Due dates! So important, yet so easy to forget.
In Todoist, you can make sure you never miss a thing by adding due dates and/or times to your tasks. You can even create recurring or repeating due dates like “Send Mom a birthday card every July 19” and “Take out the recycling every other Wednesday”.
How to set a due date
The easiest way to add a due date on any platform – desktop, mobile, or web – is to simply type it into the task field along with your task name. The smart Quick Add will automatically recognize the date, highlight it, and add it when you save the task.
You can describe almost any kind of date using natural language –from a simple tomorrow at 4 pm to a super specific repeating due date like every 3rd Tuesday starting Aug 29 ending in 6 months.
Set a date using the scheduler
You can also open the full task scheduler by clicking or tapping on the date field or calendar icon when adding or editing a task on any platform. From there, you’ll be able to manually pick a date from the calendar, or use any of our handy date shortcuts (for example, you could pick Tomorrow, Later this week or This weekend).
To set a due time, click + Add Time in the bottom left.
To add or change the date of an existing task on a phone or tablet, simply swipe from right to left on the task. To set a due time, tap + Add Time at the bottom left.
To add or change the date of an existing task on a phone or tablet, simply swipe from right to left on the task. To set a due time, tap the > arrow in the bottom right and then tap + Add Time at the bottom left.Sometimes, it’s good to know whether a date is already packed with tasks before you schedule a task. To see this, when rescheduling a task using the scheduler, simply type your new due date or select it from the calendar. You’ll see a preview of how many tasks are already booked on that date:
Some examples of date formats you can use
These are just a few of the dates and recurring due dates you can add. If you’re unsure if a particular date format will work, just type it into your task name using natural language to describe it. Chances are, Todoist will know what you mean.
One-time due dates
Type these natural language terms when adding a task in Todoist to schedule the task to the specified date.
| What you type: | What Todoist understands: |
|---|---|
| today | Today (tod also works) |
| tomorrow | Tomorrow (tom also works) |
| next week | The next Monday by default (this can be changed in your Settings) |
| next month | On the same date, one month later |
| jan 27 | Jan 27 (27 jan, 27/1 also work) |
| 01/27/2023 | January 27, 2023 (27/01/2023, 2023/01/27, 2023-01-27 also work) |
| 27th | 27th day of the current month |
| mid January | January 15th |
| end of month | Last day of the current month |
| today at 10 | Today at 10am |
| tomorrow at 16:00 | Tomorrow at 4pm |
| Fri @ 7pm | Friday at 7pm (Friday @ 7pm, Fri at 7pm, Fri at 1900, Fri at 19:00 also work) |
| 6pm | Today at 6pm (unless 6pm has passed, in which case tomorrow) |
| in 5 days | 5 days from today (+5 days also works) |
| in 3 weeks | 3 weeks from today |
| in 2 hours | 2 hours from now |
| in the morning | At 9am |
| in the afternoon | At 12pm |
| in the evening | At 7pm |
| someday | Two months later |
| no date | Useful for quick-adding a task when either the Today View or Upcoming View is active (both default to today's date), but you don't want to set a due date (no due date also works). |
| later this week | Assigns a day later in the week. Changes dependent upon what day of the week it is upon the time of entry. |
| Friday | The next Friday to occur |
| next Friday | The second Friday to occur |
| next weekend | The second-next Saturday to occur |
| this weekend | The upcoming Saturday |
| next year | Jan 1 of next year |
| 27/1 | Jan 27 |
| 3rd friday jan | Converts to the respective date of the third Friday in next January |
| tom morning | Tomorrow at 9am (tommorning also works) |
| tom afternoon | Tomorrow at 12pm (tomafternoon also works) |
| tom evening | Tomorrow at 7pm (tomevening also works) |
| tom night | Tomorrow at 10pm (tomnight also works) |
| 50 days before new year's eve | 11 November (this is particularly useful for setting Reminders) |
| 6 weeks before 21 Jul | 9 June |
| 28 days after 21 July | 18 August |
Recurring due dates
When you need a task to repeat daily, weekly, monthly or on whatever schedule you'd like, you can set a recurring due date. Click here to learn all about how to set recurring due dates like daily, weekly or every 3 months.
Special thanks to our Todoist ambassador Leighton Price for providing some examples for this article.
FAQ
Is there a way to remove a due date using natural language?
Yes. If you type no date or no due date, the due date will be removed when you add or update a task.
Is it possible to change what day Todoist interprets as Next week or This weekend?
Yes, you can do this in your account settings:
- Click your avatar in the top-right corner of Todoist.
- Select Settings.
- Open the General tab.
- Scroll down to the Date & time section.
- Swipe up the bottom app bar to open the menu.
- Tap the gear icon in the top right corner to open Settings.
- Select General.
- Scroll down to the Date & time section.
- Tap the gear icon in the top-right corner.
- Tap Settings.
- Select General.
- Scroll down to the Date & time section.
The due dates I type inline are not highlighted and recognized. What should I do?
Please check if the Smart Date recognition feature is ON, by opening your Settings and going to the General tab.
When rescheduling a task, I sometimes see different options. For example, sometimes I see the option This weekend and other times I see Next weekend instead. Why is that?
When suggesting new dates for a task, the scheduler changes its suggestions based on factors such as the current day's date. For example, the option This weekend will only show up on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, whereas the option Next weekend will only show up on weekend days.
What are the criteria for the color-coding in due dates?
The due dates appear in the following colors:
- Red: overdue tasks
- Green: tasks due today
- Brown: tasks due tomorrow
- Purple: tasks due in the next 2-7 days
- No color: tasks due in 8 days and onwards