Stars and Priorities

2Do has two ways to mark a task as more important than others: a Star and a Priority. They look similar, but they're for different jobs. Knowing the difference makes a small but real change to how your task system feels.

The Short Version

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

You can have both on the same task. You'll usually only need one.

Stars in Detail

A star is a binary flag. A task is either starred or it isn't.

Starring a Task

• Menu — Task > Star, a submenu holding Star and Unstar. The same commands sit on a task's right-click menu.
• Keyboard — S (star) and ⌃S (unstar) when a task is selected.
• Task row — the priority button at the right of each row opens a small menu with Star at the bottom.
• Drag a task onto the Starred Focus List to star it: the list shows Drop to Star as you hover, and dropping stars the task.

What Starring Does

• The task appears in the Starred Focus List at the top of the sidebar.
• It can appear in Today too: the Include starred tasks toggle in Settings > Today & Lists, when on, treats every starred task as a Today task regardless of its dates.
• It can be the basis of Smart Filters via type: starred.

When to Star

Stars are best for temporary emphasis:

• "Read these articles before tonight's meeting" — star them in the morning, unstar after.
• "These are the tasks I want to attempt today even though their due dates aren't today" — star a handful, work through them, unstar at end of day.

If you find yourself starring the same tasks every week, they probably deserve a different mechanism: a tag, a Smart List, or a different list entirely.

Priorities in Detail

A priority is one of four levels: None, Low, Medium, High. The priority dot is color-coded and visible on every task row.

Setting a Priority

• In the task list — bare 0 (None), 1 (Low), 2 (Medium), 3 (High) with one or more tasks selected.
• While editing — the bare digits type into text fields, so use ⌥⌘0–⌥⌘3 instead (and ⌥⌘S to toggle the star).
• = / - — Increase / Decrease Priority when the task list has focus.
• Menu — Task > Priority, which lists None, Low, Medium, and High along with Increase Priority and Decrease Priority. The same submenu appears when you right-click a task.

Quick Priority + Star Without Editing

You don't have to enter edit mode just to change priority or toggle a star. A priority button sits at the right of every task row. Click it and a small menu opens with None, High, Medium, Low, and then Star — pick one and the task updates in place. It's two clicks rather than one, but nothing else has to change.

For a long triage session the bare keys are quicker still: select a task, press 0–3 for its priority and S to star it. Combined with Quick Look (Spacebar) for previewing each task as you go, you can work through a brain-dump in minutes.

What Priority Does

• The priority dot is color-coded on every row.
• Sorting by Priority (from the Sort Bar's sort menu) groups tasks by level. High sits at the top by default, then Medium, Low, and finally None; the Sort Bar's direction toggle reverses that order. Turn on Sort starred items above hi-priority in Settings > Today & Lists and starred tasks get their own section above High.
• Smart Filters can match type: hiprio, type: medprio, type: lowprio, type: prio (any), type: noprio (none).
• The Focus Filter includes High Priority and Starred among its conditions, so you can narrow any list to either in one step.

When to Use Priority

Priority is best for stable emphasis:

• "This task is genuinely more important than the others in this project."
• "I want my Today list sorted with the highest-stakes tasks at the top."
• "I need a Smart List of every High priority task across every list."

The High priority level is for things that genuinely belong at the top of the heap. If everything is High, nothing is.

Stars vs. Priorities: When to Use Which

Situation	Use
You want this task in front of you today only	Star
The task is intrinsically more important than its neighbors	Priority
You want a sortable hierarchy of importance	Priority (sort by Priority)
You want to highlight a small handful for the next 30 minutes	Star
You want to filter "show me only the most important"	Priority + type: hiprio
You want a quick "what should I do next?" view	Star + the Starred Focus List

Many people use both: Priority as the long-running label, Star as today's spotlight.

Stars, Priorities, and the Today List

Tasks land in Today primarily through their Due Date (and Duration; see Dates and Durations). The Today List section of Settings > Today & Lists has three switches that widen what else gets in:

• Include overdue tasks — anything past its due date joins Today until you deal with it.
• Include starred tasks — every starred task appears in Today, regardless of dates.
• Include 'Still Working On' tasks — tasks whose start date has already passed stay in Today while you work on them. Turn it off and they only appear on the day they're due.

A task whose duration spills backward into today also shows up there; that's how durations work rather than something you switch on.

If you find tasks "mysteriously" showing up in Today, check those switches first. The dedicated FAQ entry Why are tasks due tomorrow showing in the Today Focus list? walks through the typical causes.

Tips

tip

Use Priority to label what is important and Star to mark what you want to do next. They answer different questions.

tip

A Smart Filter combining both (type: hiprio AND starred) gives you a tight "these are the few high-priority items I'm actively pushing on right now" view.