Templates in Todoist allow you to quickly recreate your most successful workflows without starting from scratch every time. Browse the library of pre-made templates, or create your own templates that best fit your unique workflow. Whether you’re managing a weekly project review or planning a social media campaign, using templates helps you save time and reduce mental effort.
You can use templates to:
- Replicate successful projects like product launches or event planning
- Track recurring habits such as reviews or monthly fitness goals
- Standardize team processes by sharing templates for onboarding or meeting agendas
- Organize personal lists for travel packing or grocery shopping
Use a pre-made template
Use any of the ready-made templates to kick-start your next project. Here’s how to grab a template to use in a Todoist project:
Ready-made templates are listed under Todoist Suggestions in the template gallery.
To create a project in My Projects from a pre-made template:
- Click the Add icon next to My Projects in the sidebar.
- Click Browse templates.
- Use the search bar to find a specific template, or scroll down to browse template categories.
- Open the template.
- Click Use in My Projects.
To create a project in a team workspace from a pre-made template:
- Click the Add icon next to a folder or project inside your team workspace.
- Click Browse templates.
- Use the search bar to find a specific template, or scroll down to browse template categories.
- Open the template.
- Click Use in [team name]. The button shows your team's name. The new project will be added to that team workspace.
For My Projects:
- Tap Browse at the bottom-right.
- Select Browse Templates.
- Tap the search bar to find a template, or swipe left to browse the different template categories.
- Open the template.
- Tap Copy to My Projects.
For a team workspace:
- Tap the team name.
- Tap the Add icon.
- Select Browse Templates.
- Tap the search bar to find a template, or swipe left to browse the different template categories.
- Open the template.
- Tap Copy. The button shows your team’s name. The new project will be added to that team workspace.
For My Projects:
- Tap Browse at the bottom-right.
- Select Browse Templates.
- Tap the search bar to find a template, or swipe left to browse the different template categories.
- Open the template.
- Tap Copy to My Projects.
For a team workspace:
- Tap the team name.
- Tap the Add icon.
- Select Browse Templates.
- Tap the search bar to find a template, or swipe left to browse the different template categories.
- Open the template.
- Tap Copy. The button shows your team’s name. The new project will be added to that team workspace.
Create a custom template
After adding all the necessary tasks, here’s how to create a project template and add it to the template gallery:
- Open a project from the sidebar.
- Click the three dots icon at the top-right.
- Select Save as template. You’ll see a draft of your template, where you can make any final changes.
- Click Create template.
- Fill in About this template to explain what the template is for and who it’s for. You need this to save the template.
- Change any other details you want, like the name, Project description, color, Access, or Layout. To choose a color, click the icon next to the name.
- Click Add.
Your template is saved in the template gallery. Personal templates appear in My Templates, and templates shared with a team workspace appear under that workspace’s name. To drop the draft instead, click Discard.
- Tap Browse at the bottom-right.
- Tap the three dots icon at the top-right.
- Select a project.
- Select Save as Template. You’ll see a preview of your template.
- Tap Next and add a template description. You can change the template color.
- Tap Save.
Your template is saved in the My templates section of the template gallery.
- Tap Browse at the bottom-right.
- Select a project.
- Tap the three dots icon at the top-right.
- Select Save as Template. You’ll see a preview of your template.
- Tap Next and add a template description. You can change the template color.
- Tap Save.
Your template is saved in the My templates section of the template gallery.
When you save a template, you’ll see two descriptions. About this template explains what the template is for and appears when browsing the template gallery. Project description is optional. If you save a template from a project, it’s filled in with that project’s description. It’s added to every project created from the template, along with any section descriptions.
Upload a template
If you previously saved your templates as CSV files, you can upload them to the template gallery and have them ready to use wherever you use Todoist. Make sure to check if your CSV file matches the supported format.
- Open the template gallery.
- Click Upload template.
- Select the CSV file from your device or drag the file to import your template. You’ll see a draft of your template, where you can make any changes.
- Click Create template.
- Fill in About this template to explain what the template is for.
- Change any other details you want, like the template name, color, Access, or Layout. To choose a color, click the icon next to the name.
- Click Add.
Your template is now saved in the template gallery.
You can only upload CSV files from a computer. Once uploaded, you'll be able to find and use them in the template gallery on any device.
Edit a template
Projects change over time, so you’ll want your template to reflect these changes.
You can edit a template directly, without recreating it.
- Click the Add icon next to My Projects in the sidebar.
- Click Browse templates.
- Click the template you want to edit.
- Click Edit.
- Make your changes. You can add, edit, or remove tasks, sub-tasks, and sections, and change dates, priorities, labels, assignees (team workspace templates only), comments, and attachments.
- Click Save. Changes won’t affect projects already created from the template.
To drop your changes, click Discard. If you leave the page with unsaved changes, you’ll be asked to confirm before they’re discarded.
You can also use Display at the top-right to switch between List, Board, and Calendar layouts, and Access to choose whether the template is Private or shared with everyone in your team.
To change the template’s name, descriptions, color, access, or layout:
- Click the three dots icon at the top-right.
- Select Edit.
- Make your changes.
- Click Save in the dialog.
- Click Save at the top of the template.
To keep the original template and save your changes as a new one:
- Click the three dots icon at the top-right.
- Select Save as new template.
- Check the details.
- Click Add.
Good to know:
- In a team workspace, the person who created a template and workspace admins can edit or delete it. Other members can view and use a shared template, but can’t edit it. Only the person who created a template can change its access.
- To see who last changed a template, open it in the template gallery. The preview shows who created it under Template by, and who last edited it under Last edited by.
- In templates that belong to a team workspace, you can assign tasks to workspace members. When someone creates a project from the template, those tasks stay assigned to the same people. If someone assigned to a task leaves the workspace, the task shows Assigned to User removed, and it’ll be unassigned in projects created from the template. To fix it, open the task in the template, choose a new assignee, and save the template.
You can’t edit a template directly in the iOS and Android apps. To do that, use Todoist on the web or the desktop app.
Import the template, and make the necessary changes to your project. Then, create a new template out of your project with a different project color and name. This helps to distinguish it from the older version. After recreating your template, delete the older one.
Use a custom template
Ready to start using a custom template in a project? Here’s how to apply and use a custom template in Todoist:
To create a new project in My Projects from a custom template:
- Click the Add icon next to My Projects in the sidebar.
- Click Browse templates.
- Open the template you want to use from My Templates.
- Click Use in My Projects.
To create a new project in a team workspace from a custom template:
- Click the Add icon next to a folder or project inside your team workspace.
- Click Browse templates.
- Open the template you want to use from the section with your team workspace’s name.
- Click Use in [team name]. The button shows your team's name. The new project will be added to that team workspace.
Or, from within an existing project in a team workspace:
- Open a project in your team workspace.
- Click the three dots icon next to the project name.
- Select Apply a template.
- Open the template you want to use from the gallery.
- Click Import to project.
For My Projects:
- Tap Browse at the bottom-right.
- Select Browse Templates.
- Open the template in the My Project Templates section.
- Tap Copy to My Projects.
For a team workspace:
- Tap the team name.
- Tap the Add icon.
- Select Browse Templates.
- Open the template in the My Project Templates section.
- Tap Copy. The button shows your team’s name. The new project will be added to that team workspace.
For an existing project:
- Tap Browse at the bottom-right.
- Open a project from the list.
- Tap the three dots icon in the top-right.
- Select Apply my template.
- Tap Browse my templates to view all your templates in the gallery.
- Select your template.
- Tap Import to project.
- Tap Confirm.
For My Projects:
- Tap Browse at the bottom-right.
- Select Browse Templates.
- Open the template in the My Project Templates section.
- Tap Copy to My Projects.
For a team workspace:
- Tap the team name.
- Tap the Add icon.
- Select Browse Templates.
- Open the template in the My Project Templates section.
- Tap Copy. The button shows your team’s name. The new project will be added to that team workspace.
For an existing project:
- Tap Browse at the bottom-right.
- Open a project from the list.
- Tap the three dots icon at the top-right.
- Tap Browse my templates to view all your templates in the gallery.
- Select your template.
- Tap Import to project.
- Tap Confirm.
Delete a template
Need to declutter your template gallery? Here’s how to delete a template that no longer serves a purpose:
You can delete a template from the template gallery or while editing it.
From the template gallery:
- Click the Add icon next to My Projects in the sidebar.
- Click Browse templates.
- Open the template from My Templates, or from your team workspace’s name for a team template.
- Click Delete. You’ll see a warning pop-up.
- Click Delete again to confirm.
While editing a template:
- Click the three dots icon at the top-right.
- Select Delete template.
- Click Delete to confirm.
- Tap Browse at the bottom-right.
- Select Browse Templates.
- Tap a template in the My Project Templates section.
- Tap the three dots icon at the top-right.
- Tap Delete Template. You’ll see a warning pop-up.
- Tap Delete Template to confirm.
- Tap the Add icon beside the team name.
- Select Browse templates.
- Tap a template in the My templates section.
- Tap the three dots icon at the top-right.
- Tap Delete template. You’ll see a warning pop-up.
- Tap DELETE to confirm.
Use templates on a free plan
Some template features depend on your Todoist plan:
- Calendar layout is a paid feature. If you’re on a free plan, projects you create from a template saved in Calendar layout open in List layout, and you’ll see an upgrade prompt if you try to switch a template to Calendar.
- Deadlines, task durations, and other paid features aren’t added when someone on a free plan creates a project from a template that uses them.
Get the most out of templates
Templates are huge time-savers when you find yourself frequently recreating the same project. Here are best practices to keep in mind when using templates in Todoist:
Everything’s in the name
Use consistent naming conventions to make templates easier to find and understand at a glance. For example, if a set of templates are for the Marketing team, you can prepend each template with the letters MK.
Provide context through task descriptions and comments
Rather than working with a blank slate, add descriptions and comments to tasks from the get-go to provide context about the template’s purpose. For example, a new employee will import your department’s onboarding template, and have all the instructions they need to get started right away.
Start right away with task templates
Task templates are made up of just the core tasks and sub-tasks. Create a custom template with just the essentials, then click Apply a template in the project menu to add the tasks to the project right away.
Update your templates regularly
Keep planning as frictionless as possible by editing your templates whenever significant changes happen within the project. Open the template from the gallery, click Edit, make your changes, and click Save.
Share your handcrafted templates with your team
If you created a Todoist team, a well-crafted template can save significant planning time and effort, allowing you to get that project up and running in minutes. Template sharing works in both free teams and Business teams.
To share it with your team members, open your template and click Edit. Click Access at the top-right, choose everyone in your team, and click Save. To copy a shareable link, click the link icon at the top-right of the template preview, or click the three dots icon while editing and select Copy link to template.
Get started
Ready to save yourself hours from recreating the same projects? The template gallery is the best place to start looking for templates that can serve as the foundation for many of your recurring projects. If you’re having trouble adding, editing, or deleting templates in Todoist, get in touch with us.