How To Use Microsoft To Do: Microsoft To Do Tutorial

This How to Use Microsoft To Do tutorial is suitable for users of Microsoft To Do Online and Desktop  

OBJECTIVE 

Learn how to use Microsoft To Do to create and organize lists.  

MICROSOFT TO DO EXPLAINED 

I’ve always been a big list maker. I get a crazy amount of satisfaction from starting my day with many incomplete tasks and crossing them off one by one. As a lover of all things stationary, getting me to switch from my trusty paper notebook to a digital to-do list was a process that took me a while.  

I’ve been using Microsoft To Do for about 3 years now, and I think I would struggle to go back to a handwritten list. I find it super convenient to create my to-do lists when I’m working in Outlook at my desk or if I am on the go using the mobile app. In fact, I think I probably use the mobile app more than anything else. I love being able to keep track of everything I need to do and have a record of what’s been completed.  

So, in this Microsoft To Do tutorial, I’ll take you through how to get started with Microsoft To Do.  

DON’T LIKE READING? WATCH THIS MICROSOFT TO DO VIDEO TUTORIAL INSTEAD

STEP 1 – DOWNLOAD THE APP AND LOG IN 

There are numerous ways to access Microsoft To Do, but you will need to have a Microsoft 365 account. You can work from a browser by accessing https://todo.microsoft.com/ or through Outlook on the web.  

If you spend most of your day at your desk, you may prefer to access To Do through the Outlook desktop app.

However, my personal preference is the mobile app. Available for both Android and IOS you can download Microsoft To Do and always have your to-do lists in your pocket.

In this blog post, I will be using the desktop version of To Do. 

STEP 2 – GET TO KNOW MICROSOFT TO DO 

When you open Microsoft To Do for the first time, it will ask you if you would like to import lists from Wunderlist. Wunderlist is the to-do list company that Microsoft purchased a few years ago, and then shut down in May 2020, replacing it with its new list building tool – Microsoft To Do.

If you are making the switch to Microsoft To Do form Wunderlist, it makes it very simple to import existing lists.  

The first thing you need to understand is what kind of lists we can manage in Microsoft To Do. The main menu on the left-hand side is divided down into two parts: ways you can organize your information and lists.  

ORGANIZING INFORMATION 

Tasks can be organized in different ways.  

My Day	This is where tasks you add to your day will appear.
Important	Tasks that are marked as important are listed here.
Planned	If your task has a due date, it will appear here.
Assigned to you	All tasks assigned to you from To Do or Planner will appear here.
Tasks	If you create a task outside of a list, it will live in the tasks list.

LISTS 

Next, we have lists. Here you’ll see any lists you’ve created and lists that have been shared with you by others. Tasks can be added to lists and you can have a mix of both business and personal if required.  

STEP 3 – CREATE LISTS AND ADD TASKS 

I like to have a mixture of different lists. Currently, I have a list of shared tasks, work tasks, personal tasks, and then tasks related to Client A.  

Let’s create a new list for Client B.  

1. Click + New list.  

2. Type a name for your list.  

3. Press Enter. 

I’ve added emoji’s to add interest to my lists. This cannot be done on the desktop or online app, but you can add emojis when using the mobile app. Just add an emoji in the normal way from your phone when naming the list.  

When the list has been created, there are a few options available in the right-click menu. Here, you can rename the list, share, or print the list, pin the list to the start menu, duplicate the list or delete the list.  

Now we have our new list, let’s add some tasks.  

Tasks can be created from within a list. Here I have added a task to the Client B list.  

Tasks can also be moved to lists. This is useful if you have a lot of tasks that were created outside of a list.  

To move a task, just drag and drop the task from the Tasks list to the Client B list.  

I prefer to have all tasks assigned to a list, so I’ve moved any un-assigned tasks to their relevant lists.  

Click on any task to add more detail. Ensure you click on the taskbar and not the circle (which will complete the task) or the star (which will mark the task as important).  

⚪	Click the circle next to a task to mark it as complete.
⭐	Mark a task as important. This will add the task to the important task list.
Steps	Add steps or subtasks to a task. These might be mini tasks that need to be completed for the overall task to be complete. They might also be pre-requisites.
Add to My Day	To see a list of tasks that need to be done today, you can add any task to My Day. If the task isn’t completed that day, it won’t move to the next day. You will need to move it manually.
Remind me	Adding a reminder will prompt an Outlook reminder much like a meeting or appointment reminder.
Add a due date	Adding a due date will add the task to the planned list. Overdue tasks will show in red.
Repeat	Add a recurrence for tasks that repeat weekly, daily, monthly, etc.
Assign to	Assign the task to someone else.
Add file	Attach a file to your task. This can be a file that’s saved locally, or you can choose a file from cloud storage if you have it set up to synchronize locally.
Add comments	Add any additional comments about the task.
	Delete the task

As your task lists grow, you may want to sort, organize, and color code the task lists.  

1. Click on a task list.  

2. Click the three dots in the top right-hand corner.  

Here you can sort tasks, add a theme to distinguish one task list from another, show all completed tasks, print the task list, email the task list, pin the task list to the start menu or hide the smart list.  

STEP 4 – ORGANIZING TASKS AND TASK LISTS 

How you choose to organize your tasks is entirely up to you. Some people like to add all the tasks due today to My day to see everything that needs to be done before they leave the office. Other people prefer to add tasks to lists and switch between them.  

My advice would be to use To Do for a while and see what works best for you.  

Task Lists on the other hand, can be organized into groups.  

For example, I’ve created a group called Clients. I’ve moved the Client A and Client B task lists to the group using drag and drop.  

STEP 5 – SHARING TASKS 

Task lists can be shared with other people, but there are some limitations. Lists can only be shared within an organization or between personal Microsoft accounts.  

1. Open the list you want to share.  

2. In the top right-hand corner of the list click the person icon.  

3. Click Create invitation link.  

4. Click Copy link.  

The link can be pasted into a Microsoft Teams channel or an email. The person who receives the link will have to open the link, and from there, you can accept them.  

Click Manage access to limit access to the list or stop sharing the list entirely.  

Earlier in the blog, I mentioned assigning tasks. Tasks assigned to you by others will appear under Assigned to me. You can also assign tasks to other people, provided those people are list members.  

1. Click on a task.  

2. Click on Assign to.  

3. Select someone to assign the task list to from the members list.  

I hope this Microsoft To Do tutorial has shown you how versatile and fun Microsoft To Do can be. All that’s left to do now (pardon the pun) is to start creating and managing tasks.  

If you would like to read more about Microsoft To Do, please check out the following links: 

Microsoft – Introducing Microsoft To Do 

Elegant Themes – Microsoft To Do: A Basic Overview & Review 

Check out more, free training resources from Simon Sez IT:

• How to use Microsoft Planner
• Creating an Excel Dashboard in Five Minutes
• Ten Ways to Clean Data in Excel