Stars and Priorities
2Do has two ways to mark a task as more important than others: a Star and a Priority. They look similar, but they're for different jobs.
The Short Version
- Star — I want this task in front of me right now. Personal, ephemeral, easy to flip on and off. The Starred Focus List collects every starred task in one place.
- Priority — This task is intrinsically important. Stable, ordered (None / Low / Medium / High), survives across reviews. Priority drives sort order and is a first-class field in Smart Filters.
You can have both on the same task. You'll usually only need one.
Stars in Detail
A star is a binary flag. A task is either starred or it isn't.
Starring a Task
- Swipe right on a task to mark Done, swipe further to Star.
- Tap-and-hold popup → Star / Unstar.
- Drag a task onto the Starred Focus List in the sidebar (works in batch edit mode for many at once — see Batch Editing).
What Starring Does
- The task appears in the Starred Focus List at the top of the sidebar.
- It optionally appears in Today — there's an Include Starred Tasks toggle in Settings > Appearance that, when on, treats every starred task as a Today task regardless of dates.
- It can be the basis of Smart Filters via
type: starred.
When to Star
Stars are best for temporary emphasis: a small set of tasks you want in front of you for the next few hours or today, not a permanent classification. If you find yourself starring the same tasks every week, they probably deserve a tag or a Smart List instead.
Priorities in Detail
A priority is one of four levels: None, Low, Medium, High. The priority dot is colour-coded and visible on every task row.
Setting a Priority
- In the editor — tap the priority field; pick None / Low / Medium / High.
- Extended View — tap the right-edge arrow on a task to expand it; the four priority buttons appear inline (see Pinch-Zoom and Tap-and-Hold — Extended View). This is the fastest way to triage a brain-dump session — expand each task, pick a priority, move on.
- Tap-and-hold popup — choose priority from the popup.
What Priority Does
- The priority dot is colour-coded on every task row.
- Sorting by Priority groups tasks by level — High at the top, then Medium, Low, None.
- Smart Filters can match
type: hiprio,type: medprio,type: lowprio,type: prio(any),type: noprio(none). - Focus Filter rules can include priority conditions.
When to Use Priority
Priority is best for stable emphasis. Reserve High for things that genuinely belong at the top of the heap. If everything is High, nothing is.
Stars vs. Priorities — When to Use Which
| Situation | Use |
|---|---|
| You want this task in front of you today only | Star |
| The task is intrinsically more important than its neighbours | Priority |
| You want a sortable hierarchy of importance | Priority (sort by Priority) |
| You want to highlight a small handful for the next 30 minutes | Star |
| Show me only the most important tasks across every list | type: hiprio |
| Quick "what should I do next?" view | Starred Focus List |
Tips
Use Priority to label what is important and Star to mark what you want to do next. They answer different questions.
A Smart Filter combining both — type: hiprio AND starred — gives you a tight "these are the few high-priority items I'm actively pushing on right now" view.