Microsoft Tasks / To Do in Outlook

A task is an item that you create that you want to track until it's completed. Use To Do in http://Outlook.com to create, edit, and manage tasks.

Note: The instructions and imaged below may change overtime as Microsoft introduces updates. However, the core content will remain the same.

Microsoft offers a “My Day” view, which allows users to view their tasks and To Do’s for the day

New My Day Feature

Choose your version for instructions

The instructions are slightly different depending on whether you're using To Do in http://Outlook.com or the classic Tasks. Choose the version you're using to see the instructions that apply to you.

The task icon will look like this…

Microsoft Tasks

Instructions for To Do in Outlook

Microsoft To Do is now integrated with Outlook. To Do is taking the place of Tasks and includes smart lists. Smart lists are filtered lists that make it easier to track tasks and organize your day. With To Do integration, you can quickly organize your tasks by adding them to My Day, marking them as important, or adding them to new lists that you create. There's even a list for tasks that you've assigned a date to. To get started, open Outlook or login into Outlook on the web at 365.mylmc.org.

To Do is a bit different from the classic Tasks in Outlook. Some features are different, and others will be added as To Do is rolled out.

To view and manage your tasks, select To Do at the bottom or side of the navigation pane.

The To Do page includes four default tasks lists, plus optional tasks lists and any tasks lists that you create.

My Day is a Smart List that can help you track the tasks that you want to get done today. It's empty at the start of each day by default, so that you can organize your day by adding tasks to it. You add existing tasks to My Day by right-clicking a task and choosing Add to My Day, or by dragging a task from any other tasks list to My Day. Tasks that appear in My Day are kept in their original list.
Note: My Day is cleared at midnight every night. Tasks that appear in My Day are stored in other tasks lists, so they aren't deleted when My Day is cleared.
- Suggestions are tasks that aren't completed that you might want to add to My Day. To see suggested tasks, go to My Day, then select Suggestions at the top of the page. Select the plus sign (+) next to a task to add it to My Day. Select Done to close Suggestions and return to My Day. Suggestions includes tasks that are due today or in the future, are overdue, were previously moved to My Day but not completed, or that might be relevant to start working on.
Important is a Smart List that includes tasks that you've marked as important. You can mark a task as important by right-clicking it and selecting Mark as important, or by selecting the star icon next to it.
Planned is a Smart List that includes tasks that have a reminder or due date and have not been marked as complete. Tasks that you create with a reminder or due date will automatically appear in this list. The only way to add tasks to this list is to assign a reminder or due date to an existing task.
Tasks is the list where new tasks are stored by default.
Flagged Email is an optional list. When on, messages that you've flagged in Mail are copied to the Flagged Email list as tasks. You can turn the Flagged Email list on or off by going to Tasks, then selecting Settings at the top of the page, going to Connections and using the slider to turn the Flagged Email list on or off.

You can add new tasks by selecting a tasks list, then choosing the plus sign next to Add a task and entering a description of your task. If you add a task to a Smart List, the task will be saved in Tasks and linked to the Smart List you were in when you created it.

Note: You can't create new tasks in Planned. To add a task to Planned, add a reminder or due date to an existing or new task.

Select a task in any list to see all of the available options for that task. You can do things like add additional steps, add them to My Day, make them repeating, add a due date or reminder, and add a note.

Use the My Day pane to create a task from a message.

Note: The My Day pane is a new feature that might not yet be available in your account. If this is not available, Microsoft will roll it out in the future.

Go to Outlook.
Open the My Day pane by selecting My Day on the toolbar at the top of the page.
Find the message that you want to create a task from in the message list.
Select and drag the message to the To Do tab in the My Day pane.

Use the My Day pane to create an event in your calendar from a task.

Go to Calendar in Outlook.
Open the My Day pane by selecting My Day on the toolbar at the top of the page.
Find the task that you want to create a calendar event from.
Select and drag the task to when you want it on your calendar.

You can add one or more files to a task.

Select To Do at the bottom of the navigation pane.
Select the task you want to add a file to.
Choose Add a file from the task details pane.
Browse to and select the file you want to add.

You can't share individual tasks, but you can share tasks lists that you create.

Go to To Do.
Right-click the tasks list you want to share and select Share list.

Select Create invitation link.

Select Copy link.

Go to Mail and create a new message. Address it to the people you want to share the list with, paste the link in the body of the message and add any information you want, then send the message.

Note: You can send the link to anyone, but only people who have a Microsoft account will be able to connect to the shared list.

After you've shared a tasks list, you can right-click it and select Sharing options to get the invitation link again. Select Sharing options then More options to stop sharing the list, or prevent people who haven't already joined the list from joining.