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A day’s work flow is usually a chaotic mix of email notifications, calendar alerts, and hastily scribbled notes, all vying for attention. If you use the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, then you know that this setup often causes a bit of confusion between the two task management tools: Microsoft To Do and the classic Outlook Tasks.
It is very important that you bring these two programs together before the old one is canceled in favor of the new one. Fortunately, it’s simple to do and will make your job a lot easier when you’re done.
Outlook Tasks and Microsoft Things to Do
Microsoft To Do and Outlook Tasks have evolved over time to help professionals. This is an app you probably remember from using Microsoft’s email client for years. This tool is built right into the classic interface, where it sits nicely next to your inbox, calendar, and contacts. It acts as a command center for your daily life.
Traditionally, Outlook Tasks has been beloved for its powerful functionality designed specifically for managing tasks and tracking your work progress right in the desktop application. Whether you need to set up complex recurring tasks, customize task fields, record billable hours, or accurately track your project’s completion status with percentage indicators, this is the perfect tool.
As digital workplaces change, Microsoft realized that people needed something simpler and easier to access, so we got Microsoft To Do. This tool is a modern follow-up to the classic tasks module; it’s a lightweight, cloud-based app from the technology behind the popular Wunderlist app.
It provides a cleaner, low-impact and user-friendly interface that focuses on light task tracking and your immediate priorities on both desktop and mobile devices. The biggest feature of this app is the My Day area, which gives you a fresh start each morning to help you deliberately choose and prioritize your daily activities without getting completely overwhelmed by your entire master list.
Although they may look and feel like completely different programs designed for different software eras, the truth is that Microsoft To Do and Outlook Tasks are really related. They share the same database, all hosted on Exchange Online.
Smooth backend integration ensures that any task you create, edit or delete in one application is visible in the other.
How to combine the two
Combining Microsoft To Do and Outlook Tasks is a fairly simple process, as they share essentially the same basic setup. It’s built on top of Microsoft Exchange, meaning Microsoft To Do shows you the same information available in your Outlook Tasks. So the most important thing to do to make them work together is to make sure you’re signed in to both To Do and Outlook with the same user account.
If you try to use different accounts for each, your tasks will remain completely separate and will never sync across your devices. Once you sign in with those same account credentials, syncing between the two apps happens automatically in the background. Nothing needs to be imported or exported.
Any folders you’ve historically done in your classic Outlook tasks will appear as individual lists in Microsoft To Do; New tasks you create in To Do will appear in the desktop client. When you use modern versions of Outlook, such as the new Outlook for Windows or Outlook on the web, the integration is completely native and requires no manual installation.
You can easily access Microsoft To Do from the left side of your Outlook window; just click that little “To Do” icon. This opens a dedicated taskbar where you can manage your daily priorities, create new lists, and stay focused on your schedule without ever leaving your email. Also, if you simply mark an email in your modern Outlook inbox, it creates it automatically corresponding task in the marked email Microsoft To Do list.
For those who still prefer the classic Outlook desktop program, the clock is ticking. Microsoft is deprecating classic Outlook Tasks and the new Outlook uses To Do by default.
Why you should combine them now and what are the benefits
Bringing Microsoft To Do and your old-school Outlook Tasks together is a smart move that eliminates the constant, productivity-sapping need to switch between different apps. By making sure both apps are synced with the same Microsoft account, all your responsibilities are rolled into one system.
This means you’ll no longer be bouncing between your inbox, calendar and separate task manager. Whether you’re looking at your mail, calendar, people, or groups, you can use the To-Do and My Day pane to see your upcoming calendar events and tasks directly from anywhere in Outlook.
This ensures that all your action items, even those assigned to you in Microsoft Planner or listed in your inbox, are collected in a single, super-accessible interface. You won’t have to break your concentration by opening another program. Basically, To Do makes being productive much easier.
The biggest benefit of making this switch is getting your hands on Microsoft To Do’s really well-designed My Day feature. Unlike master lists, which get longer and more stressful as the day goes by, My Day gives you a blank canvas every morning.
This feature includes a smart suggestions tool that takes a look at your larger to-do lists and recommends tasks that need to be done today, items you’ve marked as high priority, or things you’ve recently added. It will even suggest tasks based on your planner tasks or flagged Outlook emails and events.
You can easily combine both personal tasks and professional projects into one central daily view, as you manually select only what you want to accomplish. It really helps with your work-life balance without losing focus.
To avoid panic and confusion, the My Day list automatically resets at midnight. Any tasks you haven’t completed are safely moved to your master list and will appear in the next day’s offers.
For long-term and detailed project planning, the increased detail and custom tracking fields available through the classic Outlook Tasks interface can still be important. However, to manage the daily demands of professional life, Don’t miss Microsoft To Do because it is still the best everyday tool.
Combining the two gives you the best of both worlds. It’s incredibly easy to do, and you’ll be ready if Microsoft decides to stop Outlook Tasks altogether.
