Announcing: To Do is now rolling out to Outlook for Windows

[avijityadav]

We’re excited to announce that To Do is rolling out to Outlook for Windows for the Current Channel users (starting with Current Channel version 2207). With this release, you can use the To Do app right from Outlook for Windows to plan your work and commitments effectively and stay focused on the tasks at hand.

Figure 1: To Do in Outlook for Windows

View your flagged emails from Outlook in To Do

With this integration, you can also view all your emails flagged in Outlook in the Flagged email list of the To Do app. In the task details, you can view a snippet of the email or directly open the email in Outlook to get the complete context.

Figure 2: Flagged email list in To Do

If you don’t find Flagged email list in To Do, you can go to To Do Settings > Connected Apps > Turn on Flagged email toggle.

View assigned tasks in a single place

Want to manage tasks that have been assigned to you in Planner? With To Do in Outlook, you can find all the assigned tasks from Planner as well as shared lists, right in the Assigned to me list.

Plan your day with My Day

Wondering how to effectively plan and get through all your priority tasks with focus without getting distracted by the long list of work? My Day list in To Do gives you the canvas to plan your day and stay focused on what matters most. You can add any tasks to My Day to prioritize them for the day. Boost your daily productivity by reviewing all your tasks and adding those you want to take action on in your My Day list!  

How can I get the To Do app in Outlook?

Users with an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription and user license for the Microsoft To Do app will be able to quickly access To Do alongside the main Outlook functions such as email and calendar which are now displayed vertically to the left of the folder pane. You can check what subscriptions you are licensed for in your account information. Log in to www.office.com, click on your profile picture in the top-right corner, click View account, and select Subscriptions.

Availability

The To Do app is available to Microsoft 365 Current Channel users running the following versions of Outlook for Windows:

• Current Channel Version 2201 (Build 14827.20000) or later: Available by turning on the Coming Soon toggle.
• Current Channel Version 2207 (Build 15427.20000) or later: Available by default. (Feature rollout is still in progress. Some users may still need to turn on the Coming Soon toggle until the feature has fully rolled out).

Figure 3: Coming Soon toggle in Outlook

To Do also comes with the dark mode for a comfortable viewing experience. You can enable it by setting Outlook theme to Black.

Figure 4: Dark theme in To Do

We can’t wait for you to start using To Do in Outlook! Tell us what you think here or over on Twitter or Facebook.

[LG]

Interesting news... what's going to happen to the standalone To Do app on Windows? Is it here to stay?

[atrain204]

Almost makes me want to switch back to the Outlook Desktop app.

Anyone know when this will arrive for the Outlook web app?  The icon has been there for weeks but it still redirects me to a new tab.

[Taoufik8779]

I'm running the Beta Channel version 2209 (build 15619.20000) but I don't see the To Do integrated in Outlook. In addition to that, "Try the new Outlook" toggle isn't showing either.

[Alan Harland]

Great and is it also coming to MAC Outlook ?

[PS_Alex]

Does this mean that the To Do app will be automatically installed to all users of a device? Or does this announce only mean that if a user has installed To Do on its device, then To Do will become integrated with the Outlook app?

[wroot]

It looks identical to web version, so i think same as with new room picker it is just web part integrated into desktop app. So, most probably no need to have an app installed. Although, i haven't seen the app for a long time, but it seemed to have a bit more color and character to it. Web version is bland and pastel. I was kind of hoping they integrate desktop app. I always wanted to try it, but it is not available in our business store, so i can only have web version. And now i am too used to go to my browser for To Do tab, having to switch to it in Outlook seems like an extra step. Usually To Do is on one screen and email is on another. But hey, a bit more exposure to To Do and maybe Tasks will finally die off :)

[wroot]

But if this is a web version i wonder if it has same bugs. Like annoying trimming of long text in steps when changing view. Been there for a few years now.

[PeterHoogeveen]

@PS_Alex It will be automatically added to Outlook. I had not installed it previously and it is now available for me in my Windows Outlook client.

[Dburke225]

I'm confused wasn't this already a thing in Outlook? 

[wroot]

It was in OWA, but in there it would just open a new tab with web version of To Do. In Outlook there were Tasks for many years, but they are not that robust as To Do (no sub-tasks). Also To Do has web and mobile versions that sync tasks.

[cblackuk1]

Awesome news! Thanks for sharing and for making it happen! Really looking forward to it :)

[plathrop]

We could use some help translating Microsoft's roadmap for task-management tools into language that keeps the attention of our business users. Judging from the other comments here, even the technical professionals feel a bit puzzled. 

By the way, most of our groups have given Planner a hard pass. Some who attempted to adopt Planner are finding it cumbersome. They are looking to other vendors for a PM SaaS. 

[wroot]

Planner feels pretty barebones. Although To Do is a personal tasking tool and not really comparable. It is also very lightweight, which i actually like about it.

[Todd_E312]

Planner really should dominate over To Do, they just need to provide a personal Planner board.

Separate when are flagged emails coming to Teams Tasks? Seems like such an oversight to have this in To Do app and in Outlook To Do, yet not in teams tasks!

[Dedric Terry]

Is there any way to add dated To Do entries to the calendar in Outlook?

This was a feature in Wonderlist and some of our end users are trying to replicate that but no luck. Thank you.

[wroot]

Have tried it yesterday with Coming Soon. As i was expecting, this is web version embedded into Outlook app. Has same issues as web version has (trimmed long text in steps after refresh, looping completion animation, etc.). But it works. Maybe To Do will get a bit more attention from users and then maybe more development resources to polish it up and add new features.

[Rob O'Keefe]

@Dedric Terry If you use Outlook on the Web calendar and open the sidebar for My Day. From there you can drag and drop from To Do in the sidebar onto a specific day and time. For this reason I started using web outlook for email and calendar. I do it as a browser app -- in your browser look for a feature to run the page as an app, then it is very similar to a stand alone app.

I am not sure if this feature is available on the Windows Outlook app itself.

[MarkMessinger]

I'm especially curious as to how the process of creating a To Do item, from an email message, will work in Outlook for Windows. That is to say, a To Do item that includes a link to the email message.

This is something different than flagging an email. Sometimes I want a To Do item with a different subject line than that of the associated email message. ANd additional text in the body of the To Do item.

Edit: Ah, I see. It looks as though what's happened here is To Do is added to Outlook for Windows, but does not replace the older Tasks. And I cannot find a means of building a link to an email message, in a To Do item, from within Outlook for Windows. Note in my implementation of Outlook for Windows, I still have both Tasks and To Do, in the menu on the left side of the Outlook for Windows screen:

[Inadogg]

When will you be bringing due dates for sub-tasks? As soon as that comes, this tool will be useful.

[Thomas Maier]

What kind of integration is that? You can't call that integration. This is an iframe, nothing else :(

- There is no search feature- because the To Do search is hidden and the Outlook search does not work.
- The operating logic of Outlook is overridden - no Ribbon
- The settings of Outlook do not work either - there are own settings for To Do

Also a lot of functions are missing, which were already available since Outlook 97:
- There are no more categories for tasks
- There are only the important tasks, no more low priority tasks
- Tasks can no longer be opened in a separate window but only in a small sidebar
- There is no more mass editing of tasks as it was possible before

As a separate To Do App I find this ok, but not as a replacement for the task pane in Outlook. Very disappointing that this has been implemented so lovelessly :(

[cpoulter-kent]

Im sorry but this was a horrible decision on Microsoft's part. 

ToDo is just a Hub for multiple sources, but makes it almost impossible to manage complex task lists. 

Planner should have become the common backend for all task lists across all platforms

- Outlook

- OneNote

- Teams

- Sharepoint

Instead of trying to make an app to mark off completed tasks, we need a platform to consolidate all those lists into one place. Planner already has all the functionality that can be built on, now it just needs to replace said functionality in said apps. 

Makes so much more sense than just making a hub that makes managing tasks more confusing than helpful. 

[Todd_E312]

Echoing @cpoulter-kent, Planner should be the main backend. Essentially provide everyone with a private personal planner board!

We need consolidation of all task management and To Do isn't going to provide that as it is only personal management.

Why can't you just add flagged emails into Teams Tasks? Then we almost have consolidated tasks in one area.

It seems odd you are turning outlook into a multifaceted application when teams already provides all of the same capability besides email. 

[Urbain_L]

When I click on the Todo icon on the left bar, Todo shows a blank page. I was able to see the todo app before. This happened after an update (I guess). However I can see my tasks in the calendar and if I create it directly on the Todo app it appears on my calendar. The bug is when I click on the icon, I can see the todo app anymore. Any idea?

[Roland2903]

The To Do app icon, in the taskbar, shows you how many tasks are due today. Is there an option to reflect this on the icon within Outlook?

[Rob O'Keefe]

It feels like everyone at Microsoft must use Asana or Todoist. Some pretty fundamental things that don't get implemented. And no clear communication of direction of how the tools will evolve into one ecosystem.

[chockey]

My organization is on Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise subscription (Monthly Enterprise Channel) and the current Outlook version is 2211. I'm wondering why I haven't seen this update in my Outlook desktop app yet? I'm noticing To-Do is not showing in the list of apps that is contained with our product. Is that why? I love To-Do and would really love to see this integration!

[wroot]

My Outlook version is 2301. Have To Do integration. When i go to office.com i can see To Do in All apps. Not sure in which SKU To Do is included actually. I think we are on E3.

[tdw_365]

I am an avid GTD enthusiast (Getting Things Done, by David Allen). Two items of note, I use Outlook both at home, and at my work, both using the MS Office 365.

1.  My office does not even show the To-Do sidebar. I assume the IT Department implementation blocks it from being implemented.

2.  My home "Office" does show the To-Do sidebar. I became aware of To-Do through instructions provided by GTD called "Outlook Integration", where they relied heavily on the To-Do feature. I thought this is my solution! But, sadly I find it's functionality too limited to be of real use to me.  I read with interest the previous posts from others more technically savvy than me, which I fully agree with. 

I will be monitoring any future updates and releases, hoping they may address the shortfalls.  But for now, I will be relying on "One Note" as the hub of my GTD. Not Outlook, until there is a more seamless integration for my tasks, projects, and reference files (I have a LOT).

[jklassen14]

Where do post bugs about this new feature? Nothing serious but pretty annoying in my case. The "Add note" section breaks urls that have multiple parameters, e.g. something.com?param1=blah&param2=blahblah would be translated as something.com?param1=blah &param2=blahblah. As you can see the 2nd parameter is cut off from the url link.

[ReuelD]

I tried the "New Outlook." Unfortunately, whenever I click the "To Do" section it redirects to my browser. I couldn't view it in the Outlook app itself. So I reverted back to the default mode of Outlook. The "New outlook" looks great to me, and I hope they will fix the issue and allow users to access "To Do" right from the app.