Excel sheet for to do list

Whether you have to plan an event or manage a project, a to do list helps you set priorities and track your progress. By listing out all the necessary steps in one place, you can break down your goal in small, bite-sized chunks and organize your time accordingly. 

In this article, you’ll find nine to do list templates in Excel. We’ll walk you through the steps to creating your own to do list with checkboxes in Excel and the most common uses for a to do list template.

We’ve also provided to do list templates in Smartsheet, a spreadsheet-inspired work execution platform that makes managing to do lists more collaborative and real-time than Excel.

You start your day. Plan some tasks. Write it down somewhere and start working on it.

When it’s way past your work time, you think about that to-do list (stare at it if you have it written) and curse the world for not having enough time in the day.

Sounds familiar?

If you are nodding your heading in agreement, you – my friend, are suffering from an acute condition of expanding-to-do-list.

Well, I am neither a brain doctor nor a self-help guru. I can not help you in overcoming procrastination and getting your work done.

BUT…

I can give you an Excel To Do List template that can handle your ever-expanding list (you will still have to make one and do all the work).

Jokes aside, I do believe it is helpful when you maintain a to-do list. I create one every morning, and on some lucky days, I also get the pleasure of checking off most (if not all) the items.

Excel To Do List Templates (Free Download)

Here are the four Excel To Do List templates you can download:

1. A Simple printable Excel To-do List.
2. To-do List with drop downs to mark a task as complete.
3. To-do List where you can check a box to mark a task as complete.
4. To-do List where you can simply double to mark the task as complete.

Excel To Do List Template #1 – Printable To Do List

This one is for people like me.

I like to print my to-do list and stick it right in front of my eyes and then work on the items on the list.

Here is a simple Excel template where you can fill the tasks and take a print-out. If you prefer writing the tasks yourselves, simply print it first and then fill in the tasks.

There is a separate column to mention date and comments (if any). If you don’t need it, delete these columns before printing.

Download simple printable to-do list template

Excel To Do List Template #2 – With Drop Down List

If you prefer making and maintaining the To Do list in Excel itself, you are in for a treat.

Here is an Excel To Do List template where you can:

Additional Notes:

• The weights are given as follows (in the pic below). If you want to change the weights, you can easily do it by changing these values. In the download file, columns G to J are hidden. Unhide it to change the weights.
• To calculate progress using the progress bar, we calculate:
  • Total Score: Add all the weights for all the activities. For example, if there are 2 high priority tasks and 1 medium priority task, and 1 low priority task, the total score would be 14 (5+5+3+1).
  • Completed Score: Here we add all the weights for all the activities that are completed. For example, if out of 4 activities, 1 high priority activity has been completed, then the Completed Score would be 5.
  • % Completed: The value when we divide Completed Score with Total Score. For example, in the above case, it would be 35.7% (5/14).

Download to-do list with drop-downs

Excel To Do List Template #3 – With Check Boxes

This template is exactly like the one with drop downs, with a minor difference – it has checkboxes instead of the drop-down.

You can mark the task as complete by checking the checkbox. If not checked, it is considered incomplete.

Here is how you can use this Excel To Do List Template:

NOTE: Be careful while adding deleting rows. Deleting a row does not delete the checkbox.

Download to-do list template with checkboxes

Excel To Do List Template #4 – Double-click Enabled

I find this version of the template the best of all.

It uses a small VBA code to enable the double click event where you can mark a task as completed by simply double-clicking on it. As soon as you double click on the cell, it automatically inserts a checkmark in that cell.

NOTE: Since this contains a VBA code, it should be saved in .XLS or .XLSM format.

Here is how you can use this Excel To-do List Template:

Download Excel Template To Do List #4 – Double Click Enabled

NOTE: Since this template contains a VBA code, when you open it, Excel will show a prompt to enable content. You need to enable it for this to work.

So here are 4 Excel To-do list templates that I find useful and often use while planning my work.

Common Use Cases of Using these To-do list templates

While I have shown you the example of common daily tasks, you can use these to-do list templates in many different ways.

Here are some use cases that come to my mind:

1. Project Management Checklist: Since a project can have many moving parts to it, creating a daily or even weekly/monthly to-do lists can help you keep a tab on all the important stuff.
2. Client onboarding checklist: You can create a quick client onboarding checklist and hand it over to your sales/customer executives. This will make sure a client gets a seamless and complete onboarding experience.
3. Grocery checklist: While it may sound weird to create one in Excel, I have seen people do this. This has become more useful now that we can order stuff groceries online in a few minutes.
4. Event Management Checklist: Event management can get crazy and out of control if not planned well. A handy to-do list can save you (and others) a lot of time and money.
5. Travel Itinerary and Packing checklist: I love to keep my traveling hassle-free by having a to-do list of stuff that needs to be done (bookings, visa, tickets, etc). You can also create a packing list to make sure you don’t leave important stuff behind.
6. Blog Publishing Checklist: I have created a to-do list to make sure I don’t miss out on the important parts when publishing a blog post on this site. These tasks include doing grammar and spell-check, making sure titles are correct, images are present, tahs and categories are assigned, etc.

What goes into making the Excel TO DO List template?

There is no rocket science at play here. Simple Excel techniques come together to make it happen.

Here are the components that make these templates:

• Conditional formatting (to highlight a row in green when a task is marked as completed).
• Strikethrough Format (appears when a task is marked as completed).
• Excel Drop-down Lists (to show the status in the drop-down).
• Check Boxes (to mark a task as complete by checking it).
• VBA (to enable double click event).
• Excel Charting (to create the progress bar).

I hope these templates will help you become more productive and save some time.

I am sure you also have tons of To-do list success/failure stories and I would love to hear it.  I am waiting in the comment section 🙂

Other Excel Templates You Might Like:

• To Do List template Integrated with Calendar in Excel
• Task Prioritization Matrix Template in Excel
• Shared Expense Calculator in Excel
• Employee Timesheet Calculator
• Vacation Itinerary and Packing List Template
• How to Make an Interactive Calendar in Excel?

The human mind is a powerful thing. 

But sometimes, it can suddenly blank out! 

Like forgetting to note down the grocery items missing in your pantry or the project changes your client wants by the end of the day. 

While our brain can do quite a lot, sometimes relying on our memory isn’t always the best way to keep track of our tasks. 

That’s why a to-do list in Excel can be helpful. 

It helps you break down your tasks into different sections on a single spreadsheet, which you can view at any time. 

In this article, we’ll cover the six steps to create a to-do list in Excel and also discuss a better alternative that can handle more complex requirements the easier way. 

Let’s roll!

What Is a To Do List in Excel?

A to-do list in Microsoft Excel helps you organize your most essential tasks in a tabular form. It comes with rows and columns to add a new task, dates, and other specific notes.

Basically, it lets you assemble all your to-dos on a single spreadsheet. 

Whether you’re preparing a move-in checklist or a project task list, a to-do list in Excel can simplify your work process and store all your information. 

While there are other powerful apps for creating to-do lists, people use Excel because: 

• It’s a part of the Microsoft Office Suite people are familiar with
• It offers powerful conditional formatting rules and data validation for analysis and calculations
• It includes an array of reporting tools like matrices, charts, and pivot tables, making it easier to customize the data

In fact, you can create Excel to-do lists for a wide range of activities, including project management, client onboarding, travel itinerary, inventory, and event management. 

Without further ado, let’s learn how to create a to-do list in Excel. 

6 Simple Steps To Make a To Do List in Excel

Here’s a simple step-by-step guide on how to make a to-do list in Excel.

Step 1: Open a new Excel file

To open a new file, click on the Excel app, and you’ll find yourself at the Excel Home page. Double-click on the Blank Workbook to open a new Excel spreadsheet.

If you’re already on an Excel sheet and want to open a new file:

• Click on the File tab, which will take you to the backstage view. Here you can create, save, open, print, and share documents
• Select New, then click on Blank Workbook

Want an even faster route?

Press Ctrl+N after opening Excel to create a Blank Workbook. 

Your new workbook is now ready for you. 

Step 2: Add column headers

In our Excel to-do list, we want to track tasks and keep an eye on the progress by adding the column headers: Date, Task Name, Target, Status, and Comments. You can enter the column headers across the top row of the spreadsheet. 

These column headers will let anyone viewing your spreadsheet get the gist of all the information under it.  

Step 3: Enter the task details

Enter your task details under each column header to organize your information the way you want. 

In our to-do list table, we have collated all the relevant information we want to track:

• Date: mentions the specific dates
• Task Name: contains the name of our tasks
• Target: the number of task items we aim to complete
• Status: reflects our work progress 

You can also fix the alignment of your table by selecting the cells you want and click on the icon for center alignment from the Home tab. 

Step 4: Apply filters

Too many to-dos?

Use the Filter option in Excel to retrieve data that matches particular criteria. 

All you need to do is select any cell within the range of your data (A1-E11) > Select Data > then select Filter.

You’ll see drop-down lists appearing in the header of each column, as shown in the image below.

Click on the drop-down arrow for the column you want to apply a filter.

As shown in our to-do list table below, we want to apply the filter to the Status column, so we’ve selected the cell range of D1-D11.

Then, in the Filter menu that appears, you can uncheck the boxes next to the data you don’t want to view and click OK. You can also quickly uncheck all by clicking on Select All.

In our to-do list, we want to view only the Open tasks, so we apply the filter for that data.

After you save this Excel file, the filter will be there automatically the next time you open the file.

Step 5: Sort the data

You can use the Sort option in Excel to quickly visualize and understand your data better.

We want to sort the data in the Target column, so we’ll select the cell range C1-C11. Click on the Data tab and select Sort.

A Sort Warning dialog box will appear asking if you want to Expand the selection or Continue with the current selection. You can choose the latter option and click on Sort. 

The Sort dialog box will open where you have to enter the:

• The column you want to Sort by
• Cell values you wish to Sort on
• Order in which you want to sort the data

For our table, we have chosen the Target column and kept the order from smallest to largest. 

Step 6: Edit and customize your to do list

You can edit fields, add columns, use colors and fonts to customize your to-do list the way you want.

Like in our table, we’ve highlighted the Status column so anybody viewing can quickly understand your task progress. 

And voila! ✨

We’ve created a simple Excel to-do list that can help you keep track of all your tasks.

Want to save more time? 

Create a template from your existing workbook to keep the same formatting options that you generally use while making your to-do lists.

Or you can use any to-do list Excel template to get started instantly. 

10 Excel To Do List Templates

Templates can help keep your workbooks consistent, especially when they’re related to a particular project or client. For example, a daily Excel to-do list template improves efficiency and enables you to complete your tasks sooner. 

Here are a few Excel to-do list templates that can help improve efficiency and save time:

1. Excel project management task list template

Download this project management task list template.

2. Excel inventory list template

Download these inventory list templates.

3. Excel action item list template

Download this action item list template. 

4. Excel simple to-do list template

Download this simple to-do list template.

5. Excel bill paying checklist template

Download this bill paying checklist template.

6. Excel weekly assignment to-do list template

Download this weekly assignment template.

7. Excel prioritized to-do list template

Download this prioritized to-do list template.

8. Excel homework to-do list template

Download this homework to-do list template.

9. Excel to-do list with deadlines template

Download this to-do list with deadlines template.

10. Excel project task list template

Download this project task list template.

However, you can’t always find a template that will fulfill your specific needs. 

Additionally, data management in Excel is prone to human error. 

Each time a user copy-pastes information from one spreadsheet to another, there is a greater risk of new errors cropping up into successive reports. 

Before you commit to Excel to-do lists, here are some limitations to consider. 

3 Major Disadvantages of To Do Lists in Excel

Even though widely used, Excel spreadsheets aren’t always the best option for creating your to-do lists. 

Here are the three common disadvantages of using Excel for to-do lists:

1. Lack of ownership

When multiple individuals work on the same spreadsheet, you’re unable to tell who’s editing. 

You might end up repeating a task in vain if a person forgets to update the Work Status column in shared to-do lists after it’s done.

Additionally, people can easily alter task details, values, and other entries in the to-do lists (intentionally or unintentionally). You won’t know whom to hold accountable for the error or change! 

2. Inflexible templates

Not all of the Excel to-do templates you find online are reliable. Some of them are extremely difficult to manipulate or customize.

You’ll spend forever on the internet to find one that works for you.

3. Manual labor

Making to-do lists in Excel involves a significant amount of manual labor. 

It may take you quite some time to fill out your to-do items and create an organized system.

This doesn’t sit well with us because tons of project management tools can save you so much time and effort by creating and managing your to dos.

Moreover, the complexity increases with the increasing size of data in your Excel file. Naturally, you’d want a substitute to streamline your to-dos to track them and reduce the monotonous, manual work involved. 

And honestly, Excel is no to-do list app.

To manage to-dos, you need a tool that’s specifically designed for it.

Like ClickUp, one of the highest-rated productivity and project management software that lets you create and manage to-dos with ease.

Related Excel guides:

• How to create a Kanban board in Excel
• How to create a burndown chart in Excel
• How to create a flowchart in Excel
• How to make an org chart in Excel
• How to create a dashboard in Excel

Create To Do Lists Effortlessly With ClickUp

ClickUp can help you create smart to-do lists to organize your tasks. 

From adding Due Dates to setting Priorities, ClickUp’s comprehensive features let you create and conquer all your to-dos!

How?

One word: Checklists! 

ClickUp’s Checklists give you the perfect opportunity to organize your task information so you never miss even the smallest of details. 

All you need to do is click on Add beside To Do (you can find it within any ClickUp task), then select Checklist. You can name your Checklist and start adding the action items. Easy!

Checklists within ClickUp give your tasks a clear outline. Apart from noting down the essential details, you also get subtasks to break down your tasks further. 

You can also arrange and rearrange the checklist items with the easy drag-and-drop feature. 

Worried about some tasks getting overlooked?

With ClickUp, you can add Assignees to your specific to-dos to see things through. 

It also lets you reuse your favorite Checklist Templates to scale your work efficiency. 

To choose a template:

• Click Add from the To Do section of any task
• Click Checklist to reveal your options
• Choose a template and select Use Template

Still hung up on Excel? That’s okay.

ClickUp’s Table view can help you move on.

But our Table view isn’t a mere matrix of rows and columns. 

You can visualize your data clearly and create Custom Fields to record almost anything from task progress to file attachments and 15+ other field types.

Moreover, you can easily import your ongoing project details into ClickUp with our Excel and CSV import options!

But wait, that’s not all!

Here are some other ClickUp features that’ll make you forget Excel in an instant:

• Assign Task: assign tasks to one or Multiple Assignees to quicken your pace of work
• Custom Tags: effectively organize your task details by adding Tags
• Task Dependencies: help your teammates understand their to-dos concerning other tasks by setting Dependencies
• Recurring Tasks: save your time and effort by streamlining repetitive to-dos
• Google Calendar Sync: easily sync your Google Calendar events with the ClickUp Calendar view. Any updates in your Google Calendar will automatically reflect on ClickUp too
• Smart Search: search Docs easily and other items that you’ve recently created, updated, or closed
• Custom Statuses: denote the status of your tasks, so the team knows at which stage of the workflow they currently are
• Notepad: jot down ideas quickly with our portable, digital Notepad
• Embed view: declutter your screen and add the apps or websites alongside your tasks instead
• Gantt Charts: track work progress, assignees, and dependencies with a simple drag and drop functionality (check out this Excel dependencies guide)

Tame Your To Do Lists With ClickUp

Excel may be a decent option for planning daily to-dos and simple task lists. However, when you work with multiple teammates and tasks, Excel might not be ideal for what you need. Collaboration isn’t easy, there’s too much manual labor, and no team accountability.

That’s why you need a robust to-do list tool to help you manage tasks, track deadlines, follow work progress, and foster team collaboration. 

Fortunately, ClickUp brings all of this to the table and so much more. 

You can create to-dos, set Reminders, track Goals, and view insightful Reports.

Switch to ClickUp for free and quit wasting all that brainpower on simple to-do lists! 

Download our free To Do List template to help you, your team, your family, or your organization. This template is already set up for auto filtering so that you can group the tasks by date, priority, status, etc. You also use the auto sort buttons to list the tasks in order by date, priority, etc. It is easy to print, so it’s nice for people who like to check off or scribble out tasks by hand.

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You can also use this to do list for a team project. For example, you can use the Owner column for assigning a specific person a task, and then email the spreadsheet, or use it collaboratively to keep track of your tasks and due dates.

Description

This printable To-Do List helps you get organized. It is highly customizable and requires only basic spreadsheet knowledge to edit or customize. It can be adapted for your personal use or used collaboratively in a team environment.

Update 1/9/17: When you select «Completed» from the Status column, a conditional formatting rule makes the font color in that row change to gray.

Related To-Do List Templates

Help Using the To Do List Template

The Vertex42™ To Do List template allows you the flexibility to use whatever codes, scales, or abbreviations you want for each of the columns. You can also delete one or more of the columns if you do not need it.

How to Use Autofilter and Sort in Excel

To edit the conditional formatting rules in this worksheet, go to Home > Conditional Formatting > Manage Rules and select «This Worksheet» from the drop-down. Learn more about conditional formatting.

In version 1.1.0, I added a few dynamic ranges that are used to populate the customizable drop down lists used for the Status and Priority columns. You can customize the items shown in those columns of the To Do List by editing the values in the Lists or Ref worksheet.

Status: You can enter values such as «Completed» or «In Progress» or abbreviations that you define yourself. You might also use this column to enter the percentage complete such as «50%» or «75%.» Note: If you change «Completed» to something else, you may also want to edit the conditional formatting rule in the table.

Priority: You might want to use a 3-, 5-, or 10-point numeric scale for this column, where 1 is the highest priority. Currently, the Priority column uses conditional formatting to highlight «High» red and «Low» blue.

PICK: This is an acronym that stands for Possible, Implement, Challenge, or Kill. See the PICK Chart page for more information about this useful lean six sigma technique. If you don’t need this column, just delete it.

Due Date: Enter values in date format. If the due date is earlier than today’s date, the conditional formatting condition will make the date red and display a red dot icon. If the due date is today, a yellow warning icon is shown. If you’d like the yellow warning icon to show up if a task is due within 3 days (including today), you can update the rule for the icons by going to Home > Conditional Formatting > Manage Rules. Choose the Icon Set rule and click on Edit Rule. Change the formula for the Green dot to =TODAY()+2.

Owner: The person assigned to this task, or the person responsible for seeing that this task is completed.

Project/Task: A short description of the task to be completed.

Notes: Add notes for more clarity or special instructions, comments about sub-tasks completed, problems, etc.

More To Do List Templates

• Gantt Chart Template by Vertex42.com — For larger, more complicated projects, a gantt chart can be a great tool for creating a task-based project schedule.
• To Do List Templates by Vertex42.com — Make sure to check out our other to do lists.

Love it or hate it, Excel is still an impressive piece of code. For over 30 years, spreadsheets have been the go-to tool for all kinds of projects, from not-so-exciting accounting & budgeting to AutoShape art or… flight simulators. But in today’s article, you’ll learn something different. Here’s how to create an Excel to-do list, complete with checkboxes, task sorting, and more.

Table of Contents

1

🤔 What Is a To-Do List in Excel?

We bet that creating an Excel to-do list wasn’t one of the “typical” use cases for the app Charles Simonyi—the brain behind Microsoft Excel—envisioned back in 1987.

But Excel’s columns, rows, and cells turn out to be a solid match for to-dos. Even if they’re not the most straightforward to set up. To make a to-do list in Excel you’ll need a few things:

• ☑️ Form Controls to insert checkboxes into a sheet.
• 🗂 Data Filtering to organize and filter tasks by their status.
• 🔠 Data Validation to define data entry rules for cells.
• 🎨 Conditional Formatting to change the appearance of cells.

All the components are here. All you need to do is figure out how to hack those features together (Dr. Frankenstein would approve). The good news is we’ve done the heavy lifting for you.

🏗 How to Create an Excel To-Do List (Step-by-Step)

Create a Blank Excel Workbook

Ok, this is an easy one. Your to-do needs a comfy space where it can grow long and lush. Here’s how to create a new Excel workbook with an empty sheet inside it:

1. Open Excel and select Blank Workbook from the list
   • You can also use the ⌨️ ⌘/Ctrl + N shortcut.
2. Right-click the default Sheet1 at the bottom if you want to Rename your spreadsheet.

💡 Excel To-Do Tip #1: At this stage, you should also enable the Developer Tab that will let you add checkboxes to tasks later on. To do that, go to File ➡ Options (Excel ➡ Preferences if you're using a Mac) ➡ Ribbon & Toolbar, and check Developer under Main Tabs.

Organize Your List into Columns

It’s time to organize your blank sheet into labeled columns. Adding task parameters is a great way to add context to to-dos. It’ll also let you sort tasks down the road.

You can format your to-do list manually or use the Format as Table option in the Home tab. But first, let’s add a few headers to those freshly minted columns. Here are a few ideas:

1. ☀️ Date Added
2. 🔠 Description
3. 🗓 Due Date
4. ⏰ Time
5. 🚥 Status
6. 🚩 Task Priority
7. 🗂 Category
8. 📝 Comments/Notes

With that out of the way, let’s add a touch of color. Select the rows and columns of your soon-to-be to-do, click Format as Table in the Home tab, and choose one of the available styles.

Experiment and add your own parameters but keep things low-key. After all, you don’t want to scroll through dozens of columns to complete a task, especially using a mobile version of Excel.

Trust us, it’s not fun.

💡 Excel To-Do Tip #2: You can apply conditional formatting to cells so their color changes depending on how important a task is. Try assigning each task a priority on a scale of 1-3 and select one of the available Conditional Formatting options from the drop-down menu.

Enable Data Validation

Data validation lets you define the type of data you can enter into a cell.

Limiting your choices may seem counterintuitive. But it’s actually much easier to fill in details like task status using simple drop-down lists. Follow the steps below to enable data validation:

• Select all cells in the Status column
• Go to the Data tab ➡ right-click Data Validation.
• Under Allow, choose List from the drop-down menu.
• Choose the Source and click Ok to confirm.

💡 Excel To-Do Tip #3: Try enabling data validation for other columns in the sheet. For example, the Task Category can include options like “Work” and “Personal.”

Add Checkboxes to Your Tasks

What good is a to-do list if you can’t “check” ( or “tick”) completed tasks? We’ve already enabled the Developer tab in the previous steps so you can now add checkboxes to the spreadsheet.

• Go to the Developer tab ➡ click ☑️ Checkbox.
• Select the cell where you want to add the checkbox.
• Resize the checkbox and place it in the center of a cell.
• Drag the fill handle to duplicate the checkbox across all tasks.

And that’s it! 🥳

👎 Disadvantages of Using Excel For Managing Your To-Do Lists

Excel Is Not a To-Do List App

Let’s make one thing clear.

It’s not that an Excel spreadsheet CAN’T act as an over-engineered to-do list. Quite the contrary. Excel is a powerful tool, but getting it to work requires a great deal of “figuring it out.”

Need a simple progress bar to check your progress?

Sorry, there’s none. Sure, you can insert a chart and come up with a witty formula to make it somewhat interactive. But the best online to-do apps let you track progress out of the box.

If you want to adapt an Excel spreadsheet to a task that’s not data entry, you need to hack together different features to get the results you’re after. And that’s not really “user-friendly.”

Of course, all that hacking and tinkering comes with a price.

Let’s say you’ve put together a few formulas and macros to power your to-do list. They seem to work just fine, so you get on with your work and forget all about them.

But the moment you start scaling your list, things get messy. The spreadsheet becomes laggy and unresponsive, formulas stop working, and you need to waste time figuring out what’s wrong. If you’ve ever used Excel, that scenario probably sounds all too familiar.

The bottom line is that Excel is NOT a to-do list app. It wasn’t designed to be one and doesn’t even have the basic functionality that’d make tracking tasks easier. And speaking of features…

You Don’t Get Any Dedicated To-Do Tools

Let’s start with reminders.

Excel spreadsheets don’t offer a straightforward way to set reminders out of the box. You can hack this functionality using Data Validation and other methods. But, as is the case with workarounds, it takes time and effort you should spend on getting work done.

Oh, and unless you’re an Excel pro, we wouldn’t put too much trust in those reminders anyway.

If you want to track tasks with multiple dependencies, you’re in for a ride. Unless you want to cram cells full of text, there’s no simple way to add sub-tasks to your to-do lists. Sorry not sorry.

It’s hard to imagine a to-do list that doesn’t use checkboxes or a variation of those.

Adding them to a spreadsheet? It’s possible, but you probably know by now that that’s a rather unintuitive process. That’s unless you love copying, pasting, and resizing. We don’t.

Of course, Excel is completely devoid of any advanced to-do features like drag & drop navigation, cross-linking, or a dedicated mobile app that’d let you easily—we can’t emphasize that enough—check tasks on the go. And it’s unlikely that things will change anytime soon.

Collaboration Is Not Exactly “Smooth”

Collaborative task management has proved its worth during the work-from-home experiment. And it’s still gaining traction as more teams are adopting a fully distributed or hybrid model.

While Excel does offer some collaborative features, they’re pretty limited.

You can’t assign tasks or tell what other people are working on in a straightforward way. There’s also no master view that’d make it easy to track team performance in a high-level overview.

A formula stopped working? Your teammate messed up conditional formatting?

It’s one thing when you make a mistake and your local spreadsheet crashes. But locking 10, 20, or 30 people out of a spreadsheet so you can fix a formula is a massive productivity killer.

And let’s not forget about Excel’s technical limitations. And there are quite a few

For once, Excel isn’t just one app that works across all devices. There are different apps for the web, desktop, and mobile, and not all of them support co-authoring. If you use a version that doesn’t, everybody else in the sheet will get locked out until you’re done with editing.

But hey, we’re not here to create problems but to find the right solutions. 🥳

🐑 Taskade—An Easier Alternative to Creating To-Do Lists in Excel

Creating a reliable to-do list for work and personal errands doesn’t have to be hard.

Erm… as long as you’re using the right tool for the job.

Taskade lets you plan, organize, and keep track of your to-dos the easy way. You don’t have to “hack” anything or create intricate formulas to stay on top of every task. With Taskade, everything works out of the box so you (and your team) can start getting work done in seconds.

Check this short video introduction to see how it works! 👇

But wait, that’s not all.

Taskade packs in a fine roundup of to-do features, including:

• ⏰ Due dates and recurring tasks
• 🦅 High-level overview of project status
• ⌨️ Convenient keyboard shortcuts
• 🔠 Natural Language Processing (NLP)
• 🎨 Text and checklist formatting
• ↕️ Task sorting and drag & drop navigation
• 🔔 Customizable push notifications
• 🔎 Global search, version history, and #hashtags
• 🔗 File uploads, embeds, and attachments
• And much more!

You can easily collaborate and chat with friends, family, and team members by inviting them directly to the Project. Taskade also features dynamic project views that let you instantly transform your list into a board, table, org chart, calendar, and even a mind map!

Taskade syncs your to-dos across all your devices without limits, even in the free plan. Our apps work natively on Mac, Windows, Linux, and mobile (iOS, Android). You can also access your to-dos in a web browser, just in case you somehow forget to bring all your devices for the trip.

“Is that all?” Nope, but we don’t want to bog you down with all the features Taskade offers.

Where’s the fun in that?

Sign up for a free Taskade account and explore the app for yourself. Our free tier includes a ton of options so you can get started quickly without silly limitations.

Oh, and don’t forget to bring your team on board!

👋 Parting Words

Can you create a project task list in Excel? Sure.

Should you? That’s a question you must answer yourself.

If you like to tinker with formulas and macros or spend hours setting things out, you’ll enjoy the process. But if you just want to get work done, you should use a dedicated to-do tool instead.

✋ Before you go… Check these articles next to learn more about the power of lists!

1. History of the To-Do List and How to Get Yours Organized
2. The Power of Checklists in Distributed Teams
3. A Case For Hierarchical Thinking: Solve Complex Problems The Easy Way