Tags

Tags attach context to a task that does not depend on which list it is in. They are the workhorse of any GTD-style setup in 2Do.

Tagging a Task

• In the editor: type in the tags row. 2Do suggests matching tags as you type, and each one you accept becomes a chip. Tap Pick to open the full tag picker, which searches your whole library and offers Create New Tag... for a name that does not exist yet.
• From the task list: touch and hold a task and choose Tag.
• By dragging: drag a task from the list onto a tag in the Tags panel to apply that tag.
• In bulk: see Batch Tagging below.
• In Quick Add: the composer's tag capsule opens the same picker while you are writing the task. See Quick Add.

To remove a tag, open the task and delete its chip from the tags row.

The Tags Panel

Tags live on the first page of the utility panel. On iPhone, swipe the task list toward the utility panel. On iPad, tap Tags at the bottom of the lists panel. If the panel is already showing another page, use the segmented control at the top to come back to Tags. See The 2Do Screen.

Tags are listed under their groups, with tags that have no group of their own gathered under TAGS.

Three controls sit at the bottom of the panel:

• Add Tag opens a menu with New Tag and New Tag Group.
• Visibility limits the panel to the tags actually used by the tasks currently on screen. If tags seem to have gone missing, check this first.
• Alpha flips the list between alphabetical order and the order you arranged yourself.

Filtering by Tag

Tap a tag and the task list narrows to tasks carrying it. Tap more tags to add them to the filter, and tap a filtering tag again to take it back out. The tags currently filtering the list are shown in a banner above your tasks.

This is a temporary filter. It leaves your Focus Filter and your lists untouched.

Creating and Editing a Tag

New Tag opens a small field at the top of the panel. Type the name and confirm. Matching tags appear as you type, so you are unlikely to create a duplicate by accident.

To change a tag later, touch and hold it and choose Edit. The tag card holds:

• The tag's name.
• A Tag Group capsule. Tap it to pick a group, filter the list of groups by typing, or choose Create New Tag Group... to make one on the spot.
• Delete Tag, which asks before it removes the tag.

Renaming a tag here changes it on every task that uses it, which is the tidy way to fix a typo such as @phpne.

Deleting and Reordering

• Delete a tag: swipe it left and tap Delete, or use Delete in its touch-and-hold menu.
• Move a tag to another group: drag the row onto that group's heading, or onto the space under its rows.
• Reorder tags inside a group: drag the row where you want it. Position is only yours to choose while the panel is showing every tag in your own order, so turn Alpha off and turn Visibility off first.

You can also drag a group heading to move the whole group, again with Visibility off.

Tag Groups

Tag libraries grow. Groups keep them tidy, and each group is a heading in the panel.

Common patterns:

• Contexts: @home, @work, @phone, @errands, @waiting.
• People: @boss, @spouse, @kids.
• Energy: low-energy, deep-work, quick-win.
• Status: @blocked, @in-review, @on-hold.

Create one with New Tag Group in the panel's add menu, or with Create New Tag Group... while editing a tag.

Touch and hold a group heading for its own menu:

• Edit renames the group.
• Manage Tag Groups opens the Tag Groups screen, where you can Create Tag Group..., rename a group, drag groups into the order you want, and delete one.
• Delete removes that group.

Batch Tagging

To tag many tasks at once, enter batch editing, select the tasks, and open the tag picker. It is a multi-select list of your whole library, with a filter field, Create New Tag... for a new name, and Remove all Tags for clearing the selection's tags outright.

Pausing a Tag

Any tag in 2Do can be paused. While a tag is paused, every task carrying it is hidden from view: All, Today, its own list, and search. The tasks are still in your database; they are simply out of sight.

This is the cleanest way to put a whole context on hold without editing tasks one at a time.

Pausing and Resuming

Swipe a tag left in the Tags panel and tap Pause, or use Pause in its touch-and-hold menu. The same command reads Resume once the tag is paused. The first time you pause a tag, 2Do explains that every task using that tag becomes hidden and that you can resume the tag at any time.

The tag stays in your library either way. Only the visibility of its tasks changes.

Seeing Paused Tasks Without Resuming

• Tap the Show Paused control in the sort bar above your tasks to bring them back into view temporarily.
• Or search for type: paused. See Smart Lists.

Common Pause Patterns

• Pause @waiting while you are travelling, so anything blocked on somebody else's reply steps out of view.
• Pause @home during a work trip, so chores you cannot do yet stop showing up.
• Pause a project context such as @kitchen-reno while you wait for materials, and resume it when the parts arrive.

tip

Pausing a tag is a snapshot, not a deletion. Resume it any time and every paused task comes back exactly where it was.

Tags on Task Rows

Task rows show their tags as small coloured pills in the Extended display mode. Pinch the task list outward to switch to it, or pick it under Settings > Appearance > Display > Display Mode. See Pinch-Zoom and Tap-and-Hold.

A paused tag reads as paused wherever its pill appears, so you always know why a task is out of sight.

Tags in Search and Smart Lists

Tags are first-class in search:

• tags: matches named tags. tags: home, work means either; tags: (home OR work) AND !play gets finer.
• taggroups: matches every tag inside a named group. taggroups: Contexts covers the whole group at once.
• type: anytag and type: notag match tasks that have any tag, or none.

Save any of these as a Smart List so the view is always one tap away. See Smart Lists.

Tips

tip

Keep tag names short and consistent. A small, well-named library beats a large one you have to remember your way around.

tip

Use the Visibility control while working inside one list. It reduces the panel to the tags actually in play there, which makes filtering much quicker.