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The 2Do Window

The 2Do main window is divided into three panels and a few persistent controls. This page is a guided tour of every part you'll touch in day-to-day use.

Anatomy of the 2Do window

Lists Panel (Left)​

The left sidebar contains your Focus Lists at the top — All, Today, Starred, Scheduled, Done, and Inbox — and your real Lists and List Groups below them. The bottom of the panel has a [+] button for creating new lists and list groups. To create a task directly in a list, use the small [+] on that list row or the main new-task button in the toolbar. Show or hide the panel with View > Hide Lists (⌥⌘1). For details on lists, see Lists and List Groups.

Task List (Centre)​

The middle of the window shows the tasks belonging to whichever list (or Focus List, Smart List, or project) is selected on the left. Tasks can be sorted by:

  • Start Date
  • Due Date
  • Priority
  • Tag
  • Manual order Switch sort orders from the toolbar's sort menu, or via View > Sort By. Each list remembers its own sort. The first column of every task row is a checkbox. Click it to mark complete. The right edge of the row shows badges — alarm, priority, tags, action — plus expand/collapse arrows for projects and checklists.

Action Button​

If a task has an attached Action, an action icon appears at the far right of the row. Click it to perform the action — call, message, navigate, search, or open a URL.

Drag Bar​

When you start dragging one or more selected tasks, the Drag Bar appears at the top of the window. Drop the tasks onto it to:

  • Copy the selected tasks.
  • Share via the macOS share menu.
  • Delete in one move.

To move tasks to another list, drag them directly onto that list in the Lists Panel. To schedule tasks with a start date, drag them onto the Scheduled Focus List. To defer tasks or set their due date, drag them onto a date in the Mini Calendar, press D, or choose Task > Defer.... For more, see Multi-Task Actions.

Utility Panel (Right)​

The right panel is contextual. A segmented control at the top switches between modes:

  • Tags — all your tags and tag groups, with counts. Click any tag to filter the Task List.
  • Nearby — a map and a list of tasks with locations. See Nearby and Locations.
note

The Calendar Events view (events shown alongside tasks) is available on iPhone and iPad only — not on the Mac. On Mac, use your calendar app for event planning.

Toolbar​

The top of the window has a customizable toolbar. Common buttons include:

  • New Task / New Project / New Checklist
  • Search — opens the Global Search Bar (⌘F).
  • Sync — manual sync trigger and last-sync indicator.
  • Utility Panel — shows or hides the Tags / Nearby panel.

The Sort Bar below the toolbar handles sorting, scheduled visibility, completed-task visibility, paused-task visibility, and the Focus Filter. You can customize the toolbar via View > Customize Toolbar... like any standard macOS app.

Mini Calendar (below the Lists Panel)​

A compact month calendar lives just below the Lists Panel on the left side of the window. It does more than display the date:

  • Busy-day ribbon — a small ribbon paints on top of any date where a task starts or is due. The more ribbons you see, the busier the day. Future occurrences of repeating tasks also paint ribbons forward, so a glance at the calendar shows you what's coming.
  • Click any day to filter the Task List to tasks due on that day. Click the day again to clear the filter.
  • Click and drag across a range of days to filter to a date range — perfect for "what's due this week?"
  • Drag a task onto a date in the mini calendar to defer it to that date. The task's due date updates automatically.
  • Hold ⌥ (Option) and click any date to create a new task with that day as its due date.

This makes the mini calendar both a navigation surface, a planning view, and a deferral / capture tool — all without leaving the main window.

Learn more.

The Sort Bar​

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

  • Left — the name of the currently selected list. When you click into a project or its sub-task, a small briefcase-shaped button appears here too; clicking it toggles Project View, where the rest of the list collapses and only the project's own tasks are visible (great for distraction-free focus on one plan).
  • Right — Scheduled visibility. Tasks with a start date in the future are hidden from the list by default. Toggle this button to reveal scheduled tasks alongside the rest. See Smart Scheduling.
  • Right — Sort method and direction. A dropdown picks the sort method (Start Date, Due Date, Priority, Tag, Manual). A small arrow next to it flips between ascending and descending order.
  • Right — Focus Filter. A two-part control: a single button toggles the focus filter on or off; the dropdown alongside it picks which conditions to combine. Each list remembers its own focus settings.

The Focus Filter dropdown lets you pick multiple built-in conditions at once — for example, High Priority and This Week — by ticking each option in the dropdown. From then on, a single click on the Focus button switches between your full task list and the focused subset.

Search and Jump Bars​

2Do has four distinct find surfaces — one in the toolbar, and three in-place jump bars triggered by bare-key shortcuts when the matching area has focus:

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

Each is built for a specific kind of "find me this" moment. For the full anatomy, see Search and Jump Bars.

Window States​

  • Full Screen — ⌃⌘F toggles full screen.
  • Always on Top — for floating reference, see Window > Float on Top.
  • Multiple Windows — open additional windows of 2Do via File > New Window, useful for keeping a reference list visible while you work in another.

Customizing the Window​

Most layout details are configurable in 2Do > Settings > Appearance:

  • Font size (Tiny → Massive).
  • Compact vs. comfortable row spacing.
  • Always Light / Always Dark / Automatic appearance.
  • Whether completed tasks stay visible, and for how long.
  • Whether Today includes overdue, starred, or "Still Working On" tasks.
  • Whether Focus Lists show matching sub-tasks separately.
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