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 of all of those. A Smart List is a Smart Filter that's been saved as a permanent entry in the Lists Panel, so the perspective is always one click away and stays up to date as your tasks change.

The same search engine powers the Global Search Bar and Smart Lists — so anything you can describe with the syntax on this page can be applied as a one-off search or saved as a permanent Smart List. The Focus Filter is related, but intentionally simpler: it uses a small built-in condition menu for quick narrowing.

The Global Search Bar

The Global Search Bar lives in the toolbar — a magnifying-glass button that auto-collapses when not in use. Click it (or press ⌘F) to expand the field and start typing. Click the small magnifying-glass dropdown inside the search field to insert presets, or type the syntax described here directly.

The dropdown to the right of the search field offers date filters that apply on top of whatever else is in the bar (see Date Filters).

Two Search Modes — Full Text and Soundex

2Do supports two distinct ways of matching text:

• Full Text Search — precise word matching with wildcards and capital OR. Use this when you want exact control over the results.
• Soundex Search — sound-alike matching. It tolerates common spelling mistakes, missing letters, and pronunciation variants.

If you typed this	Soundex can still find
plumver	plumber
Steven	Stephen
alexnder	Alexander
Catherine	Kathryn
Jon	John

Soundex broadens text searches so similar-sounding words can still match. To use Full Text wildcards and capital OR precisely, toggle Soundex off under the search options dropdown — otherwise Soundex intentionally widens the results.

Quick Find vs. Search

2Do has two find surfaces. Don't confuse them:

• Search (⌘F, magnifying-glass button) — filters the current list or all lists to matching tasks, with full Smart Filter syntax. The list collapses to just the results, and you can save what you've built as a Smart List.
• Quick Find (F while focused on the Task List, or View > Task Find Bar) — jumps the selection to the first task whose title matches, without filtering anything out. Auto-expands projects and checklists when the match is in a sub-task. Best when you know the task is there and just want to navigate to it.

Full Text Search Operators

With Soundex off, 2Do supports these operators in the search field:

Pattern	Behaviour	Example
word1 word2	Implicit AND — matches both words anywhere in the task	new job
word1 OR word2	OR (capital OR) — matches either word	Call OR new
word -word2	Excludes a word	new job -find
word*	Wildcard — matches words starting with the prefix	new* matches new, newer, newest
*	Matches tasks with searchable text	Use alongside keywords when you want a broad text match plus structured filters
!word	Excludes a word (alternate syntax)	!work

Worked examples (using sample tasks: Get a haircut one day, Buy a new car some day, Find a new job, Call: Mum, tell about my new job, Call: Tim):

• new job → Find a new job, Call: Mum, tell about my new job
• new job -find → Call: Mum, tell about my new job
• a day → Get a haircut one day, Buy a new car some day
• Call OR new → Buy a new car some day, Find a new job, Call: Mum, tell about my new job, Call: Tim

The Six Built-In Keywords

2Do recognises six reserved keywords. Each turns the search bar into a structured filter against a specific dimension of your tasks. They can be combined freely, and each supports its own AND / OR / ! / brackets.

type: — Filter by Task Property

The most expressive keyword. type: accepts a list of presets that filter by a specific task property. For example:

type: hiprio

…shows every high-priority task. Use AND, OR, brackets, and ! to combine presets:

type: (proj OR chck) AND hiprio AND !repeat
type: ((starred OR hiprio) AND due) OR today

type: Presets — Task Structure

Preset	Matches
alltasks	Any task (Project, Checklist, Sub-task, or Task) — flat view
task	Plain Tasks only (no projects, no checklists)
subtasks	Sub-tasks only
proj	Projects
chck	Checklists
emptyproj	Projects with no active sub-tasks
emptychck	Checklists with no active sub-tasks

type: Presets — Actions

Preset	Matches
action	Tasks with any Action attached
call	Call action
sms	Message action
email	Mail action
browse	Browse (URL) action
visit	Visit (Address / Maps) action
google	Google (web search) action

type: Presets — Attachments and Notes

Preset	Matches
audio	Tasks with audio attachments
pict	Tasks with picture attachments
note	Tasks with notes

type: Presets — Priority

Preset	Matches
prio	With any priority
noprio	Without priority
hiprio	High priority
medprio	Medium priority
lowprio	Low priority

type: Presets — Status and Tracking

Preset	Matches
starred	Starred tasks
alarms	With alarms set
repeat	Recurring tasks
duration	With a duration assigned
inprogress	Tasks with a start date or duration whose window is currently active
paused	Tasks belonging to a paused tag

type: Presets — Tags and Locations

Preset	Matches
anytag	Tasks with at least one tag
notag	Tasks without any tag
anylocation	Tasks with at least one location
nolocation	Tasks without a location

type: Presets — Dates

Preset	Matches
due	Has a due date
nodue	No due date
start	Has a start date
nostart	No start date
today	Start or due date is today
duetoday	Due today
starttoday	Starts today
tomorrow	Start or due date is tomorrow
duetomorrow	Due tomorrow
starttomorrow	Starts tomorrow
thisweek	Start or due date this week
duethisweek	Due this week
startthisweek	Starts this week
overdue	Past-due
tasksoverdue	Overdue, excluding lists you've excluded from All
donetoday	Completed today
doneyesterday	Completed yesterday
donethisweek	Completed this week

tags: — Filter by Tag

Filter the list to tasks that carry specific tags. Comma-separated lists are treated as OR by default; use AND, OR, brackets, and ! for finer control.

tags: home, work             # implicit OR — same as: tags: home OR work
tags: (home OR work) AND !play
tags: (call OR mail) AND work
tags: ?                      # any tag set
tags: ~                      # no tag set

locations: — Filter by Location

Same model as tags:. Comma-separated = OR; supports AND / OR / ! / brackets.

locations: home, drycleaners        # = locations: home OR drycleaners
locations: (home OR work) AND !playground
locations: ?                        # any location set
locations: ~                        # no location set

groups: — Filter by List Group

Restrict the search to tasks inside (or outside) one or more List Groups.

groups: projects                    # all tasks in the "Projects" list group
groups: home, work                  # tasks in either group
groups: !home                       # exclude the Home group

modified: and created: — Filter by Recency

Filter by when a task was last modified or first created. Time units: mins, h (hours), d (days), w (weeks), m (months), y (years). Prefix with < for "less than" and > for "more than".

modified: 2d           # modified in the last 2 days
modified: > 2d         # modified more than 2 days ago
created: 2h            # created in the last 2 hours
created: < 1w          # created less than a week ago

Combining Keywords

Real power comes from combining keywords. They can appear in any order, but if you also include a free-text search keyword, the free-text term must appear first:

plumber type: starred tags: builders groups: home

Here plumber is the text search and the rest narrow it down by property.

When you combine multiple keyword sections, 2Do inserts an implicit AND between them:

type: overdue tags: home OR school
tags: someday type: anyprio OR starred groups: shopping
tags: !work type: (hiprio AND thisweek) OR starred groups: !work

note

You cannot OR across different keyword types in a single rule. For example, this is not supported:

[NOT POSSIBLE] type: starred OR tags: home

To express that, create two separate Smart Lists or use the rule builder's any of the following mode.

Date Filters Beyond type:

The search bar's date dropdown adds an explicit date filter on top of whatever else is in the bar. Three options:

• Without Due Date — only tasks with no due date (perfect for a Someday Smart List).
• Date Range — pick a fixed From date and To date.
• Dynamic Range — Next N days / weeks / months / years — moves with the calendar.

The date filter is appended at the end of the search internally and cannot be wrapped in brackets — it always applies as the last condition.

The Rule Builder

For complex multi-condition filters, prefer the visual rule builder over the keyword syntax. Click the magnifying-glass dropdown inside the search bar → Search Presets → click [+] to add a clause. Each clause matches against one task property:

Property	Matches
Title / Notes	text contains, doesn't contain, equals
List	is / is not a specific list
Tag	has tag, doesn't have tag, has any tag in group
Priority	is / is not None / Low / Medium / High
Due Date	today, tomorrow, this week, overdue, range
Start Date	today, future, range
Location	has location, near current location
Action	has action of type ...
Has alarm	yes / no
Repeating	yes / no
Star	yes / no
Completed	yes / no
Paused	yes / no
Scheduled	yes / no (future start date)

Combine as many clauses as you need. Joined with all (AND) or any (OR) at the top. Nested rule groups (a group with any inside a parent with all) are supported for finer expressions.

Saving a Filter as a Smart List

Once your search returns the perspective you want, click the [+] button to the left of the search field. Give the new Smart List a name and it joins the Lists Panel — its rule keeps applying as your tasks change, so the list is always up to date.

A Smart List filters tasks within whichever list was active when you created it. To filter across everything, select the All Focus List first, then build the search.

You can also start from scratch:

• File > New Smart List, or
• Right-click in the Lists Panel → New Smart List.

A Smart List has a name, a color, an icon (Smart Lists show a different glyph than regular lists), and a rule built from one or more clauses.

Updating or Editing a Smart List

To change a Smart List's rule:

• Right-click the Smart List in the sidebar → Edit Smart List...
• Or select the Smart List and choose File > Edit Smart List...

Adjust the rule, save, and the perspective updates immediately.

Hiding Completed Tasks from a Smart List

By default a Smart List shows everything that matches — including completed tasks, which often clutter the view. Right-click the Smart List in the sidebar → Hide Completed Tasks to suppress them. Toggle it back on the same way.

Reusable Smart List Recipes

Smart List	Rule
Someday	search → Without Due Date → save (filter on All)
Tomorrow	type: duetomorrow (filter on All)
Next 3 Days	search → Dynamic Range → 3 days → save (filter on All)
Tasks With Any Tag	type: anytag
Untagged Tasks	type: notag
Stalled	inprogress AND !repeat AND created: > 14d
High-priority Today	type: hiprio AND today
Errands Nearby	type: anylocation AND visit
Quick Wins	type: duration plus a duration-based rule in the rule builder
Waiting On	tags: waiting (with a paused-tag toggle if you want them hidden by default)
Recently Captured	created: 2d
Review Inbox	List is Inbox AND Completed is no

Tips

tip

For complex multi-condition rules, build the rule visually using Search Presets in the search options dropdown — then click [+] to save. The keyword syntax is most useful for refining a saved rule, or for typing a one-off that's faster than navigating dialogs.

tip

Soundex is brilliant for everyday "I remember the name vaguely" searches. Toggle it off only when you specifically need exact OR, exclusion, or wildcard searches.

tip

A Smart List is just a perspective. Deleting one never deletes its tasks. Experiment freely.