Skip to main content

Lists and List Groups

Lists are the basic organizational unit in 2Do. They live on the Lists screen (iPhone) or in the left pane (iPad).

Focus Lists​

The top of the Lists screen always shows your Focus Lists — saved perspectives that pull tasks from across your real lists:

  • All — everything not hidden by a paused tag, excluded list setting, or future start date.
  • Today — tasks due today, plus tasks whose duration window reaches today. Depending on your Appearance settings, Today can also include overdue tasks, starred tasks, and tasks you're still working on.
  • Starred — your starred tasks.
  • Scheduled — tasks with a future start date.
  • Done — your completed tasks.
  • Inbox — a capture list for tasks you want to triage later. Tap any Focus List to jump straight to it.

Excluding a List from Focus Lists​

Some lists shouldn't contribute to All or Today — a Someday/Maybe list, recurring chores you only want surfaced by their Alerts, archived references, etc. 2Do lets you exclude any list from each Focus List independently.

Tap and hold the list name on the Lists screen → tap Edit in the sheet. At the top you'll see toggles to Exclude the list from:

  • All
  • Today
  • Done
  • Sync

Turn on the ones you want and tap Done. A small i icon appears to the left of the list name to show the global visibility has been customised.

This is also where you set the list's name, color, and reassign it to a different list group.

Creating a List​

  • Long-press a list and choose Manage Lists, or open the Lists management screen from the Lists area.
  • Tap Create New List....
  • Pick a name and color.

Each list has:

  • Name and color — colors flow through to every task in that list.
  • Sort order — Start Date, Due Date, Priority, Tag, or Manual. Each list remembers its own sort.
  • Focus rule — whether the list contributes to Focus Lists.
  • Lock — see Password Protection.

List Groups​

Group related lists into a folder for a calmer sidebar:

  • Long-press a list or group heading and choose Manage Groups.
  • Tap Create New Group....
  • Use Manage Lists to move lists into the group, or edit a list and assign it to the group.
  • Tap the group's name (or its chevron) to collapse or expand it. Collapsing is the quickest way to visually hide a chunk of the sidebar while you scan or work — the lists are still there, just out of sight until you tap the group name again.
Collapsed list group in the sidebar

Drag and Drop to Organize​

The left panel doubles as a drop target for tasks. Enter batch edit mode, select a few tasks, then long-press one of the selected tasks to start a drag and drop the whole stack onto a list in the sidebar. The selection moves into the new list together.

The Focus Lists at the top of the sidebar accept drops too, but they apply a state change instead of a move:

  • Drop on Today — every dropped task is set to due today.
  • Drop on Starred — every dropped task gets starred.
  • Drop on Scheduled — 2Do asks for the future start date to apply.
  • Drop on Done — every dropped task is marked complete.

Learn more in Batch Editing — Drag and Drop to Organize Your Tasks.

Long-Press a List for Quick Actions​

Long-press (tap and hold) any list in the sidebar to open a quick-actions popup — the fastest way to act on a list without diving into a settings sheet. The popup contains:

  • Edit — open the edit sheet (rename, recolor, reassign group, toggle lock, Exclude from All / Today / Done / Sync). See Editing, Hiding, Archiving, or Deleting a List below.
  • Change Statuses — bulk-flip every task in the list. Use this to Mark All Complete (flip everything in the list to done in a single tap — handy for shopping lists or one-off project lists once everything's wrapped) or Mark All Incomplete (flip the completed tasks back to active — useful for templates and recurring routines you reuse week to week).
  • Manage Lists — jump into reorder mode and drag lists into the order you want (or drop them into a List Group).
  • Manage Groups — opens a dedicated screen where you can rearrange list groups by dragging them into the order you want, rename any group, and tidy up the overall structure of the sidebar without touching the lists themselves.
  • Add to Siri — register a Siri shortcut that opens this list directly.
  • Archive — see Archiving a List below.
  • Delete — permanently delete the list and all its tasks. There's no recovery beyond your backups, so use this with care.

The exact set of options shown depends on the kind of list you long-press: real lists, list groups, Focus Lists, and Smart Lists each get the actions that make sense for them.

Long-press list popup with Edit, Change Statuses, Manage Lists, Manage Groups, Add to Siri, Archive, and Delete

Reordering and Drag-and-Drop​

  • Long-press a list → Manage Lists is the quickest way in.
  • Or tap Edit (top-left) on the Lists screen to enter reorder mode. Drag the handle on the right of each list.
  • Drag a list onto a List Group to move it inside.
  • Drag tasks onto a list in the sidebar (iPad) to move them.

Editing, Hiding, Archiving, or Deleting a List​

Long-press a list on the Lists screen → Edit. From the edit sheet you can:

  • Rename the list and change its colour.
  • Reassign it to a different list group.
  • Toggle the lock — see Password Protection.
  • Toggle the Exclude from All / Today / Done / Sync options described above.

To archive or delete a list, use the Archive or Delete items in the long-press popup itself (not the Edit sheet).

Archiving a List​

Archiving is the cleanest way to put a list away without losing what's inside it.

  • How to archive — long-press the list in the sidebar → tap Archive. The list disappears from the sidebar immediately.
  • What gets hidden — an archived list is hidden from the sidebar entirely, and its tasks are hidden from the main working areas of the app. Archived items can still be found through Smart Lists and the Done Focus List when their rules match. The data is preserved — nothing is deleted — it's just out of sight.
  • How to unarchive — open Settings > Privacy, scroll to the Archived Lists section, and tap any archived list to bring it back. It returns to the sidebar with everything intact.

Archive is best for lists you're genuinely done with (a finished project, a holiday packing list you don't need until next year) or for tidying the sidebar without losing history.

Archive vs. Hide​

These are different. The distinction matters:

  • Hide (i.e. Exclude from All / Today, set from the Edit sheet) — the list stays in the sidebar and remains searchable. Smart Lists and the Focus Filter still see it; it just doesn't pollute the Focus Lists you've excluded it from.
  • Archive — the list is removed from the sidebar entirely. Its tasks are hidden from the main working areas, while Smart Lists and the Done Focus List can still show matching archived items.

Use Hide for lists you still occasionally consult. Use Archive for lists you're truly putting away.

Indicators on List Names​

  • Count badge — incomplete tasks in the list.
  • White glowing dot — a task due today is hiding inside.
  • Red glowing dot — an overdue task is hiding inside.
  • Lock icon — locked.
  • Folder icon — list group.

Smart Lists​

Smart Lists also live in the sidebar. They're saved searches that behave like real lists. See Smart Lists.

Projects and Checklists Are Task Types​

Projects and checklists are created from the task editor, not from the list manager. Tap the floating add button, then use the type picker below the title to choose Task, Project, or Checklist. See Projects and Checklists.

Tips​

tip

Color-code by domain (Work, Home, Personal). Use Tags for cross-list contexts (@phone, @errands). Use Smart Lists for saved combinations of the two.

Last updated on