Getting Started with 2Do for Mac

This tutorial walks you through setting up 2Do for Mac and gives you a tour of every meaningful feature in the app — capture, organisation, scheduling, focus, search, sync, and a long tail of small things that quietly make daily use feel right. Each section is brief; click through to the dedicated page when you want the full reference.

Introduction

2Do is a flexible personal task manager for macOS. It scales from a simple to-do list to a full GTD-style planning system, and it's been carefully shaped by years of feedback from professionals, students, and lifelong list-keepers. Use it as a one-list scratchpad or push it into deep multi-project territory — the same tools sit a click away either way.

Highlights worth knowing about up front:

• Lists, Projects, Checklists, Sub-tasks — combine simple to-dos with structured outcomes.
• Quick Entry — capture system-wide, even when 2Do isn't running (when 2Do Helper is enabled).
• Smart Lists and Smart Filters — saved searches that behave like real lists; an extremely powerful filter syntax lives behind the search bar.
• Tags, Tag Groups, and Pausing — context tools you can switch on and off in seconds.
• Multi-Task Actions and the Drag Bar — defer, schedule, share, or move many tasks with drag-and-drop, menus, and shortcuts.
• Multiple alerts with repeating sound — reminders that can keep nudging until you notice them.
• Sync your way — Dropbox, iCloud CalDAV, Toodledo, custom CalDAV — pick what fits and stay.

Permissions

After installing 2Do (from the Mac App Store or the direct trial), open the app and start using it. macOS asks for access when a feature needs it:

• Notifications — used for task alerts and reminder windows.
• Location Services — used when you add locations or use Nearby.
• Calendar / Reminders Access — used when you set up iCloud CalDAV or another CalDAV sync option that needs macOS calendar/reminder access.
• Contacts — used by Actions when you attach contact-based calls, messages, emails, addresses, or URLs to a task.

If you deny a permission by mistake, open System Settings > Privacy & Security or System Settings > Notifications, find 2Do, and enable the access you need. The welcome walkthrough is a product tour and can be opened from Help > Walkthrough Tutorial.

Choosing How You Sync

2Do treats sync as your bridge between devices, never a requirement to keep your data with us. The app supports these sync methods:

• Dropbox — recommended. Carries every task property including attachments, List Groups, Tag Groups, Smart Lists, and Search Presets.
• iCloud CalDAV — Apple-hosted CalDAV sync. Requires an Apple-ID app-specific password.
• Toodledo — for Toodledo users. Web access via toodledo.com; some features map with caveats.
• Custom CalDAV — Fruux, Yahoo!, ownCloud / Nextcloud, Synology, Kerio, Oracle, SabreDAV, and any other CalDAV server.

If 2Do lives on a single Mac, you can simply leave Sync unconfigured.

Open 2Do > Settings > Sync to choose your method. We walk through the trade-offs in Sync and the per-method specifics in Dropbox, iCloud CalDAV, Custom CalDAV, and Toodledo.

tip

If you use 2Do on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, make sure all devices use the same sync method. Mixing methods leads to disconnected data on each side.

The 2Do Window

The Mac app is built around a familiar three-pane layout:

• Lists Panel (left) — your lists, list groups, Focus Lists, and Smart Lists. The mini calendar lives at the bottom of this panel.
• Task List (centre) — the tasks inside the selected list, with the Sort Bar at the top. When you drag selected tasks, the Drag Bar appears above the toolbar.
• Utility Panel (right) — contextual helper with tabs for Tags and Locations / Nearby.

Hide the Lists Panel via View > Hide Lists, and the Utility Panel via View > Hide Utility Panel, when you want a focused, single-pane view.

For a deeper anatomy of each part of the window, see The 2Do Window.

The Toolbar

The toolbar gives you one-click access to the most-used commands: New Task (with a dropdown for New Project and New Checklist), the Global Search Bar, Sync, and the Utility Panel toggle. Customise it via View > Customize Toolbar... like any standard macOS app.

The Sort Bar

Just below the toolbar sits the Sort Bar — a single strip that packs a surprising amount of control:

• Current list name on the left, with a briefcase button that toggles Project View when a project or its sub-task is selected.
• On the right: a scheduled-visibility toggle (clock icon) for revealing tasks hidden by Smart Scheduling, the sort method dropdown with an ascending/descending arrow, and the Focus Filter toggle.

Each list remembers its own sort and Focus settings.

Mini Calendar

A compact month calendar lives just below the Lists Panel. It does more than display the date:

• Busy-day ribbons — every day with a starting or due task gets a small ribbon. Future occurrences of repeating tasks paint forward, so a glance shows what's coming.
• Click a day to filter the Task List to that day; click again to clear.
• Click and drag across days to filter to a date range.
• Drag a task onto a date to defer it.
• ⌥-click any date to create a new task with that day as its due date.

Learn more.

Search and Jump Bars

2Do has four distinct find surfaces, each tuned for a specific kind of "find me this" moment:

• Global Search Bar (⌘F) — filter the task list with Smart Filter syntax; save the filter as a Smart List.
• Task Find Bar (bare F) — jump the selection to a task by title without filtering.
• List Jump Bar (bare J) — jump to a list in the sidebar by name.
• Tag Search Bar (bare /) — find a tag in the Tags panel by name.

See the dedicated Search and Jump Bars page for the full breakdown.

The Drag Bar

When you start dragging a task or selection, the Drag Bar appears above the toolbar. Drop onto it to copy, share, or delete in one move. You can also drop tasks onto lists, Focus Lists, tags, or dates for other common actions, and use D or Task > Defer... to defer selected tasks. See Multi-Task Actions below.

Lists and List Groups

There are three kinds of lists in 2Do, each shown in the Lists Panel:

• Focus Lists (built-in) — All, Today, Starred, Scheduled, Done, Inbox. Saved perspectives across all your tasks.
• Lists — your own, holding tasks, projects, and checklists. Color-coded, optionally grouped, optionally locked.
• Smart Lists — saved searches that behave like real lists.

Create a list with File > New List or the [+] button at the bottom of the Lists Panel. Each list has a name, a color, a sort order, a Focus rule, and an optional lock. List colors help you spot where a task belongs when several lists are shown together in All or Today.

To organise related lists, create a List Group via File > New List Group. Drag lists into it and collapse the group when you don't need to see what's inside.

Counters Next to List Names

Each list shows two counters:

• Undone (right) — number of dated or undated tasks, projects, and checklists not yet completed. Sub-task counts appear on the project / checklist icon, not the list.
• Overdue (left, red) — tasks past their due date.

A faint white glowing dot indicates a task due today is hiding inside the list, and a red glowing dot indicates an overdue task is hiding inside. A lock icon indicates a locked list.

The Disclosure Triangle

If a list contains projects or checklists, a small disclosure triangle appears next to the list icon. Click it to reveal every project and checklist inside the list — clicking any of them highlights it directly in the task list.

Excluding a List from Focus Lists

Some lists shouldn't contribute to All or Today — Someday lists, archives, recurring chores you only want surfaced by their alarms. Right-click a list in the Lists Panel and choose the matching Include in... or Exclude from... option for All, Today, or Done. A small visibility indicator appears next to the list name once any toggle is on.

Hiding Unwanted Lists

Distinct from Lock and Exclude — you can also hide lists from the sidebar entirely (including built-in Focus Lists you never use). Open 2Do > Settings > Security > Privacy and tick the lists to hide. On Dropbox sync, this preference syncs across devices.

GTD Inbox and Default Capture List

Two related options under 2Do > Settings > General:

• GTD Inbox — when on, Inbox is your true capture surface; new tasks from Quick Entry and the share extension land there for triage.
• Always Use Default List — every new task goes to the chosen default list regardless of which list was selected when you created it.

For more — including the indicators that appear next to a list name — see Lists and List Groups.

Focus Lists

The top of the Lists Panel always shows your Focus Lists:

• All — every task across every list, except those hidden by a paused tag, scheduled to start in the future, or in a list excluded from All.
• Today — tasks due today, plus tasks whose duration window covers today. Depending on your Appearance settings, Today can also include overdue tasks, starred tasks, and tasks you are still working on.
• Starred — every starred task.
• Scheduled — tasks with a future start date currently hidden by Smart Scheduling.
• Done — completed tasks.
• Inbox — your GTD inbox.

Use ⌘0–⌘5 to jump between Focus Lists. For the per-list deep dive — including each list's exact membership rules — see Focus Lists.

Tasks, Projects, and Checklists

2Do has three task types that work together:

• Task — a simple to-do. Can carry notes, tags, dates, alerts, location, an action, and sub-tasks.
• Project — a parent for related tasks. Each child carries its own properties (dates, alerts, tags) and shows up individually in Focus Lists.
• Checklist — a parent for items that only matter together. Children cannot carry their own dates, alerts, or tags; the whole checklist behaves as one item in Focus Lists.

Create with File > New Task (⌘N), New Project (⌥⌘N), New Checklist (⌃⌘N), or New Sub-Task (⌃⌥N). Convert between types via Task > Convert at any point.

Project View

When you're inside a project, Task > Toggle Project View (⌥⌘J) collapses everything else and leaves only the project's tasks. Useful for distraction-free push on a single plan.

Project / Checklist from Selection

Select a handful of existing tasks → right-click → New > Project from Selection (or Checklist from Selection). The selection becomes children of a new parent.

For more, see Projects and Checklists.

The Task Editor

Every task in 2Do can carry a rich set of details, all visible in the editor:

• Title and notes — the headline and any free-form context. Notes auto-detect URLs, phone numbers, and emails. Inline timestamps via Edit > Insert Time Stamp.
• List selector — move the task between lists from inside the editor.
• Start date and Due date — when the task should begin and when it must be finished.
• Due time and Duration — a specific deadline and an estimated length.
• Priority — None / Low / Medium / High.
• Tags — comma-separated; new tags created on the fly.
• Location — a place on the map, useful for the Nearby panel and for location alerts on iPhone and iPad.
• Action — turns the task itself into a click — Call, Message, Mail, Visit, Browse, Google.
• Alerts — one or many, relative to dates or fixed to a specific date and time, with optional sound.
• Recurrence — repeat with flexible rules.
• Attachments — pictures, audio notes, file links.

The editor opens inline, so you can keep your place in the task list while filling in the details you need.

For the full reference, see The Task Editor.

Quick Look — Preview Without Opening

Press Spacebar with a task selected and a Quick Look popup shows the full multi-line title, notes, alarms, attachments, and (for projects / checklists) a percentage-of-completion ring. Use the up/down arrow keys to step through the list while Quick Look stays open.

Hover Priority and Star

You don't have to enter edit mode to change priority or star a task — hover the mouse over the right side of any task row and an inline control appears with the four priority levels and the star toggle. Click directly to set both.

Dates and Durations

A task in 2Do has up to three time-shaped properties — Start Date, Due Date, and Duration — each independently optional. Together they decide when a task is visible, when it's hidden as Scheduled, and how far in advance 2Do should remind you about it.

• Just a Due Date — appears in Today on the day, then becomes overdue until you complete it.
• Just a Start Date — hidden until the start date arrives, then appears in the list.
• Start + Due — hidden before start, visible during the working window, surfaces in Today on the due date.
• Due + Due Time + Duration — the duration creates an effective start time before the deadline. A task due at 3:00 PM with a 30-minute duration becomes active around 2:30 PM.
• Due + Duration — the duration acts as a date-only lead-up window, useful for tasks that need preparation before the due date.

Tasks with a future start date are hidden by Smart Scheduling; reveal them via the Scheduled Focus List, the clock icon on the Sort Bar, or View > Show Scheduled (⌘K).

A due date with no due time has no specific clock time attached. If you'd like new dated tasks to inherit a preferred time of day automatically, set a Default Due Time under Settings > Advanced.

Learn more: Dates and Durations.

Stars and Priorities

Two ways to mark a task as more important, with deliberately different jobs:

• Star — I want this in front of me right now. Personal, ephemeral, easy to flip on and off. The Starred Focus List collects every starred task.
• Priority — This task is intrinsically important. Stable, ordered (None / Low / Medium / High). Priority drives sort order and is a first-class field in Smart Filters.

Set priority with bare 0/1/2/3 (when the Task List has focus), =/- to increase/decrease, or by hovering and clicking the priority dot.

For the decision tree on when to use which, see Stars and Priorities.

Quick Entry

Quick Entry is 2Do's system-wide capture window. Set a global hotkey under 2Do > Settings > General and press it from anywhere on your Mac to bring up a focused editor. If you want this to work after a restart or when 2Do isn't running, also enable Launch 2Do Helper on System Startup.

• Uses the same task editor style as the main app, with the fields you need for fast capture.
• Optionally appears centred above the currently focused window for multi-monitor setups.
• Drag and drop files onto the 2Do dock icon to open Quick Entry pre-filled with a file link.
• Within 2Do, ⇧⌘2 opens Quick Entry without the global hotkey.

For more, see Quick Entry.

Pasting Multiple Tasks at Once

Copy a chunk of text from another app — bullet points from an email, lines from a document — paste into 2Do (⌘V) and one task is created per non-empty line. With a project or checklist selected first, they become sub-tasks of the parent.

Tags

Tags attach context to a task without depending on which list it's in.

• Common patterns: GTD contexts (@home, @phone, @waiting), people, energy levels, status flags.
• Group related tags into Tag Groups for tidier management.
• Filter the Task List by clicking a tag in the Tags panel; combine several with ⌥-click.
• Toggle the bottom-right indicator in the Tags panel to switch between All Tags and Used Tags (only those used by tasks in the current list).

Pausing a Tag

Any tag can be paused. When a tag is paused, every task carrying that tag is hidden from view automatically — All, Today, list views, search. Paused tags stay in your library; only their tasks change visibility.

Show paused tasks without resuming the tag via View > Show Paused (⌘U) or View > Show Scheduled & Paused (⇧⌘K).

For more, see Tags.

Smart Lists, Smart Filters, and Search

A Smart Filter is anything you can describe in 2Do's search bar — a keyword, a tag query, a date range, a combination. A Smart List is a Smart Filter that's been saved as a permanent entry in the sidebar.

The same search engine powers the Global Search Bar and Smart Lists, with two modes:

• Soundex — sound-alike matching, so plumver can find plumber, Steven can find Stephen, and alexnder can find Alexander.
• Full Text — precise matching with exclusions, capital OR, and wildcards. For example, new job requires both words, new job -find excludes find, and new* matches words like new, newer, and newest.

Six reserved keywords let you build structured filters: type: (priority, dates, action types, attachments, status, structure), tags:, locations:, groups:, and modified: / created:. Combine freely:

type: hiprio AND duethisweek tags: !waiting

Save with the [+] button next to the search field. Common Smart Lists: This Week, Stalled, Waiting On, High Priority, Errands Nearby.

For the complete reference and recipe library, see Smart Lists, Smart Filters, and Search.

The Focus Filter

The Focus Filter is your magic switch between everything I have and just what matters right now. Click the Focus button in the Sort Bar (or press ⌘J) to toggle it on. Each list remembers its own focus choices.

The Focus Filter uses a built-in condition menu — for example High Priority, Today, This Week, or Starred. For more detailed filters such as a specific tag or location, save a Smart List.

For more, see Focus Filter.

Multi-Task Actions and the Drag Bar

Select multiple tasks (⌘-click or ⇧-click), then drag them until the Drag Bar appears above the toolbar — or use the keyboard shortcuts directly:

• D — Defer the selection by a relative offset.
• K — Schedule the selection to a specific date.
• T / Y — Set Due Today / Due Tomorrow.
• S — Star the selection; ⌃S to unstar.
• 0/1/2/3 — Set priority None / Low / Medium / High.
• L / ⌥L — Tag / Untag.
• M — Move to another list.
• ⌘D — Duplicate.

You can also drop the selection on a list in the sidebar (move; ⌥ to copy), on Today (set due today), on Scheduled (set a start date), on Starred (star), on Done (complete), on a tag in the Tags panel (apply tag), or on a date in the mini calendar (set due date). Smart Lists do not accept drops — they're virtual.

For date changes across several selected tasks, use D or Task > Defer... to open the batch date dialog and shift the selection together.

For more, see Multi-Task Actions.

Sharing Tasks

Two ways to send a copy of tasks elsewhere:

• Edit > Copy (⌘C) — plain text representation. Paste into Mail, Notes, Messages.
• Task > Share — the macOS Share menu with the selection bundled (Mail, AirDrop, Messages, etc.).

Sharing is one-way; recipients get the task content, not a live link. 2Do does not offer real-time collaborative editing.

Repeating Tasks

Make any task repeat with flexible rules:

• Presets — Daily, Weekday, Weekend, Weekly, Bi-weekly, Monthly, Yearly.
• Custom — every N days/weeks/months/years, or specific weekdays, or specific days of the month.
• End conditions — never, after N occurrences, on a specific date.

The most important choice: Repeat from Due Date vs Repeat from Completion. The first is for fixed schedules (rent on the 1st); the second is for chores that restart when you finally do them (change your car's oil every 3 months, water the plants every few days).

For more, see Repeating Tasks.

Alarms and Repeating Sound Alerts

A task can carry one alert or many — relative to its due date or start date, or fixed to a specific date and time. Alerts can also play a sound.

2Do supports two alerting systems, switchable in Settings > Alerts:

• macOS Notification Center — alerts appear alongside other apps and are managed by macOS.
• 2Do Alert Window — a custom alert window with sound-repeat options and position controls; it can fire even when 2Do isn't running if the 2Do Helper is allowed to launch at startup.

A white glowing dot appears next to a list name when something due today is hiding inside, and a red glowing dot appears when an overdue task is hiding inside.

Automatic Alerts

Under Settings > Alerts, two automatic alarms can be set up to apply to every new task with a due date:

• Alerts on Due Time — fires at the due time (with an optional offset like 5 minutes before).
• Alerts on Due Date — for tasks without a due time, fires at a time of day you choose.

For more, see Alarms and Nagging.

Actions

Every task can carry an Action that turns the task itself into something you can do:

• Call — open the Mac's call handler for a saved number or contact.
• Message — SMS / iMessage.
• Mail — pre-fill a new email.
• Visit — open an address or saved map location in Apple Maps.
• Browse — open a URL.
• Google — run a web search using saved search text.

Click the action button on the task row (or press P) to perform it.

For more, see Actions.

Nearby and Locations

Attach a location to a task and 2Do becomes context-aware:

• The task can appear in the Nearby panel.
• The address is one click away in Apple Maps.
• The same location can sync to iPhone and iPad for Nearby Alerts.

The Locations panel (top-right toolbar → Pin button) is where you create and manage locations. Drag a location onto a task to assign it, or assign it directly from the editor.

For more, see Nearby and Locations.

Sync

2Do syncs through whichever cloud service fits your workflow. Use the same sync method on every device that runs 2Do.

• Dropbox — recommended; full feature support including attachments, all tags, and the hide-list preference.
• iCloud CalDAV — Apple-hosted CalDAV sync; requires an app-specific password.
• Custom CalDAV — Fruux, Yahoo!, ownCloud, Synology, Kerio, etc.
• Toodledo — for the Toodledo ecosystem.

For setup details and provider-specific caveats, see Sync.

warning

When 2Do asks whether to Replace Server Data or Replace Local Data, pause and choose carefully. Use Replace Local Data when the cloud already has your latest tasks. Use Replace Server Data only when this Mac has the data you want to keep. See Replace Server Data vs Replace Local Data.

Backups

2Do can automatically back up your local database every 24 or 48 hours, and it can also back up before every sync. Use Save as... in Settings > Backups to keep an extra copy in iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or another safe location.

Restore from 2Do > Settings > Backups > Manage Backups > Restore.... Hold ⌥ while clicking Restore to import an external backup file, which is useful when migrating from another Mac.

For more, see Backups.

Password Protection

Lock individual lists or the whole app behind a password — Touch ID supported on capable Macs. Locked lists stay hidden until you unlock them. Auto-lock can lock 2Do again after a chosen period of computer inactivity.

For more, see Password Protection.

Notifications and Overdue Alerts

Beyond per-task alerts, 2Do's counts and overdue sections make missed deadlines visible. If you want an alert when a task reaches its due date, use a task-specific alert or automatic due-date / due-time alerts under Settings > Alerts. The glowing-dot list indicator quietly flags lists with hidden Today tasks. See Alarms and Nagging for the alert options.

Printing

2Do can print neatly formatted task lists — useful for team meetings, fridge-door checklists, or genuinely offline days. Use File > Print... (⌘P); choose which fields to include and the level of detail. File > Page Setup... (⇧⌘P) sets the layout.

Quick Look on Tasks

Press Spacebar with any task selected to preview every detail — title, notes, dates, alarms, attachments, sub-tasks (with completion percentage for projects and checklists). Quick Look follows arrow-key navigation, so you can step through a list rapidly without entering the editor. See The Task Editor for the full Quick Look behavior.

Siri and Shortcuts

The macOS Shortcuts app can drive 2Do via the twodo:// URL scheme — create tasks, jump to lists, run searches, mark tasks complete, and more from any trigger Shortcuts can fire. Siri can run those Shortcuts, which gives you voice-driven capture without sending tasks through Apple Reminders.

For more, see Siri and Shortcuts and URL Schemes.

URL Schemes and Automation

The twodo:// x-callback-url scheme can create tasks, open lists, run searches, mark tasks complete by UID on Mac, and return task identifiers to Shortcuts or other automation tools.

If you also use 2Do on iPhone or iPad, the iOS app's Email-to-2Do add-on can monitor your IMAP inbox and create tasks from matching messages — those tasks then sync down to the Mac.

For the complete URL reference, see URL Schemes.

Keyboard Shortcuts

A handful that pay for themselves quickly:

Shortcut	Action
⌘N	New Task
⌥⌘N	New Project
⌃⌘N	New Checklist
⌃⌥N	New Sub-Task
⇧⌘2	Quick Entry (within 2Do)
User-set	Quick Entry (system-wide; configurable in Settings > General)
⌘J	Toggle Focus Filter
⌥⌘J	Toggle Project View
⌘.	Mark As Completed
S / ⌃S	Star / Unstar
D / K	Defer / Schedule selected tasks
T / Y	Set Due Today / Due Tomorrow
0/1/2/3	Set Priority None / Low / Medium / High
= / -	Increase / Decrease Priority
⌘F	Find (Global Search Bar)
F / J / /	Task Find / List Jump / Tag Search Bar
⌥⇧⌘F	Find Options
⌘0–⌘5	Jump to a Focus List (Inbox, All, Today, Starred, Scheduled, Done)
Spacebar	Quick Look
⌘S	Sync
⌘P	Print

For the full reference, see Keyboard Shortcuts.