Keep your tasks organized across different lists by adding hashtags (like #work or #school) to your tasks' names. You can add tags when creating tasks or when editing them. You can quickly see all the tasks, notes, and steps that share a tag by selecting that tag or searching for it in the search bar. Microsoft To Do is a task list creator, and it’s one of the best task list managers I’ve ever used. It only does the basics, but for some users, that’s exactly what they are looking for. Microsoft Tasks vs To-Do vs Planner. This is indeed an over searched and under explained topic. A bit of history is required to make sense of this issue. Microsoft acquired a popular to-do app in 2015 called Wunderlist (read the article here). That is, each task becomes a list of its own where you add other tasks or to-do items. All the subtasks can utilize the features such as reminders, due date, files, notes and more.
-->Overview of Tasks
The Tasks app brings a cohesive task management experience to Microsoft Teams, integrating individual tasks powered by Microsoft To Do and team tasks powered by Planner in one place. Users can access Tasks as an app on the left side of Teams and as a tab in a channel within individual teams. My tasks and Shared plans in Tasks let users view and manage all their individual and team tasks and prioritize their work. Tasks is available in Teams desktop, web, and mobile clients.
Note
As we roll out the Tasks experience on Teams desktop clients, the app name will initially appear as Planner to users. The name will then temporarily change to Tasks by Planner and To Do, and later on, it will be renamed to Tasks. On Teams mobile clients, users will always see the app name as Tasks. There may be a short delay in the availability of the mobile experience after the desktop experience is available.
For organizations who want to streamline task management for Frontline Workers, Tasks also includes capabilities that enable you to target, publish, and track tasks at scale across your Frontline Workforce. For example, corporate and regional leadership can create and publish task lists targeted to relevant locations, such as specific retail stores, and track progress through real-time reports. Managers can assign tasks to their staff and direct activities within their locations, and Frontline Workers have a prioritized list of their assigned tasks on mobile or desktop. To enable task publishing, you'll first need to set up a team targeting hierarchy for your organization, which defines how all teams in the hierarchy are related to each other.
What you need to know about Tasks
Tasks is available as an app and as a tab in a channel. Keep in mind that the app comprises both individual tasks from To Do and team tasks from Planner whereas the tab shows only team tasks.
With Tasks, users get a desktop, web, and mobile experience. If Tasks is installed on the Teams desktop client, users will also see it on their Teams web and mobile clients. The exception is guest users. It's important to know that guests can only access Tasks as an app from the Teams mobile client. Guests will see Tasks tabs on both Teams desktop and web clients.
My tasks shows a user's individual tasks. Shared plans show tasks that the whole team is working on and includes any task list that's added as a Tasks tab to a channel. Note the following:
Task lists that a user creates in the Tasks app will also appear in To Do clients for that user. Similarly, task lists that a user creates in To Do will appear in My tasks in Tasks for that user. The same is true for individual tasks.
Any Tasks tab that's added to a channel will also appear in Planner clients. When a user creates a plan in Planner, the plan won't show in the Tasks or Planner app unless it's added as a tab to a channel. When a user adds a new Tasks tab, they can create a new list or plan or choose an existing one.
Set up Tasks
Important
Settings and policies that you configured for Planner will also apply to Tasks.
Enable or disable Tasks in your organization
Tasks is enabled by default for all Teams users in your organization. You can turn off or turn on the app at the org level on the Manage apps page in the Microsoft Teams admin center.
In the left navigation of the Microsoft Teams admin center, go to Teams apps > Manage apps .
In the list of apps, do one of the following:
- To turn off Tasks for your organization, search for the Tasks app, select it, and then click Block.
- To turn on Tasks for your organization, search for the Tasks app, select it, and then click Allow.
Note
If you can't find the Tasks app, search for the names in the first note of this article. The app could still be in the process of being renamed.
Enable or disable Tasks for specific users in your organization
To allow or block specific users in your organization from using Tasks, make sure Tasks is turned on for your organization on the Manage apps page, and then create a custom app permission policy and assign it to those users. To learn more, see Manage app permission policies in Teams.
Use an app setup policy to pin Tasks to Teams
App setup policies let you customize Teams to highlight the apps that are most important for users in your organization. The apps you set in a policy are pinned to the app bar—the bar on the side of the Teams desktop client and at the bottom of the Teams mobile clients—where users can quickly and easily access them.
To pin the Tasks app for your users, you can edit the global (Org-wide default) policy or create and assign a custom app setup policy. To learn more, see Manage app setup policies in Teams.
A user's My tasks is visible if the user is licensed for Exchange Online
If you don't want a user to see My tasks, you can hide it. To do this, remove the user's Exchange Online license. It's important to know that after you remove an Exchange Online license, the user no longer has access to their mailbox. Mailbox data is held for 30 days, after which the data will be removed and can't be recovered unless the mailbox is placed on In-Place Hold or Litigation Hold.
We don't recommend this for information workers, but there may be some scenarios where this could apply, such as for Frontline Workers who don't depend on email.
Task publishing
With task publishing, your organization can publish task lists targeted to specific locations (teams) across your organization to define and share a work plan to be completed at those locations.
- People on the publishing team, such as corporate or regional leadership, can create task lists and publish them to specific teams.
- Managers on the recipient teams can review the published task lists and assign individual tasks to team members.
- Frontline Workers have a simple mobile experience to see tasks assigned to them. They can attach photos to show their work when appropriate and mark their tasks as completed.
- Publishers and managers can view reports to see assignment and completion status of tasks at each level, including by location (team), task list, and individual task.
Users create, manage, and publish task lists on the Published lists tab in the Tasks app. This tab only shows for a user if your organization set up a team targeting hierarchy and the user is on a team that's included in the hierarchy. The hierarchy determines whether the user can publish or receive task lists and view reporting for received lists.
Example scenario
Here's an example of how task publishing works.
Contoso is rolling out a new food takeout and delivery promotion. To maintain a consistent brand experience, they need to coordinate consistent execution of the rollout across over 300 store locations.
The Marketing team shares the promotion details and the corresponding list of tasks with the Retail Communications Manager. The Retail Communications Manager, who serves as the gatekeeper for stores, reviews the information, creates a task list for the promotion, and then creates a task for each unit of work that needs to be performed by each of the affected stores. When the task list is complete, she needs to select the stores that must complete the work. In this case, the promotion only applies to stores in the United States that have an in-store restaurant. In Tasks, she filters the store list based on the in-store restaurant attribute, selects the matching United States locations in the hierarchy, and then publishes the task list to those stores.
Store managers at each location receive a copy of the published tasks and assign those tasks to their team members. Managers can use the Tasks experience to understand all the work required across their store. They can also use the available filters to focus on a specific set of work, such as work due today or work in a particular area.
Frontline Workers at each store location now have a prioritized list of their work in Tasks on their mobile device. When they finish a task, they mark it complete. Some may even choose to upload and attach a photo to the task to show their work.
Contoso headquarters and intermediate managers can view reporting to see the assignment and completion status of tasks at each store and across stores. They can also drill down to a specific task to see the status within different stores. As the launch date gets closer, they can spot any abnormalities and check in with their teams as needed. This visibility allows Contoso to improve the efficiency of the rollout and provide a more consistent experience across their stores.
Set up your team targeting hierarchy
To enable task publishing in your organization, you have to first set up your team targeting schema in a .CSV file. The schema defines how all the teams in your hierarchy are related to each other and the attributes used to filter and select teams. After you create the schema, upload it to Teams to apply it to your organization. Members of the publishing team, such as the Retail Communications Manager in the example scenario, can then filter teams by hierarchy, attributes, or a combination of both to select the relevant teams that should receive the task lists, and then publish the task lists to those teams.
For steps on how to set up your team targeting hierarchy, see Set up your team targeting hierarchy.
Power Automate and Graph API
Tasks supports Power Automate for To Do and Graph APIs for Planner. To learn more, see:
About once a month I get a note from someone asking: “When are you going to show us how to use the new Microsoft To-Do with MYN or 1MTD?”
Well, for MYN, my short answer is: “not until they add a ton more features. And it may be a while, by the way.”
UPDATE May 15: See my warnings below and in comments. Don’t activate this app on your existing MYN task list without a lot of thought about what might happen.
For 1MTD, there are some pretty good possibilities for use, but only if you are willing to stop using desktop Outlook’s task module as your main task interface. So, I will write up how to use To-Do with 1MTD in a bit, for those that need a simple app like To-Do.
The main issue is this: Microsoft To-Do is designed for a different audience than my MYN audience, and so it lacks some really important task management stuff that MYN users come to expect. Here’s the list:
- There is no 3-level priority setting;
- there is no start date field;
- view filtering is very limited;
- no categories;
- and no task assignment.
In terms of which of these features are really important, the lack of 3-level prioritization and the lack of a start date field kill it for MYN. Though again, there are some 1MTD possibilities—with tweaks to the system.
The other deficiencies are unfortunate too because they leadto greatly limiting your flexibility for sophisticated task management. Yousee, I have a ton of optional task views and processes that I also teach, andmany people use, and they provide ways to take MYN and 1MTD to the next level.They provide advanced users a way to really nail down their comprehensive dailywork management routines. But all those lacking features preclude you from makingthose expansions.
Not All Bad
I look at To-Do as sort of similar to Google tasks, which is another very limited tasks module. As with the very simple Google tasks, I am sure there is a market for To-Do among casual to-do list management users.
So, I am not knocking To-Do in general, in fact, I applaud Microsoft’s efforts to providesimple solutions for simple users. There is no doubt in my mind that manypeople have found Outlook’s Tasks module too confusing and need a module likeTo-Do.
But those people are not serious task managers. The amazing power of a serious task system like MYN, and even 1MTD, comes from some very specific task capabilities. For example, the start date field is especially important for MYN. And there are a lot more capabilities needed to really get serious about managing tasks.
I don’t expect To-Do to try to become that; and I admit, not many to-do list apps even come close to having all the features needed for MYN.
And that’s okay. As long as Microsoft doesn’t eliminate Outlook’s Tasks module, or remove features, then my readers will be able to continue to use the older Tasks module. And they should just ignore To-Do.
And so far, that seems to be the case—the Tasks module continues to be supported. If you go to the module launcher in the web version of Outlook, for example, you will see that Both modules are available there (see figure below).
And Outlook desktop has no link at all to To-Do. So far sogood.
If You Try Out To-Do
By the way, many of you, after reading this article, are goingto try out To-Do, which makes sense. But a few warnings before you blindly dothat.
If you launch To-Do from your current Outlook Online (OWA)account, it will sync all your Outlook Tasks into the To-Do module and displaythem in the To-Do view. If you then use To-Do to edit those tasks, be careful.I’ve heard horror stories on how To-Do will screw up the start dates when itsyncs those tasks back into the Tasks module, and now your Outlook Tasks aremessed up.
So, MYN users who use start dates, it might be best just toavoid To-Do for now. And if you want to learn more about it, perhaps open it ina “spare,” non-critical Microsoft Exchange account that you might have. Or simplydo a Google search and read about itfor now.
Is the Tasks Module“Safe”?
As I said, it looks like Microsoft is supporting both To-Doand Tasks, which at first seems harmless. However, Microsoft adding the To-Domodule may not be completely harmless, because it then leads to a question: Isthe Tasks module safe fromMicrosoft’s ongoing simplification and cost-cutting scalpel? In its obsessionto simplify its Office suite and cut costs in the MSFT corporation, willMicrosoft eventually kill the Tasksmodule?
Well, the following interview might answer that question. Here is an excerpt from a Feb 5 2018 interview between John Gruber and Microsoft’s Senior Product Manager of To-Do, Simon Chan:
Question from John Gruber: “Outlook Tasks have always been a bit lacking and hasn’t been upgraded to fit into Microsoft’s productivity and collaboration suite well. To-Do is a much better option. Is Microsoft To-Do going to replace Outlook Tasks?”
Answer from Simon Chan: “You might be surprised to learn this, but there’s actually a sizable active customer base of Outlook Tasks! But almost every customer we talk to tends to agree that Outlook Tasks is in need of some attention. Long term, we are looking to simplify and unify the tasks experience customers have across the Microsoft ecosystem which includes improving Outlook Tasks. We don’t have an exact schedule of when you’ll be seeing a new Outlook Tasks experience, but it’s something that we’re working towards.”
So, what does that tell me? Well, I am not sure. The phrase“simplify and unify the tasks experience” could be interpreted in differentways.
I Hope Microsoft Doesit Right: Simplified Ribbon
My advice to Microsoft is this: Use your new SimplifiedRibbon approach as a template for how you simplify the Tasks module. You see,the recent Ribbonsimplification was done the right way. What Microsoft did with the newRibbon was to present a greatly simplified Ribbon, but then leave all thefull-power features of the fullRibbon available only one-click away. And they even provided ways for you tocustomize the new Simplified Ribbon to add back certain features you may want withinit. That whole upgrade was very nicely done.
Please, Not WhatHappened with OneNote
What I don’t wantto see happen is whathappened with OneNote recently. The way that was handled was a BIG mistakein my mind.
Here’s the story: Back in 2014 or so, Microsoft developed aparallel product, the Windows Store version of OneNote—mostly tablet based. Ithad nice tablet features, but it came with a fraction of the features of thefull OneNote. We all hoped that eventually the new OneNote would becomefeature-equal to the main one, with the added tablet features, and we could alluse it instead, whether on a tablet or not.
But it didn’t happen. The dev team was slowly moving in thatdirection, got maybe 75% to feature equity, but then a huge unfortunatedecision was made. Last year they announced they would stop development of the originalOneNote and focus all energy and distribution on the new one, which was stillfar weaker in most areas that mattered. And still is.
At that point, the old OneNote (OneNote 2016) was orphaned. The new and in my mind weaker one is what is distributed with Office these days. The older, more powerful one, is now only made available as an optional download—a download that few people even know exists.
Microsoft Tasks And To Do
What is particularly galling is the lack of future OneNote 2016 development. While Microsoft might pretend OneNote 2016 is still supported, it’s obvious that it’s a dead end and all of the best new stuff will never get there. The new, in my mind weaker, OneNote is all that matters now.
Here’s my point: I seriously now wonder if the entire olderOneNote 2016 module will shortly disappear. After all, Microsoft does not haveunlimited resources and it is known to cut and run on lower-priority projects(think Microsoft Phone).
Is that Happeningwith Tasks?
In fact, I am seeing some of that happening now with tasks. I am seeing Microsoft favor the newer To-Do module over the older Tasks module for new development. Case in point: Microsoft recently added to its online version of Outlook the ability to convert emails into To-Do items (this new feature is slowly rolling out). But it has not yet added the ability to convert online emails into the Tasks module (though the near instant sync with Tasks does provide a partial solution).
Also, Microsoft has released smartphone apps that have all the features of To-Do. But not so with the Tasks module—only third-party apps work with the Tasks module, and Microsoft has ignored it in the smartphone arena.
So, is the sunset of Tasks already starting?
Outlook.com and Outlook Online Have Started to Cut Over
Furthermore, over in the Outlook.com world (the online version) and in the Outlook Online (OWA) Insider version, Microsoft has already started to replace the Tasks module there with the To-Do module. If you have an Outlook.com account or an Insider version of Outlook Online, open it now, online. Then look down in the lower left corner at the navigation icons (you might have to drag the right edge of the folders pane wider to see them all).
Many or all of you will now see a To-Do icon instead of the Tasks icon, as shown in the figure below. If you see the one on the left side, well, you’ve already been assimilated into the new To-Do world.
While this is in trial for the full Exchange version of Outlook Online (you have to toggle the switch labeled “The New Outlook” in the upper right corner), it appears that it’s a done deal for Outlook.com. That means, as an Outlook.com user, you now only have access to To-Do and your old tasks are now imported into the To-Do module. The Tasks module is essentially gone. Is that what you wanted?
Also, the main navigation icons in the lower left of the Windows Mail app (the Microsoft Store app called Mail), now are displaying a link to To-Do. So it’s the default task app there too.
Now granted, not many MYN or 1MTD users were using the older Tasks module in Outlook.com. The tasks editing screens for that were terrible, so I don’t bemoan that change. And not many MYN or 1MTD users are using the Microsoft Store Mail app either. And after all, all of these are considered consumer or personal versions of Outlook, and it probably makes sense to link the simpler To-Do module in these apps.
But for the full Exchange version of Outlook Online (OWA), this movement to emphasizing To-Do could be a bit risky for MYN users. First of all, with those changes it becomes a bit problematic to use OWA as an MYN task input mechanism, as some did. If you have the new OWA version with the new Tasks pane on the right, and convert an email to a task by dragging it there, there is no way to set the start date (it defaults to None) so you have to edit the task back in desktop Outlook. Admittedly it’s nice that you finally have a way to convert an email to a task in OWA, it’s just too bad the task is not ready for MYN.
Again though, not many of my clients use Outlook Online (OWA), so this is not a huge deal.
My Concern: EventualDesktop Changes
But my concern is this: I have noticed that changes made to Outlook Online (OWA) often end up in Windows Desktop Outlook. Examples are the Archive folder and the Focused Inbox: both started first in Outlook Online, and then migrated to the desktop version. So, is this where Microsoft is going, and will they eventually be replacing the Tasks module in desktop Outlook?
If so, and if in that process the OneNote fiasco happens with the Tasks module—if Tasks gets sunsetted or dumbed-down too much—I’ll be very disappointed. To me, the desktop version of Outlook is the ultimate version of Outlook, and the only one I really feel can save the overwhelmed office worker. By now you know that ALL of my best teachings direct you to Windows desktop Outlook. It’s the cream of the crop. All this Office Online nonsense is, in my mind, silly noise Microsoft is making in trying to compete with Google, and mostly a waste of time for the serious productive knowledge worker.
We Have a Fallback
So, if Microsoft does make a really stupid decision, and eventuallydoes swap To-Do into the desktopversion of Outlook, the good news is we at least have a fallback. I will simplytell all my customers to use Toodledo instead. Toodledo can be used quiteeffectively with Outlook, so it is an option. The Toodledo company is dedicatedto creating a full-featured, non-compromised tasks solution and continues toadd power-user features along withsimplifications. I know their pricing has gone up, but in my mind, they arestill the best task management software out there, after Outlook Tasks. Maybeeven better.
But I hope it doesn’t come to that—it would be unfortunate.And it would cut out a lot of corporate users who need to keep their enterprisedata—including data embedded in tasks—on their internal servers (Toodledo iscloud only).
Maybe That’s the GoodNews
And that is my good-news indicator that Microsoft will infact be retaining the Tasks modulefor the long-term. You see, their new To-Do module was designed bottom up to bea cloud feature only—it’s not builtinto Exchange. So, unless Microsoft integrates it into Exchange, the Tasksmodule appears to be safe. Why do I say that? Because all companies that demandto use an on-premises Exchange Server will need to continue to have access to anon-premises Tasks module, through Exchange—Tasks are too widely used in the corporateenvironment. So that bodes well for the longevity of Tasks in Outlook.
In fact, this may be the reality: It may be that To-Do willalways and only be a focus in Microsoft’s online,browser-based, app world, the one that competes with Google’s apps. If so,fine.
Again, I steadily and consistently tell my readers to focus on the Windows desktop version of Outlook and to generally ignore Outlook Online. I do that because the desktop version is the only version that has enough features for full MYN tasks management, and the only one suitable for my full Outlook Inbox Ninja email management system. The online apps don’t even come close.
So if To-Do is all about Outlook Online, then fine.
But that said, there is a wrinkle. Microsoft is heavilycommitted to Office 365 and all its online glory. How to reconcile that withcompanies that demand inside-the-firewall data protection? Well, Microsoft isnow reportedly developing on-premises versions of its web-based Office 365server that can exist inside the firewall. Presumably, such a server could replace on-premises Exchange. Ifso, then who knows, maybe To-Do will be favored over the Tasks module.
Tell Microsoft WhatYou Want
So, if a slow, full cutover to the To-Do module, while a longway away, is eventually inevitable, and if To-Do does eventually replace the Tasks module, even on the desktop,let’s at least hope they strengthen To-Do features and make it usable byserious task managers. If they simply added start dates and 3-level priority, they’dbe a long way there.
To that end, perhaps we should all start pinging Microsoft todo at least that—to add those two features to To-Do. Microsoft has a prettygood system for collecting user input. It’s called UserVoice, and it allows voteon feature suggestions. Those two feature requests are already out onUserVoice. So, do me a favor and go there now and vote for them using the twolinks below.
Vote on the Add 3-level Priorityfeature here.
Vote on the Add Start Datefeature here,
Please follow those links, and go and vote for each of them now. Let’s try to influence Microsoft to at least beef up To-Do over the long run, in case they eventually emphasize it over the older Tasks module, even in desktop Outlook.
Conclusion
I admit, Microsoft’s marketing of To-Do is pretty snazzy.All you have to do is go to the To-Domarketing webpage to see all the bling—to see the full-court push Microsoftis making for this new module. There is no corresponding marketing for thevenerable, and much better, Tasks module. So, you and others might be swayed,by all that sexy advertising and by the brand-new, pretty, smartphone apps, tomake a change.
But please don’t let the bright colors and the apparent “newness” of To-Do sway you from what’s important. If you are an MYN or 1MTD user, which means you care about powerful task management, then stick with the Tasks module. It will serve you well for a long time.
Microsoft Tasks Vs To Do Lists
And note this, in case the fancy new To-Do smartphone app is swaying you: there are plenty of smartphone apps that support the full Tasks module: TaskTask, Nine, and so on. So, there is no reason that you must cut over to To-Do. The older and wiser Tasks module is the place to be.