Calendar Events in Lists
2Do can show your Apple Calendar events right above Today, or keep them visible as you move between built-in Focus Lists and regular task lists. A single glance covers both your appointments and your tasks for the day. These events are a read-only display inside 2Do. They are shown for context, they are never task rows, and 2Do does not create or store them.
What the Day Bar Is
The day bar is a slim strip pinned to the top of the task list that draws your Apple Calendar (EventKit) events for that day. It sits above your tasks without mixing into them: your task list, selection, and drag behavior stay entirely task-only. The events come straight from macOS Calendar, styled to match 2Do's light or dark theme.
Two parts of the strip are worth knowing:
- All-day events appear in their own row above the bar, as compact chips, so they never crowd the day's timeline.
- The bar keeps what's next in view. An event about to start is labeled upcoming with its start time, and an event in progress is labeled ongoing with the time it ends. This line stays visible even when the bar is collapsed, so it works as a quiet, persistent reminder of where your day stands.
The day bar does not appear while you are viewing a project or checklist, using a Smart List, or searching. It stays with the main list view rather than filtered or focused task views.
Turning It On
Open 2Do > Settings > Calendar. Choose where the day bar appears, grant Calendar access, and then choose which calendars to include.
Choose Where It Appears
The Display section gives you two choices:
- Show Calendar Events in Lists shows the day bar above built-in Focus Lists, including Today, and above your regular task lists. This setting is off by default.
- Show Calendar Events in Today shows the day bar only above Today. This setting is on by default.
The two settings are mutually exclusive. Turning on Show Calendar Events in Lists turns off and disables the Today-only setting. To return to showing events only in Today, turn off the Lists setting and then turn on Show Calendar Events in Today. You can also leave both settings off to hide the day bar completely.
Whichever option you choose, the day bar is hidden in project and checklist views, Smart Lists, and search results.
Grant Calendar Access
The first time you use the feature, 2Do needs permission to read your calendars:
- Click Allow Calendar Access and approve the macOS prompt.
- If access was previously denied, the pane shows Open System Settings instead. Use it to grant access under macOS privacy settings.
2Do requires full Calendar access to read event details. Write-only access is not enough; if only write access is granted, 2Do reports Full Calendar Access Required and the day bar stays empty.
This feature needs Full Calendar Access, not just "add events" (write-only) permission. If the day bar is blank after you granted access, re-check the permission in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Calendars and make sure 2Do has full access.
Choosing Which Calendars Appear
The Calendars section lists every calendar 2Do can see, each with its color dot, title, and source. Uncheck any calendar you want to keep out of the day bar.
2Do stores only the calendars you exclude, which has a helpful side effect described right in the pane:
Calendars not listed as disabled are included automatically, so newly added calendars will appear by default.
In other words, a calendar you add later in macOS shows up in 2Do automatically. You only ever need to revisit this list to hide something.
The checklist is available whenever either display setting is on. If you turn both settings off, the checklist is disabled until you choose a day bar placement again.
Switching the View
The day bar carries its own schedule-style toggle for how the day is drawn — a list-timeline view versus a day view. This control lives inside the bar itself, not in Settings, and 2Do remembers your choice between sessions. The list-timeline style is the default. The bar can also be expanded or collapsed independently of the style you pick.
Expanded as a list, the day's events read top to bottom with their times:
Or switch to the day view for a calendar-style timeline of your schedule:
A few nice touches: click an event and it opens in Apple Calendar, ready to edit there; and invitations you've declined render struck-through, just like Apple Calendar draws them.
Read-Only by Design
Inside 2Do, the calendar events are for viewing only. 2Do does not add an in-app editor for them and does not modify your calendars. To change an event, click it to open it in Apple's Calendar app and edit it there.
And if you want more from your calendars than Apple's app offers, BusyCal is our own full calendar app for the Mac. It pairs naturally with 2Do, coming from the same family.
If you dismiss the day bar's in-context access prompt, 2Do turns the feature off. You can turn it back on any time from 2Do > Settings > Calendar.
Related Pages
- Mini Calendar is the month view in the Lists Panel for filtering and deferring tasks by date.
- The 2Do Window explains where task lists and the day bar sit in the main window.
Tips
Choose Show Calendar Events in Lists if you want your schedule to stay visible as you move around 2Do. Choose the Today-only setting for a quieter workspace, with appointments and tasks together only when you plan your day.