CommonNote CommonNote

Turn checklist lines into tasks

Checklist lines in your notes are tasks as they are — they show up in To-dos, the calendar and the project tree without being copied anywhere.

Applies to Web · Mac · iPhone app · notes you can edit

CommonNote has no separate box for typing tasks. A checklist line in a note is the task. Write your to-dos in meeting notes or a lab log and each line appears in To-dos, the calendar, the project tree and the dashboard. Wherever you edit it, you are editing that one line in the original note.

What counts as a task

In the noteIs it a task?
Checklist itemAlways.
Bullet or numbered item with a standalone checkboxYes. The bullet or number stays.
Bullet or numbered item with an @dateYes. See Add due dates with @ for the date syntax.
A line you handed off to someoneYes.
Any other bullet or numbered item, or a plain paragraphNo — so that not every list ends up in your to-dos.

Create a checklist

  • Type [ ] followed by a space at the start of a line. Start with [x] to create an item that is already done.
  • Or press ⌘9, or choose Checklist from the / menu.
  • On a bullet or numbered line, press ⇧⌘9 or choose Checkbox in list from the / menu to give just that line a standalone checkbox.
  • Checklists pasted from UpNote, Apple Notes or Google Docs stay checklists.

What you can do with each line

Hover over the right end of a task line to reveal the :: chip (Open item actions). Click it to open Item actions.

ButtonWhat it does
AcknowledgeMarks that you have seen the line. Click again to remove it.
DoneMarks the task done.
Hand offPasses it to a colleague. See Hand off a task.
Request reviewAsks someone to check it without changing the owner. See Send and answer review requests.
CommentsAdds a comment on this line (⌘⌥M).

Right-click the line for more: Hand off with a memo, Request review…, Toggle acknowledged, Add standalone checkbox (on bullet or numbered lines), Set due date…, Mark as done and, for a line you handed off, View handoff history.

Add progress markers

The marker chips at the top of Item actions attach a tag such as “In progress” to the start or end of the sentence. There are eight built-in markers — In progress, Success, Failed, Retry, Abandoned, Follow-up, Postpone and Delay — and you can create your own (1–12 characters). With several lines selected, markers are applied, and undone, all at once.

Markers are saved as bracketed text in the note itself (for example [진행중], which the app shows as “In progress”). They are separate from a task’s Status on the board — see Manage tasks with statuses and properties.

Completing tasks

  • Click the checkbox, or Item actions → Done.
  • To complete a line that has no checkbox, press ⇧⌥⌘E (Mark done).
  • Turn on Strike through completed lines in View options to cross out finished lines.
  • Tasks you complete today stay in the To-dos list; from tomorrow they move to the Completed tab.

Whose task is it?

By default a task belongs to the owner of the note. If you write a checklist line in someone else’s shared note, it counts as theirs until you hand it off and the recipient accepts. Once a handoff is accepted, the recipient becomes the owner.

  • Add due dates with @Write @tomorrow 3pm at the end of a task line and it becomes the due date in To-dos and the calendar. Dates are worked out in Korea Standard Time.
  • Use the To-dos viewSee tasks from all your notes in one place, sorted by deadline, and add new ones straight to your daily note.
  • Hand off a taskHand one task line from a note to a colleague, with a memo and a due date. They open the original line directly.
  • Manage tasks with statuses and propertiesGive each task a status, drag it across the board, and create the statuses and properties your work needs.