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How to use Filters

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What are Filters?

As your Todoist gets filled up with tasks, finding what you need becomes harder. 

That’s where filters come in handy.

Filters let you create custom views for your tasks based on their name, due date, project, label, priority, date created, and more. It’s a completely customizable way to find the most relevant tasks at any given moment.

For example, to see every task in Todoist without a due date, click on the No due date filter available under Filters in your Filters & Labels.

Users on the Free plan can add up to 3 custom filters.

Get the hang of filters by trying out a few default filters in your navigation pane under Filters & Labels:

  • The No due date filter displays every task in Todoist without a due date.
  • The Priority 1 filter shows you every task in Todoist with priority 1.
  • The View all filter shows you every single task in Todoist in one long list.

How to create, edit, and delete filters

To create a new filter:

  1. In the left-hand panel, select Filters & Labels.
  2. Next to Filters, click the + symbol.
  3. In the Add filter window, type out the name of the filter.
  4. Type in the filter query you want to use (you can find several options listed below in this article).
  5. (Optional) Select a different filter color from the drop-down menu.
  6. (Optional) For easy access to the filter, click the toggle to add it to your favorites.
  7. Click Add to save your filter.

To edit or delete an existing filter:

  1. Right-click on the filter.
  2. Select Edit filter or Delete filter.

To create a new filter:

  1. In the left-hand panel, select Filters & Labels.
  2. Next to Filters, click the + symbol.
  3. Type in the filter query you want to use (you can find all the options listed below).
  4. Select a filter color.
  5. Click Add to save your filter.

To edit or delete an existing filter:

  1. Right-click on the filter.
  2. Select Edit filter or Delete filter.

To create a new filter:

  1. Drag the bottom app bar up your screen. This will open the menu.
  2. Tap Filters & Labels.
  3. Next to Filters, tap on the + symbol
  4. Give your filter a name.
  5. Tap on the paint drop to change the color if you like.
  6. Type in the filter query you want to use (you can find all the options listed below).
  7. In the top-right, tap the checkmark icon to save your filter.
To rearrange your filters, simply drag them to a new place on the list.

To edit or delete an existing filter:

  1. While viewing your filter, in the top-right, tap on the three dots icon.
  2. Select Edit filter.
    • To edit the filter: update your filter and tap the checkmark icon.
    • To delete the filter: in the top right, tap the three dots icon, select Delete Filter, and tap Delete to confirm.

To create a new filter:

  1. In the top-left, tap the < symbol to view the main menu.
  2. Tap Filters & Labels.
  3. Next to Filters, tap on the + symbol
  4. Give your filter a name.
  5. Type in the filter query you want to use (you can find all the options listed below).
  6. Tap on the paint drop to change the color if you like.
  7. In the top-right, tap Done to save your new filter.
To rearrange your filters, simply drag them to a new place on the list.

To edit or delete an existing filter:

  1. While viewing your filter, in the top-right, tap on the three dots icon.
  2. Select Edit Filter.
  3. To edit the filter: update your filter and tap Done.
  4. To delete the filter: at the bottom tap Delete Filter and tap Delete Filter again to confirm.
If your iOS device is using version iOS 13 or above, you can also edit or delete a filter through the filter's context menu.
You can also use filter queries with search. Just type in any query you would use to create a filter in the search field.

How to use logical operators

You can use logical operators to create more elaborate queries. 

Logical operators have operator precedence the same as other operators (relational, arithmetic, etc.). The highest precedence belongs to not, followed by and, and finally by or.

The table below shows the options you can use:

Symbol

What it means

Example

|

OR

today | overdue

&

AND

added by: me & subtask

!

NOT

!subtask

()

Todoist evaluates expressions inside parenthesis first, if they exist.

(today | overdue) & #Work

,

Combine multiple filter queries and display each outcome separably.

due: yesterday, today

Filtering based on due dates

If You Need To

Use This

See all tasks due on that date. For example: May 5, 05/16, August 8, tomorrow, tod, in 10 days, Sunday, Feb 10 2020.

Jan 3

See all tasks that are due before that date. Examples: due before: August 10, due before: 08/13, due before: 6pm.

due before: May 5

See all tasks that are due after that date. Examples: due after: May 16, due after: 09/23, due after: in 3 days.

due after: June 20

See all tasks due within the next four hours and all overdue tasks.

due before: +4 hours

See all tasks that are due this week, up to and including Sunday.

due before: next week

See all tasks with a due date in the current working week.

due before: sat

See all tasks due within the current calendar month.

due before: first day

See uncompleted tasks due yesterday, along with today's task listed below.

due: yesterday, today

See all tasks that have no due date associated with them. Alternative: no due date

no date

See all tasks with a due date assigned to them.

!no date

See all tasks with a due date AND time assigned to them.

!no date & !no time

See all tasks that are overdue. Alternatives: over due, od

Overdue

See all tasks that are overdue and have had a specific time assigned to them along with all tasks due today, but only with due times.

overdue & !no time, today & !no time

See all tasks in your Inbox without a date, followed by a separate 'section' with all your tasks in Todoist that have due dates set, but are not in your Inbox.

#Inbox & no date, All & !#Inbox & !no date

See all tasks due within the next 5 days. Alternative: next 5 days

5 days

See all tasks that have a recurring due date.

recurring

See all tasks that either have a non-recurring due date or no due date at all assigned to them.

!recurring

See all tasks with a due date (no time assigned) and are not recurring.

no time & !recurring

See all tasks due within the next four hours and all overdue tasks.

due before: +4 hours
You can write the date in any of these ways:
  • Specific date: 10/5/2017, Oct 5th 2017
  • Specific date and time: 10/5/2017 5pm, Oct 5th 5pm
  • Relative date: today, tomorrow, yesterday, 3 days (due in the next 3 days), -3 days (due in the past 3 days)
  • Days of the week: Monday, Tuesday, Sunday

Filtering based on priority level

If You Need To

Use This

See all tasks with priority level 1.

p1

See all tasks with priority level 2.

p2

See all tasks with priority level 3.

p3

See all tasks with no priority level (a.k.a. p4).

No priority

Filtering based on labels

If You Need To

Use This

Shows all tasks with the label @email.

@email

Shows all tasks that don't have any labels.

no labels

Filtering based on project, sub-project and section

If You Need To

Use This

See all tasks in the "Work" project and its sub-projects.

##Work

See all tasks in the "School" project and its sub-projects but exclude the "Science" project.

##School & !#Science

See all tasks belonging to sections named "Meetings" across all projects.

/Meetings

See all tasks belonging to the section "Meetings" in the project "Work".

#Work & /Meetings

See all tasks in the “work” project.

#work

See all tasks in the work project and its sub-projects.

##work

See all tasks not assigned to sections.

!/*

See all tasks not assigned to sections (excluding Inbox view).

!/* & !#Inbox

Filtering based on when a task was created

If You Need To

Use This

See all tasks created on that date.

created: Jan 3 2021

See all tasks created more than 365 days ago.

created before: -365 days

See all tasks created within the last 365 days.

created after: -365 days

See all tasks added today.

created: today

Filtering based on keyword(s)

If You Need To

Use This

See all tasks that contain the word email.

search: email

See all tasks that contain web links.

search: research

See all tasks that contain web links.

search: http

See all uncompletable tasks that contain web links. 

search: http & search:*

Filtering in shared projects and assigned tasks

When you search for tasks assigned to or by one of your collaborators, make sure that you use the name the collaborator uses in Todoist. For example, Steve's real name might be Stephen Gray, but if he is listed as "Steve Gray" in Todoist, you should search assigned by: Steve Gray or assigned to: Steve Gray.

By default, Todoist filters will show tasks assigned to others. If you would like to exclude tasks assigned to others in your results you can use the query !assigned to: others.

If You Need To

Use This

See all tasks that have been assigned to others.

assigned to: others

See all tasks Steve Gray assigned.

assigned by: Steve Gray

See all tasks that you assigned to others.

assigned by: me

See all tasks that have been assigned to anyone (yourself and others).

assigned

See all tasks in shared projects.

shared

See all tasks in your Todoist, excluding those assigned to others.

!assigned to: others

The collaborator can be identified by:

  • the person’s email
  • the person’s full name
  • “me” (referring to yourself)
  • “others” (referring to all users other than yourself)

Combining queries to create even more powerful filters

You can combine any of the above searches to get the exact view you need.

For example, the filter query today & p1 will pull up a list of all tasks that are due today that are also marked priority 1.

Here are some ways you can create more specific filters:

If You Need To

Use This

See all tasks that are due today and are also labeled @email (& can be read as “and”).

Today & @email

See all tasks that are labelled either @work or @office ( | can be read as “or”).

@work | @office

See all tasks that are either due today or are overdue and are also in the “Work” project (enclose parts of your query with “()” to create more complex filters).

(today | overdue) & #Work

See all tasks that are not assigned to anyone (! can be read as “not”).

!assigned

See all tasks that are due today but exclude tasks in the "Work" project.

Today & !#Work

See all tasks that are due tomorrow in the “Homework” project but exclude tasks with the @science label.

#Homework & tomorrow & !@science

Using wildcards in filters

To filter for several items with similar characters, you can use a wildcard by placing an asterisk “*” in your search term.

For example, the filter query @*ball will pull up a list of all tasks that have a label that ends with the word “ball”, like @baseball and @football.

Here are a few more examples of how you can use wildcards in filters:

If You Need To

Use This

See all tasks with any label that starts with “home”. For example, @homework and @home.

@home*

See all tasks assigned to anyone whose first name starts with an M and last name is Smith.

assigned to: m* smith

See all tasks from projects which name ends with “work”. For example, #Artwork, #Network, and #Work.

#*Work

See all tasks from sections that have the word "Work" in the name. For example, /Work Meetings, /Work Admin, and /Work Calls.

/Work*

See all tasks that don't belong to any section

!/*

If you need to search for a project which has an emoji in its title, you can use an asterisk to replace the emoji. For example, instead of adding #Welcome 👋 in your query, you can add #Welcome *.

Run multiple filters at the same time

Todoist filters also let you combine searches to create multiple task lists at once. To combine 2 or more searches into one filter, separate each with a comma: “,”.

For example, p1 & overdue, p4 & today will show two task lists, one for the query p1 & overdue and another for p4 & today.

Handy filters to try out

If You Need To

Use This

See all tasks that are overdue or due today that are in the “Work” project. Open this filter when you get to work to get a clear overview of what you need to get done.

(today | overdue) & #Work

See all tasks that don’t have a due date. Useful for a daily/weekly review to ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

no date

See all tasks that don't have a due time.

no time

See all tasks that are due in the next 7 days and are labeled @waiting. Good for proactively identifying roadblocks in your week.

7 days & @waiting

See all tasks created more than 365 days ago. Use this filter to find the tasks that have been gathering dust on your to-do list.

created before: -365 days

See all tasks you assigned to others. Handy for following up on delegated tasks.

assigned by: me

See all tasks assigned to Becky Kane. A quick way to see what Becky’s working on.

assigned to: Becky Kane

See all tasks created by you.

added by: me

See all tasks created by Becky Kane.

added by: Becky Kane

See all tasks in shared projects that haven’t been assigned to anyone. Another good filter to make sure every task is accounted for.

shared & !assigned

See all sub-tasks.

subtask

See all parent tasks.

!subtask

See all tasks. An easy way to get a list of all tasks in every project.

view all

See all tasks due within the next 8 hours, but excludes all overdue tasks. A handy filter to see what's planned for the next 8 hours.

due before: +8 hours & !overdue

See every unscheduled task in your #Work project.

#Work & no due date

See every high-priority task in the next two weeks.

(P1 | P2) & 14 days

See tasks that were created more than 30 days ago. Useful to see if you haven’t forgotten any tasks.

Created before: -30 days

See your tasks with the label @night.

An excellent way to check the tasks for tonight.

Saturday & @night

See every task you’re assigned to in a project. 

#project & assigned to: me

Note: It's not possible to create a filter to display parent tasks that have subtasks. You can only filter subtasks using subtask or tasks that are not subtasks with !subtask.

Special thanks to our Todoist ambassador Leighton Price for providing examples for this article.

FAQ

Can I filter completed tasks?

This is unfortunately not possible at the moment. Sorry! Please follow the guidelines in this article to view your completed tasks.

How are tasks sorted within a filter?

The order in which tasks are sorted in a filter depends on whether it includes due date queries (Today or due after, for example):

  • When using a filter with due date queries: due time > priority > task creation date and time > project ID > task ID
  • When using a filter without due date queries: priority > due time and date > project order > task order within their project.

When filtering by label or priority, I see everyone's tasks. How can I only see the tasks that are assigned to me?

If you want to only view tasks that are either assigned to you or unassigned, and exclude tasks assigned to others, you can use this query: !assigned to: others.

For example, if you wanted to see tasks with the label @work that are not assigned to other people, use: @work & !assigned to: others.

If you only want to see tasks that are assigned to you (excluding unassigned tasks), this filter will help: assigned to: me.

For example, if you wanted to see tasks with priority 1 that are assigned to you, use: p1 & assigned to: me.

Today and Upcoming views don’t show tasks assigned to my colleagues. How can I include them in my view?

The Today and Upcoming views only show your tasks (and tasks in shared projects that aren't assigned to anyone) by default. To include your colleagues’ tasks, you can create a filter and use this filter query: all & today or all & 7 days to view your tasks and tasks assigned to others for the next 7 days.