Batch Editing — Dates, Tags, Locations, Priority, Move, and Delete

When you've got more than a couple of tasks to handle the same way — push them all to tomorrow, tag them all @waiting, assign a location, star them, or move them — batch editing turns a long sequence of taps into a single action.

Entering Batch Edit Mode

On the Tasks screen, tap the task-list three-dots indicator. Every task's checkbox icon switches to a dotted outline, signalling that they're now individually selectable.

Tap any task to add it to the selection (or tap again to deselect). The action toolbar at the bottom of the screen shows what you can do with the current selection.

Available Actions

With one or more tasks selected:

• Dates — set a due date, set a start date, set a duration, defer the selection, or schedule it for a future start date. For the difference between start and due dates, see Dates and Durations.
• Tag — add, replace, or clear tags across the selection.
• Location — add, replace, or clear locations across the selection.
• Priority — star, unstar, or set High, Medium, Low, or No Priority across the selection.
• Share — send the selection through the iOS share sheet, or email the selected tasks as attachments.
• Move — move the selected tasks to a different list, project, or checklist destination.
• Delete — remove the selection.

Drag and Drop to Organize Your Tasks

Once you've selected a few tasks in batch mode, the left panel becomes a drop target. Long-press any of the selected tasks to start a drag, then drop the whole stack on a regular list or supported Focus List in the sidebar — they all move, or take on the destination's state, together. It's the fastest way to reshape a list that's drifted off course.

What happens depends on the drop target:

• Drop on a regular list — every selected task is moved into that list.
• Drop on Starred — every selected task gets starred.
• Drop on Today — every selected task gets a due date of today.
• Drop on Scheduled — 2Do asks for the future start date to apply.
• Drop on Done — every selected task is marked complete.

Combined with batch-select, it's a fluid way to push a stack of tasks into a particular state without opening a single editor.

note

The All Focus List, Smart Lists, and list group headings are not task drop targets. Drop on the actual list when you want to move tasks.

Batch Drag onto the Mini Calendar

The mini calendar (see Tags and Nearby — Mini Calendar) doubles as a deferral surface in batch mode:

1. Open the calendar.
2. Tap the three-dots indicator on the calendar's top-right to enter batch edit.
3. Select tasks.
4. Tap and hold on a selected task to start a drag, then drop on the destination date in the calendar.

All selected tasks are deferred to that date.

Exiting Batch Mode

Tap the three-dots indicator again, or Done, to leave batch mode.

Tips

tip

Use the batch Dates action at the end of a busy day to push everything still hanging out to tomorrow in a single move. Combined with the Today Focus List, this is a low-effort end-of-day reset.

tip

Build a habit of batch-tagging during your weekly review. Select all tasks waiting on someone else's reply, batch-tag them @waiting, and pause that tag — they vanish from view until you actively choose to unpause.