Tips to sort & organize tasks

Want to use Google apps at work or school?  Sign up for a Google Workspace trial

On this page

• Sort tasks by date
• Add a recurring task
• Track multi-step tasks with subtasks
• Create separate lists to categorize your tasks 

Expand all  |  Collapse all

Sort tasks by date

If you add due dates for your tasks, you can easily sort them to see which items are coming due soon. Just sort your tasks by date.

Learn how

1. Go to Gmail, Calendar, Chat, Drive, or a file in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides.
2. On the right, click Tasks More .
3. Under "Sort by," click Date.

Add a recurring task

If you have a regular, recurring obligation, add a task that repeats. For example, you might need to send out a weekly read-out to your project team, or submit a monthly expense report. You can have a task repeat every day, week, month, or year.  

Learn how

1. Go to Gmail, Calendar, Chat, Drive, or a file in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides.
2. On the right, click Tasks .
3. Click an existing task or create a new task.
4. To add a date and time, click Date/time.
5. Next to “Date/time,” click Repeat .
6. Under “Repeats every,” select day, week, month, or year.
7. Under “Ends,” select an option to create a recurring task:
   • With no end date, select Never.
   • With a specific end date, select On, then choose a date.
   • That ends after a certain number of occurrences, select After, then select a number of occurrences.
8. Click OK.

Track multi-step tasks with subtasks

If your task consists of several individual things that need to get done, add subtasks. Your subtasks appear indented beneath the main task, and you can check off each item as you get it done.

Learn how

Choose an option:

• Right-click a task and select Add a subtask.
• Under the main task, add a new task and press Ctrl + ] (Windows) or Command + ] (Mac).
• Next to the main task, click Edit  and in the Add subtasks field, enter a task.

To un-indent a subtask, right-click the subtask and click Unindent. You can also click on the subtask and press Ctrl + [ (Windows) or Command + [ (Mac).

Create separate lists to categorize tasks

In addition to your default task list, you can create and name additional lists to categorize your tasks. For example, you might want to track personal tasks in a separate list from work tasks. Or track tasks from separate projects in their own list.

Learn how

Create and name a new list

1. Go to Gmail, Calendar, Chat, Drive, or a file in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides.
2. On the right, click Tasks .
3. At the top, click the Down arrow .
4. Click Create a new list.
5. Enter a name.
6. Click Done.

Switch between lists

1. Go to Gmail, Calendar, Chat, Drive, or a file in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides.
2. On the right, click Tasks .
3. At the top, click the Down arrow .
4. Click the list you want.

Move a task between lists

1. Go to Gmail, Calendar, Chat, Drive, or a file in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides.
2. On the right, click Tasks .
3. Point to the task you want to move.
4. Next to the task name, click Open menu .
5. Click the list name you want to move the task to.

Delete a list

1. Go to Gmail, Calendar, Chat, Drive, or a file in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides.
2. On the right, click Tasks .
3. At the top, click the Down arrow . Then, choose the list you want to delete.
4. Next to "Add a task," click More .
5. Click Delete list.

Learn more at the Google Tasks Help Center

_{Google, Google Workspace, and related marks and logos are trademarks of Google LLC. All other company and product names are trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.}