Mail to 2Do
Mail to 2Do gives your device a private, receive-only email address. Anything sent to that address becomes a normal task in the 2Do list you choose, with no extra apps, no account to create, and nothing to install anywhere else.
Each device gets its own private address, which looks like this:
todo-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@2doapp.email
Setting It Up
- Open Settings > Mail to 2Do.
- Turn on Enable Mail to 2Do. 2Do creates your private address and shows it under Your Address.
- Tap the copy button beside the address and save it as a contact with a name you will remember, such as "2Do Inbox".
- Under Delivery, choose the Default destination list, which is used when an email doesn't name a list itself.
- Send something to the address and watch it arrive.
You only need to enable Mail to 2Do on one Mac, iPhone, or iPad. Tasks created on that device sync to your other devices through your normal 2Do sync account, as long as the destination list is included in sync. Use that device's address for your emails and forwarding rules.
Under Delivery you also get Fetch mail with a Fetch Now button. 2Do checks for new mail automatically in the background, and you can use the button whenever you want to check immediately.
The expandable How Mail to 2Do works card in the same pane repeats the essentials and links back here.
Save the address as a contact called "2Do Inbox". Sending a task then takes as long as typing a subject line.
Everyday Uses
- Brain-dump. Email yourself a one-line reminder from work, from a computer, from anywhere. It is waiting in 2Do when you get back to your device.
- Forward things that need action. A flight confirmation, an invoice to pay, a message you must reply to: forward it and the subject becomes the task, with the message text saved in the notes.
- Send yourself a checklist. Number the lines of the message and it arrives as a checklist.
- Let others file work for you. Anything that can send email can create tasks: a mail rule that forwards matching messages, an automation service, a report from a server, or a chore from a colleague.
A quick example:
To: todo-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@2doapp.email
Subject: Pick up the dry cleaning due(tomorrow) list(Errands)
That arrives as a task titled "Pick up the dry cleaning" in your Errands list, due tomorrow.
Moving from IMAP Email Capture
2Do 4 for iOS and macOS no longer connects to your personal mailbox through IMAP or fetches flagged messages from it. The old connection worked for some people, but privacy and sign-in restrictions, along with repeated blocking by mail providers such as Gmail, made it unreliable for many others. Direct IMAP mailbox fetching is no longer supported.
Fetch Now checks the Mail to 2Do delivery service for messages sent to your private address. It does not check your personal email account, and the old mailbox settings cannot be carried over. To create tasks from selected emails, forward them yourself or use a mail rule or filter. See Private by Design for how the service handles your messages.
Mail Rules and Filters
If your mail provider or mail app supports automatic forwarding, you can use a rule or filter to send a copy of matching messages to your private Mail to 2Do address. For example, you could forward invoices from a particular sender while keeping the originals in your mailbox.
- Copy your private address from Settings > Mail to 2Do in 2Do.
- In your mail provider's web settings or your mail app, create a rule with the conditions you need, such as a sender or words in the subject.
- Set the rule to forward a copy to that address and keep the original email. Forward the message text, rather than attaching the email as a file, because attachments are not imported.
- Test with one short matching email, then use Fetch Now in 2Do and check your destination list. Forwarded mail is subject to the same size and daily limits.
Rules set up with your mail provider run on its server. For example, iCloud Mail supports forwarding selected messages with rules. Rules that run locally in a desktop mail app need that app running. On a Mac, start in Mail > Settings > Rules > Add Rule, choose your conditions, and add a forwarding action addressed to 2Do. Apple Mail forwards automatically while Mail is open.
Some providers require you to verify the forwarding address first. Gmail sends a verification link. If the verification email arrives as a task, check its notes for the link or code. If it is missing, use a mail-app rule or forward messages manually instead.
Flagged or Starred Messages
Keeping a flag-based workflow requires a rule or automation that specifically runs when you flag or star a message and forwards it to 2Do. A rule that runs only when mail arrives does not cover a flag added later. Gmail's forwarding filters, for example, apply only to new messages.
Check which triggers your provider or mail app supports. If it cannot forward a message when you flag or star it, forward that message manually to your private address.
Sharing Your Address With People You Trust
Your address works like a private phone number: anyone who has it can add tasks to your list, and only you decide who gets it. Share it with your partner so the groceries land on your list instead of in a chat thread, or hand it to a colleague who files errands your way.
Two things to know when sharing:
- Mail to 2Do is receive-only. Senders never get replies, confirmations, or bounces; messages simply appear in your 2Do.
- If the address ever spreads further than you would like, use Replace Address in Settings. The old address stops working instantly and permanently, and you get a fresh one to share.
From Email to Task
Every message is converted the same way:
- The subject becomes the task's title.
- The plain-text body becomes the task's notes, up to 10,000 characters.
- Attachments and HTML formatting are not captured. An HTML-only message may create a task with just its subject as the title.
- There is no link back to the original email. Your address is a one-way delivery into 2Do rather than a mailbox, so a task receives only the subject and text of a message and never a reference to it. That is deliberate, and it is part of what keeps the message private.
Checklists
Number the lines of your message body, typing 1. 2. 3. yourself with one item per line, and 2Do creates a checklist instead of a plain task, with each numbered line as an item. Start the body with 1.; text before the first numbered line keeps the message a normal task. When the body mixes numbered lines with other text, the full message text is kept in the checklist's notes. A signature such as "Sent from my iPhone" ends the checklist rather than becoming an item, and stays in the notes with the rest of the message.
Subject: Saturday shopping list(Home)
1. Milk
2. Coffee beans
3. Bird seed
Filing Instructions
The subject can carry small filing instructions in parentheses. 2Do removes them from the task title and applies them as it saves:
| Instruction | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
start(...) | Sets a start date | start(today) |
due(...) | Sets a due date, with a time when you include one | due(tomorrow) |
priority(!) (!!) (!!!) | Sets low, medium, or high priority | priority(!!!) |
list(...) | Files the task in an existing list | list(Work) |
tag(...) | Adds one or more tags | tag(home, diy) |
action(type, value) | Adds an Action | action(call, 0793273373) |
alarm(...) | Sets or disables a reminder | alarm(10:00) |
Supported action types are call, message, url, visit, and google. Dates accept natural words such as today and tomorrow, or a typed date and time. If a named list does not exist, the task lands in your default destination list.
Add list(...) to the subject when a message belongs somewhere other than your default destination list. Everything else about the message stays the same.
Reminders
Add alarm(...) to set a reminder for the task. Reminders use Message with Sound by default. Add , silent for a message without sound, or , sound to choose sound explicitly.
| Subject | Reminder |
|---|---|
Review report due(tomorrow) alarm(10:00) | Tomorrow at 10:00 |
Join meeting due(tomorrow 4pm) alarm(-15m) | 15 minutes before the due time |
Prepare meeting due(tomorrow) alarm(-1d 10:00, silent) | At 10:00 on the day before, without sound |
Call Rolf alarm(tomorrow 10am) | Tomorrow at 10:00, without setting a task date |
File receipt due(tomorrow) alarm(none) | No reminder, even if automatic reminders are enabled |
A clock such as 10:00 or 10am uses the task's due day, or its start day when there is no due date. You can put a signed day offset before the clock, such as -1d 10:00 for the day before. This keeps the chosen clock time when the task date changes, including across daylight-saving changes.
For an offset from the due time or, if there is no due date, the start time, use m for minutes, h for hours, d for 24-hour periods, or w for weeks. For example, -15m means 15 minutes before, +2h means two hours after, and 0m means at that time. A date without a time uses midnight. Relative reminders need a due or start date; the new-task default due date can supply one.
A date and time such as tomorrow 10am sets a separate reminder date. Relative words such as tomorrow are interpreted when 2Do imports the email, using the importing device's local calendar.
The first alarm(...) instruction adds a reminder alongside any automatic reminder from Settings. If both would fire at the same time, 2Do keeps one reminder using the sound or silent choice in the subject. Other automatic reminders stay in place. Use alarm(none) to turn off reminders for that task. An invalid instruction, or a relative reminder with no task date, stays in the title and leaves those preferences in effect. For a checklist, the reminder belongs to the checklist itself.
Private by Design
Your mail never sits in a mailbox. Each message is encrypted for this device the moment it arrives, and it is deleted permanently the instant your task is saved, or after 30 days, whichever comes first.
The raw email is deleted right after it is converted. Once the encrypted payload is stored, nobody at 2Do can read it, and no readable message content is kept. Mail to 2Do does not create a mailbox or a separate email account that you or anyone else can browse.
For troubleshooting, delivery logs retain sender and recipient addresses, message identifiers, and processing results for 30 days. These logs do not contain email subjects, bodies, or attachments.
Delivery
Delivery is normally quick when your device is online. If the device is offline, the encrypted task waits for up to 30 days and arrives once the device is available again.
2Do checks for new mail in the background on its own. In a hurry? Fetch Now under Settings > Mail to 2Do > Delivery checks immediately.
Tasks created from email sync onward to your other devices through your normal sync, like any other task.
Limits
The following limits apply to each private address:
- 512 KB per email (524,288 bytes). This is the size of the whole email, including its headers, attachments, and embedded images, even though attachments and images are not imported.
- 50 emails per UTC calendar day. The allowance resets at midnight UTC.
- Plain-text notes up to 10,000 characters. Longer notes are shortened.
- Attachments and HTML formatting are not imported.
Messages above the size or daily limit, or flagged as spam, are discarded without a delivery-failure notice. Shortening long notes does not reject the email.
Your Address and Your Devices
An address belongs to one device and to the 2Do database on it. Your license allows a set number of addresses. The Manage Addresses screen shows how many address slots are in use, with each address partially masked for privacy.
If every slot is in use when you turn the feature on, 2Do opens the same screen titled Free an Address Slot and explains that the license is using all available Mail to 2Do addresses. Release an unused address and setup retries automatically. Releasing an address is permanent: it will never work again, its pending mail is deleted, and Mail to 2Do is disabled on the device using it.
The screen also suggests the gentler option: if you still have the database or a backup that owns an address you recognize, restore it and choose Move Address to This Device, which keeps the address without using another slot.
Troubleshooting
Mail is not arriving
Check that:
- The receiving device is switched on and online.
- Enable Mail to 2Do is on in Settings > Mail to 2Do.
- You sent the message to the exact address shown under Your Address.
Check the message size and daily limits, especially when forwarding emails with attachments or embedded images. Try a new email with a short subject and a few words in the body, without attachments or forwarded content. Then tap Fetch Now and check the list selected under Default destination list. If the daily allowance has been used, send the email again after midnight UTC.
Messages wait up to 30 days while the device is unavailable, after which they are permanently deleted. Fetch Now checks mail already accepted by the service; it cannot recover a message discarded because it exceeded a limit.
If the test email still does not appear, contact support with your private address from Your Address, the sender address, and the date, time, and time zone of the test. Include any error shown after tapping Fetch Now so support can check your inbox.
The database belongs to another device
After restoring or copying a 2Do database, the pane can show Choose How to Use This Database with two options:
- Move Address to This Device keeps the existing address and delivers it here. The other device is disabled and its undelivered mail is deleted.
- Use a New Address gives this database copy a new address and leaves the other device and its address unchanged.
Choose Move Address to This Device when this device replaces the old one. Choose Use a New Address when both copies stay in use.
Replace Address or turn the feature off
- Replace Address, under Manage, immediately stops the current address and creates a new one: "The old address will stop working immediately. Any pending mail for it will be deleted." Update your saved contact with the new address.
- Turning Mail to 2Do off deletes the address permanently along with its pending mail. Turning the feature on again later creates a completely new address.
Old addresses are never reused.