Quick Add

Tap the + button below the task list to create a task in the full editor. Touch and hold it to open Quick Add, where you can add several tasks in succession.

Opening Quick Add

• Touch and hold the + button below the task list. The gesture takes about a quarter of a second.
• With a hardware keyboard, press ⇧⌘2.
• The full task editor, which opens when you tap +, has a lightning control at the top. Tap it to save the task you are writing and start another one right away in the same editor.

An empty list spells this out: Tap on + to add a new task, or tap and hold for Quick Add.

The Card

The card has two rows.

The title row holds the field, whose prompt reads Quick add…, a clear control that appears once you start typing, and a priority menu. The menu offers None, Low, Medium, and High, plus a Starred switch. While you are composing, it also carries Convert..., which turns the draft into a Task, a Project, or a Checklist.

Below the title are buttons for the destination list, dates, and tags. Tap one to open its picker behind the card:

• List: the destination. Search your lists, projects, and checklists, or tap Create New List... to make one on the spot. Each list's sections appear under its name; choose one to file the task in that section.
• Dates: the full Start, Due, and Duration panel, the same one the task editor uses. This button is hidden when you add an item to a checklist, because checklist items use their parent's dates. See Dates and Durations.
• Tags: pick as many tags as you want, or tap Create New Tag... to add one. See Tags.

The buttons show your current choices. The List button shows the destination's name, so choosing a section, project, or checklist replaces the list name with that destination's name.

Typing the details into the title works too: Natural Language Input recognizes due dates, times, start dates, repeats, alerts, durations, priority, tags, lists, and saved locations as you write. The buttons update to show the detected list, dates, and tags. Collect the parcel tomorrow at 3pm #errands and Paint the garden shed starting Saturday both fill in task details as you type. Detection is on by default; turn it off for Quick Add with the Quick Add switch under Settings > Tasks > Natural Language Input.

Filing One Task After Another

Press Return to save the task. Quick Add stays open with an empty title field, ready for the next task. Press Return on an empty card to close it.

tip

To capture several tasks during a meeting or commute, choose a destination with the List button first. Type each task and press Return to save it. Each task goes to that destination until you choose another one.

Where Tasks Land

Quick Add files into the list you are currently viewing unless you tell it otherwise. Two settings under Settings > Tasks > New Tasks change that:

• Default list picks the list new tasks go to.
• Always Use in Quick Add makes Quick Add use that default list regardless of which list is on screen.

Turning on Getting Things Done® Inbox in the same section gives you an Inbox to capture into and triage later.

Whatever the default, the List button lets you choose another list, section, project, or checklist before you save a task.

tip

Triage your Inbox daily. Anything sitting in it is something you have not decided about yet, so keeping it short is the whole point.

Capturing from Outside the App

Quick Add is not the only way in:

• The share sheet: share text, a link, a web page, a photo, or a video from any app to 2Do, and a small capture screen opens where you can set the list (or a section in it), start and due dates, tags, and notes before saving.
• Mail to 2Do: send email to your private 2Do address and it arrives as a task.
• Shortcuts and Siri: create, find, and complete tasks from any shortcut, or by voice.
• Control Center: the New Task control opens 2Do ready to add a task.
• Widgets: several widget sizes carry an add button.