When executing on a plan, tracking various aspects like task status or risks is crucial for managing progress. With the new Planner, you can create custom fields helping teams stay on top of what matters most for their initiatives, making it easier and faster to identify and assess where things are on track and what needs follow up.
Creating a custom field
1. Once you create your premium Plan, go to the Grid view, select Add column > New field.
2. Choose an appropriate field Type:
3. Enter a Field name, then select Create.
Note: You can create up to 10 custom fields in a premium plan.
Choose a type for custom field
There are several types of custom fields available, each serving a different purpose:
- Text: Can contain any characters. Use it to add columns for justifications, notes, or descriptions.
- Date: Can contain any date. You can type it in yourself or select from a calendar. Use it to track important dates, such as approval dates.
- Number: Can only contain numbers. You can optionally "rollup" values in subtasks with Max, Min, Sum, and Average calculations. When you create the number field, choose your Rollup type. Try it by creating a number column called “Estimate” and use a Sum calculation for it. Use this column to estimate the amount of work it will take to complete the task.
- Yes/No: This field offers a drop-down list with "Yes" and "No" options, which can be used to track quality or process checks.
- Choice: Create a drop-down list with 2 to 20 options, including characters and emojis. For example, you can add a “Risk” field with a few choices such as “High”, “Medium” and “Low”.
- To add emojis, on Windows press Win + ; (Windows key plus semicolon) and on Mac, press Control + Command + Space.
- You can add colors to each choice to make it easier to review the state of work in the grid view. You can do so by selecting the paint bucket icon or you can remove the colors by selecting the trash can icon.
Copy or Edit the custom fields
You can copy an existing plan as a template to leverage its structure for a new project. This process also copies all custom fields, allowing you to easily reuse your previous setup.
You can easily edit any custom field you add by selecting ‘Edit’ from the custom column menu in the Grid view. You can also add custom coloring or filtering based on the content in the custom fields.
Ready to start using it all?
If you currently use Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams, explore the new Planner app in Teams, and try the premium capabilities from within the Planner app by simply clicking on the diamond icon within the app where you can begin your free 30-day trial of these advanced capabilities or proceed with requesting a premium license. If you already have a Project license you’re already equipped with access to the new Planner’s premium capabilities corresponding to the license you have.
Share your feedback
You can share feedback through the new Planner app in Teams directly. You can also send us your feedback via the Planner Feedback Portal.
Here is how you can share your feedback directly from within the new Planner app.
Learn more about the new Planner
• Explore the new Day in the Life guides to use Planner and Copilot for individual task management, collaborative work management and project management.
• Watch the new Planner demos for inspiration on how to get the most out of the new Planner app in Microsoft Teams.
• Bookmark the new Planner adoption website.
• We’ve got a lot more ‘planned’ for the new Planner this year! Stay tuned to the Planner Blog - Microsoft Community Hub for news.
• For Planner feature updates, visit the Microsoft 365 roadmap here
• Learn about Planner and Project plans and pricing here
• Read the FAQs here