connected Apps

Check Planner Tasks

Click on Assigned to Me to view all tasks assigned to you, which includes tasks assigned on Planner. Any tasks assigned via Teams or Planner directly will allow you to view the task/task list in the original view in the task details pain with an Open in [x] link.

My Day

My Day is a manual way to create each day’s to-do list. This will automatically reset each day to provide an empty slate for each day’s priority list. Click on the Suggestions option on the top right to view suggested important tasks to start off, but you can add any tasks from your Tasks and Flagged emails list to add to My Day for your day’s custom list.

Click on My Day on the left nav and find suggested tasks by clickin on the Suggestions option on the top right
Click on a task in the Tasks, Flagged emails or Lists view to get the Add to My Day option on the details pane on the right
View marked task by clicking on My Day on the left nav
Remove items from the My Day view without deleting them by hovering over Added to My Day and clicking on the x

To Do Apps

To Do Apps are available for iOS (App store), Android (Google Play Store) and Windows desktop (Microsoft Store).

Instead of accessing it on the web, you can access it on your mobile device, or as a stand alone app on your desktop that doesn’t require a web browser. The app is similar to the web interface, with some design customization options built in.

Reminders set on tasks in the desktop app will pop up on the right corner of your screen and allow you to complete the task or snooze it within the notification.

Accessing Tasks

Tasks on Teams

View all Planner and To Do tasks on Teams either by clicking on the three dots below the main nav on the left on your Teams window, or by clicking on Apps below that to search for Tasks by Planner and To Do

Tasks on Outlook Desktop

View all tasks added on To Do or flagged on webmail or desktop by going to the Tasks tab on the navigation pane on Outlook desktop

task outlook desktop

Tasks on Webmail

View all upcoming tasks on webmail from the Calendar tab and drag tasks into the calendar to assign them dates if needed.

Open O365 webmail
Click on the Calendar section (top left) > My Day icon (top right) > To Do tab (right of Calendar tab) to view all upcoming tasks, My Day tasks etc, and go to To Do by clicking on Manage all tasks