Spotlight On: Microsoft To Do

Microsoft is still king of the productivity world, with users around the globe using Word, Excel, Outlook, and plenty more of their products on the daily. But the Microsoft suite isn’t just this set of ubiquitously familiar applications anymore. MS have diversified their portfolio with a wide range of lesser-known handy productivity tools to help get you through the day more efficiently. One of these tools that we’ll like to put in the spotlight today is Microsoft To Do.

What is Microsoft To Do?

As the name suggests, To Do is a task management app. We all need to stay more organised throughout the day, especially at work, and this app helps to achieve this goal via digital task lists. Digital task lists help you remember to do things, save paper and are great for looking back on completed tasks across time.

How much is Microsoft To Do?

To Do is completely free, plus it’s included in the Office 365 suite which most businesses are subscribed to. You can download To Do from the Microsoft Store, or you can access it via the browser by logging in at To Do. It’s also available as an app for mobile on both the Google Play store and Apple’s App Store.

In the work environment, having To Do available both as a desktop application and via mobile app is very handy, as people can see their day’s tasks (and week’s, and month’s…) before they’ve even started their journey to work – and start mentally planning beforehand. It means they can also add work tasks that pop into their head to their list, even when not at work.

How does Microsoft To Do work?

To get started with To Do, simply open the app or log in. You’ll be presented with a clean screen, with tabs of My Day, Important, Planned, Assigned to Me, and Tasks down the left hand side, plus the option to create a New List.

To add a task, there is a button at the bottom of the screen in the middle that says Add Task. Simply click and add the task name to create it. Once created, you can add a due date, a reminder for a certain time and date, repeat (for it to repeat daily, weekly, monthly, etc.), a note, plus the option to add a file. You can ‘star’ the task to mark it as Important.

You can select the round toggle box next to each task to mark it complete. Completed tasks will stay visible (with a marked checkbox) unless you choose the option to Hide Completed Tasks.

Important tasks will show up under the Important tab, tasks scheduled for the future will show up under the Planned tab, if others in the organisation have assigned tasks to you they’ll appear under the Assigned to Me tab, and all tasks that aren’t in lists will show under the Tasks tab.

Creating Lists can help divide up your tasks into themes, such as Work and Personal, if you want an overview of different types of tasks. You can create tasks, then drag and drop them into lists that you have created.

The My Day tab offers suggestions on the tasks that are recommended that you do today, based on the tasks you have already created.

Syncing with Outlook

For time-sensitive tasks, you’ll be happy to know that To Do syncs up with Outlook for better task management across apps.

Is Microsoft To Do right for me or my organisation?

If you already use another task organisation app, you’re probably better off sticking with what you have if you are happy with it. The functionality and extensibility of Microsoft To Do is fairly limited.

However, if you or others in your workplace do not currently use a daily task planner then it could be a good choice. Do to its simplicity, it makes for a great task management app for people who want a clean app without all the bells and whistles of something like Asana.

For the workplace, it makes sense for employees to use To Do as their daily task planner, as it comes free with the Office 365 suite which you’ve probably already purchased. Other task planning apps cost money when rolled out for companies.

Need a second opinion?

If you’ve given Microsoft To Do a spin already, but want to know what is the best option for your organisation, then drop us a line. We can evaluate your business needs and investigate which task management app would be best for your organisation. We do the analysis so that you can just get the best-fit product at the best price.

A1 Technologies are Microsoft Partners, but also specialists in IT consultancy. We know when MS products will help give you the results you’re looking for, and when to check out different standalone solutions. Ask us your curly questions and we’ll find the answers you’re looking for.

Julia Sinclair-Jones

Tech writer and ex-software developer with a penchant for travel, techno, and data. Spreading the word of secure, manageable, optimised IT solutions for everyone.