Task lists

Make a task list

Press ⇧⌘T, or choose New Task List in the “+” menu. A task list is its own kind of document, with a checklist icon on its tab; a note never turns into one. It’s saved as Untitled List once it has a task, and you rename it like a note: double-click its tab.

The tab shows your progress, such as Groceries 3/7. Above the tasks, the header shows a summary (3 of 7 done), Clear Completed and Copy as Markdown.

Add tasks

Type in the New task row at the bottom of the open tasks and press Return. The row stays ready for the next one.

• Return in the middle of a task splits it in two; at the end, it adds an empty task after it.
• ⌫ on an empty task deletes it.
• A task is one line: a pasted line break becomes a space. Long tasks wrap to the pane’s width.

Select and edit

A click selects a task. Click it again, or double-click it, to edit it at that spot. While you’re editing, the task’s text sits in a box with a focus ring, so you can tell typing from a task that’s only selected.

• ↑ and ↓ move to the task above or below (through a wrapped task’s lines first).
• Escape stops editing. A second Escape hides the panel.

With a task selected but not being edited:

• Space checks it off, or back on;
• Return adds a task after it (on a done task, it edits it);
• ⌫ deletes it.

Sub-tasks

Tab nests a task under the one above it, one level at a time; ⇧Tab moves it back out. The first task can’t be nested. Deleting a task moves its sub-tasks up a level.

Check off tasks

Click a task’s checkbox, select it and press Space, or press ⌘↩ while editing it. (In a task list, ⌘↩ checks off rather than hiding the panel.)

• Done tasks move to the Done section below, struck through. Click the section’s header to fold it away or show it again.
• Click a done task’s checkbox to reopen it. It goes back to its place in the list.
• When a task and its sub-task end up in different sections, the parent shows in italics above the sub-task, for context. In the open section, its checkbox reopens the parent.
• Clear Completed removes the done tasks. ⌘Z brings them back.

Reorder

Drag a task to move it. Its sub-tasks move with it, and it takes the level of where you drop it. Done tasks can’t be dragged, and tasks can only be dropped among the open ones.

Copy as Markdown

Copy as Markdown, in the header or the tab’s menu, copies the whole list as a Markdown checklist, done tasks included:

- [ ] Pack
  - [ ] Passport
- [x] Book tickets

Export writes task lists the same way, and Import turns a file of nothing but checkboxes back into a task list (see Export and import).

Everything else works like a note

• ⇧⌘O (Open Task List…) finds a task list by name; ⇧⌘F searches tasks too.
• Right-click the tab for Rename…, Duplicate, Copy as Markdown and Move to Trash. A trashed task list waits in Recently Deleted for 30 days, with its tasks.
• The text size follows ⌘= and ⌘-. ⌘Z and ⇧⌘Z undo and redo.
• Editor, Both and Rendered (⌘E) and find (⌘F) are for notes only.