How to Use Microsoft To Do — and Should You Switch to TaskSite?

How to Use Microsoft To Do — and Should You Switch to TaskSite?

Introduction: Microsoft To Do is one of the most popular task management apps, especially for those in the Microsoft Office ecosystem. It’s a free, cloud-synced to-do list that replaced the old Wunderlist app a few years ago. If you’re new to Microsoft To Do (often just called “To Do”), this guide will help you understand how to use it effectively. We’ll walk through its key features and usage tips. Then, we’ll tackle a common question: Should you switch to TaskSite, and how does TaskSite compare to Microsoft To Do? By the end, you’ll have a clear idea of what each tool offers and how they might fit into your productivity routine.

Getting Started with Microsoft To Do

What is Microsoft To Do? It’s a simple and intelligent to-do list app by Microsoft that helps you manage all your tasks in one place. To Do is available on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and via any web browser, so you can access your tasks anywhere. If you have a Microsoft account (like an Outlook or Office 365 account), you already have access to Microsoft To Do – no separate purchase required.

1. Install or Access the App: On a computer, you can use the web version or install the dedicated desktop app from the Microsoft Store. On mobile, download the Microsoft To Do app from your app store. Sign in with your Microsoft account to sync tasks across devices.

2. Create Your First To-Do List: Microsoft To Do starts you off with a default list called “Tasks” or “My Day.” You can click “+ Add a task” to start entering tasks. For better organization, you might want to create additional lists – for example, a Work list, Personal list, Shopping list, etc. To create a new list, click + New List and give the list a name (like “Project X” or “Groceries”).

3. Adding Tasks and Details: Within any list, add tasks by typing in the task name. You can then click on a task to add more details:

• Due Dates and Reminders: You can set a due date for each task (e.g., the deadline by which it should be completed) and add a reminder notification. Microsoft To Do will then remind you at the chosen time. This is great for things like “Submit report by Friday 5 PM.”
• Steps/Subtasks: Some tasks can be broken into smaller steps. In the task’s detail view, you can add “Steps,” which are like a checklist of sub-tasks. For example, a task “Plan vacation” might have steps like “Book flights” and “Reserve hotel.”
• Notes: There’s a notes section for each task where you can add extra info. You might paste a link or write a brief description here.
• Repeat and Priority: If a task repeats (say a weekly team meeting prep), you can make it recurring. You can also mark important tasks with a star (flagging them as high priority).

Microsoft To Do’s interface is clean and user-friendly, making these features easy to use. For instance, when you select a task, you’ll see icons or fields to set due date, remind, repeat, etc., usually indicated by calendar or bell icons.

4. The “My Day” Feature: A standout feature in Microsoft To Do is My Day, a special list that helps you focus just on tasks for today. Every morning, My Day starts fresh (it doesn’t automatically carry over incomplete tasks from yesterday, which encourages you to plan intentionally each day). You can review your tasks across all lists and choose some to “Add to My Day.” This gives you a daily game plan. It’s a great habit to review your tasks each morning and pick the ones you plan to tackle, moving them into My Day.

5. Integration with Outlook and Microsoft 365: If you use Outlook email or other Microsoft services, To Do integrates nicely:

• Outlook Tasks: Tasks you create in Outlook (for example, flagging an email) can show up in Microsoft To Do. This means if you flag an email to “follow up later,” it becomes a task in your To Do list automatically (in the Flagged Email section).
• Planner and Teams: Microsoft To Do can also surface tasks assigned to you in Planner (a team project management tool in Office 365) or Microsoft Teams. This way, To Do becomes a central place for all tasks assigned to you.
• Widgets and Shortcuts: On Windows, To Do integrates with the Start menu (Live Tiles or Widgets), and on mobile you can add a widget to see your tasks. On Android, for instance, you can have a To Do widget showing your My Day list.

6. Collaboration: Microsoft To Do allows you to share lists with other users. If you have a list (say “House Chores”), you can invite your partner or family member to that list so you both can add/check off items. It’s useful for collaborative lists (shopping lists, team task lists, etc.). Note that all members will need a Microsoft account to participate.

7. Tips for Using Microsoft To Do Effectively:

• Prioritize with Important marker: Mark tasks as Important (starred) to indicate high-priority items. To Do has an “Important” smart list that automatically collects all starred tasks, so you can see key items at a glance.
• Use Categories/Tags: While To Do isn’t heavy on tags like some apps, it does support #hashtags in task titles or notes, which can act as tags. You can search by these tags.
• Stay consistent: Check your To Do every day. Add new tasks as soon as you think of them. Microsoft To Do can only help you if it has your latest tasks in it!
• Complete or reschedule: At the end of the day, review what’s left. If you didn’t finish a task scheduled for today, either mark it to do tomorrow (change the due date) or let it roll into the Planned list.

Microsoft To Do is pretty flexible and covers the basics for personal task management. Many users love its simplicity and the fact it’s free with no ads.

Microsoft To Do: Strengths and Limitations

Before we compare it to TaskSite, let’s summarize what Microsoft To Do does well and where it might fall short:

Strengths of Microsoft To Do:

• Easy and intuitive: The learning curve is minimal. Even if you’re not tech-savvy, adding tasks and organizing lists in To Do is straightforward.
• Deep Microsoft integration: If you use Outlook, Microsoft 365, or Windows, To Do feels like a natural extension. For example, flagged emails turning into tasks can save you time.
• My Day for focus: The My Day feature helps prevent overwhelm by letting you narrow focus to a handful of tasks each day.
• Cross-platform availability: You can access your tasks on almost any device. This ubiquity means your list is always handy.
• Sharing: The ability to share lists makes it useful for small teamwork or family scenarios.

Limitations of Microsoft To Do:

• Basic feature set: To Do covers core task features but lacks some advanced capabilities. For instance, it doesn’t have kanban boards, location-based reminders, or custom status fields that some other apps offer.
• Limited context or automation: It doesn’t automatically organize tasks by context (only by list or due date). You won’t get smart behavior like tasks appearing only on certain websites or any contextual triggers – it’s a manual list.
• Requires sign-in: You need a Microsoft account. While that’s free, some folks prefer tools that don’t force a login or that store data locally.
• Not ideal for complex projects: If you have very complex workflows, you might outgrow To Do and need something like Trello, Asana, or others. To Do doesn’t support attachments on tasks directly (it syncs with Outlook, where attachments can exist) and has no built-in time tracking or detailed analytics.
• No tags or labels field: Unlike Todoist or other competitors, To Do doesn’t have a dedicated labels system. You can use multiple lists or hashtags as a workaround, but it’s not as robust for slicing and dicing tasks in different views.

Overall, Microsoft To Do is excellent for managing personal and work tasks in a straightforward way. It shines if you already live in the Microsoft world. But what if you’re considering switching to something more innovative, like TaskSite?

Should You Switch to TaskSite?

TaskSite is a newer player in the task management space, and it takes a unique approach: it’s a context-aware to-do list, primarily functioning as a browser extension. The key idea of TaskSite is that you can attach tasks (or notes and links) to specific websites, and then those tasks will automatically appear when you visit that site again. It’s like leaving a note on a particular door, so whenever you open that door, you see the note. This is different from Microsoft To Do’s approach of having a central list you must check.

So, should you switch to TaskSite, or can it complement Microsoft To Do? Let’s consider a few points:

Use Case and Workflow: If your tasks largely revolve around specific websites or online activities, TaskSite could be extremely useful. For example, imagine you use YouTube for learning – you might want to jot a task like “Watch tutorial on X” and have it visible next time you’re on YouTube. Or you shop on Amazon and want to remember “Compare price of Y next week.” TaskSite will show that reminder when you return to Amazon. Microsoft To Do, in these cases, would hold the task in a list, but it relies on you to check or remember it at the right time. TaskSite’s context awareness could prevent things from slipping through the cracks because it cues you at the point of need. In psychology, it’s known that context cues improve memory and recall – TaskSite leverages that principle by tying tasks to your context.

On the other hand, if your tasks are more general or not tied to specific websites (for example, “Call the bank” or “Finish writing report in Word”), Microsoft To Do or a similar traditional app works well. TaskSite currently is focused on the browser context, so tasks related to offline activities or non-web contexts wouldn’t pop up automatically (though you can still use TaskSite’s All Tasks view to see everything).

Integration vs. Independence: Microsoft To Do is part of an ecosystem – it integrates with calendar, email, etc. TaskSite is intentionally lightweight: it doesn’t even require a login. It stores data in your browser via Chrome Sync and is very privacy-first. This means if you dislike creating accounts or want a quick way to get started, TaskSite is attractive. However, TaskSite is primarily accessed through the browser extension. If you spend a lot of time in the browser, that’s perfect. If you need a standalone mobile app for tasks when you’re away from your computer, Microsoft To Do (with its mobile apps) might still be necessary. (As of 2025, TaskSite is a Chrome extension, so it works on desktop Chrome and any Chromium-based browsers where you install it. Mobile support may not be as direct unless you use a mobile browser that supports extensions).

Feature Comparison: Microsoft To Do and TaskSite actually complement each other more than they directly compete, because their features diverge:

• TaskSite’s Strengths: context-aware tasks, no disruption to workflow (add tasks with one click without leaving the page), automatic reminders in context, no separate account needed, and a simple interface. It’s great for quick notes and tasks related to whatever you’re browsing. TaskSite also syncs via Chrome to any of your browsers where it’s installed, so you get continuity on multiple computers.
• Microsoft To Do’s Strengths: robust scheduling (due dates, recurring tasks), rich integration in Microsoft products, mobile apps, and a decade of trust and development behind it. It’s better for time-based reminders (TaskSite doesn’t natively do “remind me at 8 AM” – it’s more about remind me when I’m on website X).
• TaskSite’s Limitations: It’s not designed for long-term project planning or managing large task lists across all areas of your life in a single view (though it does have an “All Tasks” dashboard for an overview). It shines in contextual reminders, not necessarily in advanced task hierarchy or team collaboration (at least in the free version). If you need to assign tasks to people or get detailed reports, TaskSite isn’t aiming for that. It’s a personal productivity booster.
• Microsoft To Do’s Limitations: As discussed, it lacks context awareness. If you tend to forget to check your to-do list, then having tasks appear contextually (like with TaskSite) might actually help you more. To Do also requires you to proactively plan (decide due dates or look at lists regularly), whereas TaskSite’s approach is a bit more reactive (when the scenario arises, it reminds you).

Can You Use Both? Absolutely. You might not need to fully “switch” and abandon one for the other. Some people use Microsoft To Do for broad planning and use TaskSite as a supplemental tool for web-related reminders. For instance, you could keep your main project tasks in To Do, but whenever you come across a website that involves a task (“Read this article”, “Fill out this form later when I have info”), you add it to TaskSite. That way, when you visit that site again, you won’t forget. TaskSite basically can serve as a context-specific bookmark manager with to-do functionality. In fact, it merges the concept of bookmarks and tasks — instead of saving a bookmark and hoping you remember why you saved it, you attach a task/note to the page and let it remind you.

Example Scenario – Using Both Tools: Let’s say you’re researching a competitor’s product. You use Microsoft To Do to create a task “Analyze Competitor X features” due next Friday. While browsing the competitor’s website, you note specific pages you need to revisit (pricing page, about page) and questions to answer. Using TaskSite, you add a note on the pricing page: “Compare these prices with our product pricing. (Task: include findings in report).” You also add a task on the competitor’s blog page: “Read this case study for insights.” Now, these specific tasks are tied to those pages. Over the next week, each time you navigate to those pages, TaskSite will show your notes, ensuring you don’t forget to gather that info. Meanwhile, Microsoft To Do is reminding you that the overall task (“Analyze features”) is due Friday. When Friday comes, you open TaskSite’s All Tasks view or just revisit those pages to make sure you covered all context-specific notes. This way, TaskSite handled the in-the-moment reminders and details, and Microsoft To Do handled the big picture deadline.

In short, if you find Microsoft To Do is working fine for you but you sometimes forget tasks that are context-specific, you can try TaskSite alongside it. If you find Microsoft To Do too static or you’re not fully utilizing it, TaskSite might even replace it for a lot of your needs, especially if most of your tasks originate while working in the browser.

Conclusion

In today’s fast-paced digital world, staying organized is less about doing more and more about doing what matters — with clarity, focus, and intention. A thoughtful task management system isn’t just a productivity hack — it’s a way to reduce mental load, prioritize effectively, and maintain momentum without burning out.

Whether you're managing work deadlines, personal errands, or long-term goals, the key is finding a workflow that helps you feel in control, not overwhelmed. The best tools or methods are those that align with how you think, how you work, and what motivates you to take action.

At the heart of any effective task system is simplicity: a place to capture your thoughts, structure your priorities, and return to them when it counts. Once you remove the pressure to remember everything and instead rely on a system you trust, you free up mental energy to focus on execution — not just organization.

Ultimately, progress isn’t about perfection or endless hustle. It’s about having a system that supports your goals, adapts to your rhythm, and helps you move forward with less stress and more purpose — one clear step at a time.