You might already be familiar with the ToDoist online time management app for getting organized and improving your productivity. But did you know that there’s a desktop version of ToDoist that’s available for both Mac and Windows PCs?
Todoist is the app that much of the team here at CIG uses. It has a fairly minimalist. Click the + Add task button in a section where you would like your task to be, or use Quick Add by clicking the + icon in the top-right corner. Alternatively, you can press the a key to add a new task to the first available column.; Type your task name and apply any parameters (e.g. A due date, priority, label etc.). You can also use the / shortcut to add a task to a specific section from. Todoist Open Workspace Default Keybinding alt+t o. If you have the Todoist desktop app installed, this will open or switch to the Todoist app and select your current project.
Before you install the app on your desktop PC, you should know that there are a few pros and cons to using this version.
In this article we’ll go over all of the features that you’ll find in the desktop version of ToDoist, a few of the issues you may come across, and ways to make the best use of this version.
Using The ToDoist Desktop App
To get started, you can download and install ToDoist for your Mac or Windows PC from the ToDoist download page.
When you first launch it, if you don’t already have an account you’ll need to create one. You can sign up with any email address, or sign in with your Google, Facebook, or Apple account.
The first, main page that will appear looks deceptively simple, but there are a lot of useful features hidden under this main page.
The first thing you may notice is that the main page on the desktop app looks completely identical to the online version.
Not only does it look identical, but everything works the same way as well. The menu system on the left lets you view tasks for today, upcoming tasks not yet due, and an area where you can create and organize all of your projects and tasks.
To create a new task, just select the + symbol next to Add a new task and type the description of the task. Press Enter when you’re done, or select Save.
This is the simplest way to create tasks. Tasks default to the Inbox if you don’t assign it to a project. They’ll also default to being due today if you don’t schedule them.
If you do want to get a little more advanced with your task scheduling, there are a lot of options buried inside the task creation window.
Creating Tasks In TheToDoist Desktop App
If you want to set an actual date for the task then select the Schedule button under the task name. This lets you use a standard calendar selection to choose the date and time when you want the task to be due.
You can also use the same kind of natural language recognition that’s available on the ToDoist web app. This means in the field at the top you can type something like “tomorrow at 4pm”. ToDoist will recognize what you mean and assign the correct calendar date and time.
If you select the flag icon, you can apply a priority to the task. It’ll then appear in your list of tasks on the main page with the associated priority color.
One of the most useful features you can use while creating tasks is by planning them out in great detail by adding subtasks.
In previous versions of ToDoist, this used to be nothing more than a basic list of items without any additional details. In the latest version of both the desktop and online apps, these subtasks have all of the same features of regular tasks, including scheduling, flags, and even additional subtasks of their own.
This means that you can make sure you won’t forget the minutia within the larger projects you’re working on.
Unfortunately there are two important features that you can’t use here with the free version.
- Labels: Further organize tasks by applying customized labels. You can sort all tasks by label.
- Reminders: Set an initial date when you want to be reminded to start the task so that you’ll have time to complete it before it’s due.
While it’s understandable that a feature like labels might only come with the premium version, not including reminders in the free version is severely limiting. Especially considering that the free versions of most other apps, like Microsoft To Do for example, includes reminders as a basic task feature.
ToDoist Desktop App Main Page Features
Once you start adding tasks, you’ll see the main tasks with an arrow icon you can press to expand and see the subtasks.
Select Inbox from the left navigation pane to see any unassigned tasks you’ve added. This is a good place to store tasks until you know exactly how you want to organize them.
Select Today to see tasks that are due today. This is likely where you’ll spend the majority of your time during the day, working through your most urgent tasks.
Select Upcoming to see all upcoming tasks that aren’t due quite yet. You can press the down arrow next to the month to shift further back or ahead in the calendar to view tasks that are due much later.
Speaking of the Inbox, you can quickly add tasks there at any time by selecting the + icon at the very top right of the main ToDoist window.
This will open a Quick Add Task window where you can type the task description, set a date, and add a priority. When you select Add Task it’ll go straight to the Inbox so that you can organize it later into the appropriate project.
ToDoist Desktop App: Adding And Organizing Projects
One way that ToDoist excels over other to-do apps is how easy it is to organize projects. This isn’t any different in the ToDoist desktop version.
If you select Add Project from the left navigation menu, you’ll see the Add project window appear. Type the name of the project, add a color that’ll help you identify it at a glance, and select to add it to your favorites list if you like.
Select Add to finish.
If you want to create a sub-project, just right-click the project you just created and select Add project below.
This places the new project just below that one, with an indent so that you can tell that it’s a sub-project under the main one.
You can actually use the same approach with tasks and sub-tasks (as an alternative method of adding sub-tasks). Just right-click a task and select Add task below.
When you’re ready to organize your tasks into projects, go to the Inbox, right-click the task, and select Move to project.
This is a fast and easy way to quickly organize all of the tasks you’ve tossed into your Inbox.
Other Observations About ToDoist Desktop
You will find that as you’re making updates on your ToDoist desktop app, those changes take effect almost immediately on the web version of the app.
The same is true for any other place you have a ToDoist app installed, such as on your mobile phone or in the browser add-ons (all available from the same download page).
One interesting thing we observed while testing the ToDoist desktop app was that there are still small glitches throughout.
For example if you select the notifications icon at the upper right of the page (the bell icon), you may notice that the dropdown menu stays locked in place. Clicking the notification icon again won’t close it, and there’s no close icon to close the dropdown.
Clicking anywhere else in the desktop app doesn’t close the dropdown either. The only way to get around this glitch is to close the desktop app and reopen it.
You’ll notice this happening occasionally with other dropdown menus as well, like the Settings menu.
Since you may not need to use these frequently, this may only be a minor annoyance, but it’s something that the ToDoist folks should probably fix.
Overall Conclusions
The ToDoist desktop app is useful if you don’t want to use up browser windows with your time management work. Keep the app off to the side and track your tasks as you’re working online.
On the other hand, the desktop app feels like an afterthought. It doesn’t appear to be as responsive as the web version, and finding bugs in what should be a production version of software doesn’t give one the sense that ToDoist developers are doing a good job maintaining their offline app offerings.
You may already be familiar with ToDoist, an online time management app that can help you organize and increase your productivity. But did you know that there is a desktop version of ToDoist available for both Mac and Windows PC?
ToDoist Desktop App For Windows
Todoist Desktop App
Before installing the application on your desktop computer, you should know that this version has several pros and cons.
In this article, we’ll go over all the features you’ll find in the desktop version of ToDoist. Some of the issues you might encounter, and how to make the best use of this version.
Use ToDoist Desktop App
To get started, you can download and install ToDoist on your Mac or Windows PC from the ToDoist download page
On the first launch, if you don’t already have an account, you will need to create one. You can sign up with any email address or sign in to your Google, Facebook, or Apple account.
The first, home page that appears, looks deceivingly simple, but there are many useful features hidden underneath this home page.
The first thing you might notice is that the home page of the desktop app looks completely identical to the online version.
It not only looks the same but also works the same. The menu system on the left allows you to view tasks for today, upcoming tasks that are not due yet, and an area where you can create and organize all of your projects and tasks.
To create a new task, simply select the + symbol next to the Add new task field and enter a description for the task. When finished, press Enter or select Save.
This is the easiest way to create tasks. By default, tasks are assigned to your Inbox unless you assign it to a project. By default, they will also be checked in today, unless you schedule them.
If you want to get a little bit more advanced with scheduling tasks, there are many options hidden in the task creation window.
Create tasks in TheToDoist desktop app
If you want to set the actual date for the task, click the “Schedule” button under the task name. This allows you to use the standard calendar picker to select the date and time when you want the task to be completed.
You can also use the same type of natural language recognition that is available in the ToDoist web app. This means that in the field at the top you can enter something like “tomorrow at 16:00”. ToDoist will recognize what you mean and assign the correct date and time to your calendar.
If you select the checkbox icon, you can apply the priority to the task. It will then appear on your to-do list on the homepage with the corresponding priority color.
One of the most useful features you can use when creating tasks is planning them in detail by adding subtasks.
In previous versions of ToDoist, this was nothing more than a basic list of items without any additional details. In the latest version of both desktop and online applications, these subtasks have the same functionality as regular tasks, including scheduling, flags, and even advanced subtasks.
This means you can be sure that you don’t forget the little things in the big projects you are working on.
Unfortunately, there are two important features that you cannot use in the free version.
- Labels: Organize tasks further with individual labels. You can sort all tasks by tags.
- Reminders: Set the start date when you want to be reminded to start a task so that you have time to complete it before it is due.
It’s clear that a feature like shortcuts might only be in the premium version, but the lack of reminders in the free version is a major limitation. Especially since the free versions of most other apps, like Microsoft To Do, include reminders as a primary task function.
Features of ToDoist Desktop Home Page
When you start adding tasks, you will see the main tasks with an arrow that you can click to expand and see the sub-tasks.
Select Inbox on the left navigation bar to see all the unassigned tasks added. This is a good place to store tasks until you know exactly how you want to organize them.
Select Today to see the tasks to be completed today. This is where you will most likely spend most of your time during the day, solving your most urgent tasks.
Select “Upcoming” to see all upcoming tasks that are not due yet. You can click the down arrow next to the month to go further back or forward in the calendar to view tasks that are due much later.
Speaking of your Inbox, you can quickly add tasks there at any time by selecting the + icon in the upper right corner of the main ToDoist window.
The “Quick add task” window will open, where you can enter a description of the task, set a date and add a priority. When you select Add a Task, it goes straight to your Inbox so you can organize it into the appropriate project later.
ToDoist Desktop: Add and organize projects
One of the advantages ToDoist has over other business applications is the ease of organizing projects. Nothing has changed in the desktop version of ToDoist.
If you choose Add Project from the left navigation menu, you will see the Add Project window. Enter a name for the project, add a color that helps you at a glance, and select to add it to your favorites if you like.
Select Add to finish.
Todoist Windows App
If you want to create a subproject, just right-click on the newly created project and select “Add Project” below.
The new project will be placed just below this, indented so that it can be said to be a sub-project below the main one.
In fact, you can use the same approach with tasks and subtasks (as an alternative method for adding subtasks). Just right-click on the task and select Add Task below.
When you’re ready to organize your tasks into projects, go to your inbox, right-click the task, and select Move to Project.
It’s a quick and easy way to quickly organize all the tasks you’ve sent to your Inbox.
Other notes about ToDoist Desktop
You will find that as you make updates to the ToDoist desktop app, these changes take effect almost immediately in the web version of the app.
The same is true for any other location where the ToDoist app is installed, such as on your mobile phone or in browser add-ons (all of which are available on the same download page).
One interesting thing we noticed while testing the ToDoist desktop app is that there are still small glitches.
For example, if you select the notification icon in the upper right corner of the page (the bell icon), you may notice that the dropdown menu remains locked in place. Clicking the notification icon again will not close it, and there is no close icon to close the dropdown.
Clicking anywhere else in the desktop app does not close the dropdown either. The only way to work around this issue is to close the PC app and reopen it.
You may notice that this sometimes happens with other drop-down menus, such as the Settings menu.
Since you may not need to use them often, this might only be a minor annoyance. But this is something the ToDoist guys should probably fix.
General conclusions
The ToDoist desktop app is useful if you don’t want to use browser windows to manage your time. Keep the app aside and keep track of your tasks while browsing the internet.
On the other hand, the desktop application seems to be secondary. It doesn’t appear to be as responsive as the web version, and finding bugs in what should be a production version of the software makes it difficult to understand that the ToDoist developers are good at serving their offline applications.
ToDoist Desktop App For Windows
ToDoist Desktop App For Windows