Assign tasks from Google Docs

Tasks in Docs are only available for eligible work or school accounts and you're not currently signed in. Learn more about work and school accounts.

Sign in to your work account

If you're using Google Docs on an eligible work or school account, you can assign tasks to yourself or other users in your domain. Tasks that you assign to a user show up in their personal Tasks list. Learn more about how to work with shared tasks.

Assign a task in Google Docs

1. On your computer, in Google Docs, open a document.
2. In the document, enter @task and press Enter.
3. In the pop-up window, enter the task.
   1. You can also create a task from a checklist.
      1. Choose an option:
         • Select Format Bullets and numbering Checklist.
         • In the document, enter @checklist and press Enter.
      2. Enter a task in the checklist.
      3. To the left of the checklist item, click Add to Tasks . A pop-up window will appear.
4. In the 'Assignee' field, enter the name of the user that you want to assign the task to.
   • You can assign a task to yourself or other users in your domain.
5. Optional: To set a date for the task, click Date and pick a date from the calendar.
6. To assign the task, click Add.

Important:

• When you assign a task to someone, they will receive an email notification that includes your email address. They can view the task in their personal task list and on their Google Calendar if the task has a set date. Learn more about shared tasks.
• Anonymous users can't assign or edit tasks in a Google Doc.

View or edit a task in Docs

1. In Google Docs, open a document with assigned tasks.
   • To view all of the tasks assigned from a document, go to Tools Tasks. Tasks are displayed on the right-hand side of your screen. To scroll to a task in your document, click it.
2. To the left of an assigned checklist item, hover over the icon.
   • If a task has been completed, its title will be crossed out.
3. To edit the task:
   • Title: Type in the checklist item text and press Tab to update. 
   • Assignee or task date: At the bottom left of the task card, click Edit.
     • If you edit the user that the task is assigned to, both the previous assignee and the new assignee will receive an email notification. 

Mark a task as complete in Docs

1. In Google Docs, open a document with assigned tasks.
2. Find an assigned checklist item.
3. Click the tick box in the document.
   • If a task is marked as completed in the document, it'll appear as completed in the assignee's personal task list and they'll get an email notification.

Delete a task in Docs

1. In Google Docs, open a document with assigned tasks.
2. To the left of an assigned checklist item, point to the icon.
3. Click Delete Confirm.

Tips: 

• If a task has been deleted in the document, it won't appear in the assignee's personal task list. If the task hasn't already been completed, the assignee will receive an email notification.
• If a checklist item has been deleted in the document but the task wasn't deleted first, it'll still appear in the assignee's personal task list. To view and delete the task, click Tools  Tasks.

Manage updates to tasks in Docs

On the icon to the left of the checklist item, a blue dot may appear. This can happen when:

• Someone updates the checklist item in the document but doesn't update the task.
• The assignee of a task updates the task title in Tasks but doesn't update the checklist text in the document.
• Someone reverts the document to an earlier version.

To fix the issue and remove the blue dot:

1. Point to the task with a blue dot.
2. At the bottom right of the pop-up window, click Update.

Tip: A blue dot may also appear on a task icon if the assignee updates or deletes the task in their personal task list but doesn't have edit access to the document.

• To fix this, point to the blue dot and click Yes.
• To prevent this, make sure that the assignee has edit access to the document.

Change task notifications

You can change the notifications that you receive for tasks in a document.

1. On your computer, open a Google Doc, Sheet or Slide.
2. In the top right-hand corner, click Open comment history .
3. Click Notification settings .
4. Choose when you want to receive notifications.
   • All comments and tasks: When any tasks are created or changed.
   • Comments and tasks for you: When others reply to tasks or comments that you're added to.
   • None: Never receive emails about comments or tasks for that file.

Related articles

• Get started with shared Google Tasks