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Task Sections

Use Sections to keep related tasks together in a list. A trip might have Bookings, Packing, and At Home; a grocery list might have Fruit, Vegetables, and Pantry. Sections are available in regular lists and the Inbox.

Move sections up or down to arrange your list. The tasks within each section follow the list's sort, such as Due Date or Priority.

How Sections Work​

  • Each section has a name and an optional description. Descriptions appear below the name on one line, with line breaks shown as spaces and long text cut off to fit.
  • A section can hold tasks, projects, and checklists. Sub-tasks stay with their project or checklist, and each task belongs to one section at a time.
  • Tasks that are not in a section stay at the top of the list, above the first section.
  • A list sorted by Due Date shows date groups such as Today and Overdue in every section. Sort the list Manually and you arrange the tasks in each section yourself. See The Sort Bar.
  • When completed tasks are visible, the Done group appears below the last section. Completed tasks, projects, and checklists go there; completed sub-tasks stay with their project or checklist. Items in Done still belong to their sections and return there when marked as not completed.

Focus Lists such as Today, Smart Lists, and search results show tasks without sections.

Adding a Section​

Leave batch editing before adding a section, then use either method:

  • From the lists panel: tap Add at the bottom (a chip on iPad or a row on iPhone). Under the current list's name, choose Add Section.
  • From a section: touch and hold a section title and choose Add Section to add a new section right after that one.

From the Add menu, the new section goes after the section holding the task you have selected, or at the end of the list. The section commands appear in that menu when the list on screen is a regular list or the Inbox.

The new section opens for editing with its name, New Section, selected so you can type over it. A section added during batch editing doesn't open for editing and keeps the name New Section. To name it, finish batch editing, then touch and hold its title and choose Rename Section.

Naming and Describing a Section​

To rename a section, touch and hold its title and choose Rename Section. Tapping a section title collapses or expands the section instead.

The editor shows the name, a description, and a checkmark button to save:

  • Type the name on one line.
  • Add a description if you want one. In the description, Return starts a new line. In the list, the description appears below the section title on one line.
  • Tap the checkmark to save. The keyboard's Done key in the name field saves too.

With a hardware keyboard, ⌘Return and Esc also save. Closing the editor saves your changes. Use Undo to discard them.

Collapsing a Section​

Tap a section title to hide its tasks; tap again to show them. An arrow appears beside the title when the section has tasks. Empty sections have no arrow.

While you scroll through a section, its title stays pinned at the top of the list, and tapping it there still collapses or expands the section.

Section titles never stay selected when you tap them, and batch editing selects tasks only.

Moving Tasks In and Out of Sections​

  • Drag: touch and hold a task, drag it onto a section title or among a section's tasks, and let go to move it into that section. This works with any sort, inside or outside batch editing. Outside batch editing, holding still without dragging opens the task's menu instead.
  • Several at once: in batch editing, select the tasks and drag any one of them onto a section title.
  • Remove from Section: touch and hold a top-level task in a section and choose Remove from Section. It leaves the section and, if it's unfinished, moves to the top of the list.

Moving a task into or out of a section keeps its dates, priority, and other details. If you move a sub-task into a section, it leaves its project and becomes a task in that section.

Arranging Sections​

Touch and hold a section title, then drag it up or down to change the order of sections. Tasks without a section always stay above the first section.

To move a section to another list, drag its title onto that list in the lists panel. The section takes all of its tasks with it.

The Section Menu​

Touch and hold a section title to open its menu:

  • Rename Section opens the name and description for editing.
  • Duplicate Section adds a copy right below the original, with a new copy of every task in it, including projects and checklists with their sub-tasks. Completed tasks and sub-tasks are copied too, and the copies start out unfinished. The copy then opens so you can change its name.
  • Move Section… lists your other lists, grouped by list group. Choose one to move the section and all of its tasks to that list. To change the section's place among that list's sections, open the list and drag its title up or down.
  • Convert to List creates a new list from the section in the same list group (or under Lists when the section is in the Inbox), moves all of its tasks, projects, and checklists into the new list, and removes the section. Any section description becomes the new list's notes.
  • Delete Section removes the section and keeps its tasks; the unfinished ones join the tasks at the top of the list. 2Do asks first; tap Delete Section to confirm.
  • Add Section adds a new section right after this one.
  • Auto-Name Section, below a divider, names the section after its tasks. See Auto-Name Section.

During batch editing, section titles have no menu and can't be dragged. With VoiceOver, the same commands are actions on the section title, except Move Section…, which is in the section's menu.

Every change to sections can be undone. See Undo and Redo.

Organizing a List with Apple Intelligence​

Use Apple Intelligence to organize tasks into sections or name a section you've already created.

Auto-Create Sections​

Auto-Create Sections organizes unfinished tasks by their titles. It prefers an existing section when the name fits the tasks, and creates a new section when none fits. For example, new grocery tasks can join your Fruit and Vegetables sections, with a new Pantry section added if needed.

Choose which tasks to organize:

  • Selected tasks: open a regular list or the Inbox, enter batch editing, select the tasks, then touch and hold one of the selected task rows and choose Auto-Create Sections. The command is also in the Task menu. To organize just one task outside batch editing, touch and hold its row and choose the command.
  • All unsectioned tasks in a list: leave batch editing, then touch and hold the list name in the lists panel and choose Auto-Create Sections. The panel's Add menu offers the same command for the list on screen.

The first time, 2Do explains what the command does. Tap OK to continue. A card shows progress; tap its close button or anywhere outside the card to cancel without making changes.

Select Do not show this message again to skip this prompt next time. To restore it, open Settings > General and tap Clear next to Confirmation warnings. See Settings.

What changes:

  • With selected tasks, only the unfinished tasks in that selection are organized. They can already belong to sections. Other tasks stay where they are.
  • With the List command, all unfinished top-level tasks, projects, and checklists without a section are included, even those hidden from view. Tasks already in sections stay where they are.
  • Existing section names, descriptions, and order stay unchanged. New sections appear after the existing ones, with names in the language of your task titles.
  • A selected project or checklist keeps its sub-tasks. If you select a sub-task without its parent, it leaves the parent and becomes a top-level task in its assigned section. Completed tasks are skipped, though completed sub-tasks still move with a selected parent.

Tasks are organized only when you run the command. You can run it again to place new tasks in suitable sections.

To reverse the result, undo straight away, for example by swiping left with three fingers. One undo puts the tasks back where they were and removes any sections the command added.

Auto-Name Section​

Auto-Name Section gives a section a short name based on the titles of its tasks. Touch and hold the section title and choose Auto-Name Section.

The section is renamed immediately; its description and tasks are unchanged. 2Do uses the titles of its top-level tasks, projects, and checklists, including completed or hidden items. To go back to the old name, undo, or rename the section yourself. An empty section can't be named this way.

What Apple Intelligence Reads​

Auto-Create Sections reads the titles of the tasks it organizes and the names of existing sections. A selected project or checklist contributes its own title; a sub-task contributes its title only when selected without its parent. Auto-Name Section reads the titles of the section's top-level tasks, projects, and checklists. Neither command reads notes, dates, tags, or attachments. Apple Intelligence does the work on your iPhone or iPad, and there is no account to create.

If the tasks being organized or the available sections change while 2Do is working, it stops without applying the result and asks you to try again. When organizing a selection, changes to unrelated tasks do not stop the command.

What You Need​

The list must allow editing. These commands cannot change a read-only shared list or a read-only list from a sync service.

The two commands need an iPhone or iPad that supports Apple Intelligence, running iOS 26 or iPadOS 26 or later, with Apple Intelligence turned on in the Settings app.

  • On a device that cannot run Apple Intelligence, the commands are not shown.
  • If Apple Intelligence is turned off or still downloading, 2Do explains what to do when you choose a command.
  • If Apple Intelligence doesn't support your language yet, 2Do says so and changes nothing.

Printing Sections​

When you print a list, a task, or a batch selection, Include Sections is on by default. Each section prints with its title, description, and sort groups, in the order shown in your list.

Turn it off to print one sorted list without section titles or descriptions. See Sections and Sort Groups.

Sections and Sync​

  • iCloud and Dropbox sync sections between your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with their names, descriptions, order, and tasks.
  • Todoist syncs them as Todoist sections: the name, the order, and which tasks belong to each. Descriptions are not synced with Todoist.
  • With other sync methods, sections are not synced. Your tasks still sync, and your other devices show them without sections.

Sections from Things​

iPhone and iPad have no direct import from Things. Import on a Mac, where the headings in each Things project become sections, then sync with iCloud, Dropbox, or Todoist to bring them to your iPhone and iPad. See Import from Things.

On the Mac​

On a Mac, sections also have keyboard shortcuts and can be copied and pasted between lists. See Task Sections for Mac.

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