Microsoft To Do for Task Management: Full Review (2026)

Overview

Microsoft To Do is a free task management app that launched in 2015 as the spiritual successor to Wunderlist (which Microsoft acquired and sunset in 2020). It is built into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem and available on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and web. The app’s purpose is straightforward: give Microsoft 365 users a simple place to capture and organize personal tasks without leaving the ecosystem.

Microsoft To Do is not trying to compete with ClickUp, Asana, or Monday.com. It is trying to be the best free, simple task list for people who already use Outlook, Teams, and Planner. In that specific role, it succeeds.

Key Features for Task Management

My Day is the app’s best feature. Every morning, you start with a clean list and decide what to focus on today. You can pull in tasks from any list, from your flagged emails, or from your Planner assignments. The intentional daily reset forces a prioritization habit that more complex tools often bury under features.

Task creation is simple: name, due date, reminder, repeat schedule, notes, file attachments, and steps (subtasks). Steps are basic, supporting only names and completion checkboxes. There are no custom fields, tags, priority levels, or status columns. You organize tasks into lists and can group lists into list groups.

The Microsoft 365 integration is the primary value proposition. Flagged emails in Outlook automatically appear as tasks in To Do. Tasks assigned to you in Planner sync to To Do. You can access To Do directly from the Outlook sidebar without switching apps. Cortana and Microsoft Teams can create tasks through voice and chat commands. For organizations already on Microsoft 365, this integration eliminates the need for a separate task app.

Smart Lists automatically group tasks by criteria: Important (starred tasks), Planned (tasks with due dates), Assigned to me (from Planner), and Flagged email. These provide filtered views without manual configuration.

Who Should Use Microsoft To Do

Microsoft To Do is the right choice for individuals and teams already invested in Microsoft 365. If you live in Outlook and Teams, having your tasks sync from flagged emails and Planner assignments into a single My Day view saves significant context switching. The app is completely free with no feature limitations, no premium tier, and no upsell pressure.

It is also a strong choice for users who want the simplest possible task list. There are no views to configure, no databases to design, no automations to build. You create a list, add tasks, and check them off.

Who Should Not Use Microsoft To Do

Teams that need any form of project management, workflow automation, or reporting should look elsewhere. Microsoft To Do has no Kanban boards, no Gantt charts, no dashboards, no automations, and no custom fields. Shared lists support basic collaboration but there are no assignee views, workload management, or team analytics.

Users outside the Microsoft ecosystem get little value from To Do. Without Outlook and Planner integration, it is a basic task list that is outperformed by Todoist and TickTick in every category.

Power users who need advanced filtering, multiple views, or rich task metadata will find To Do too limited. There is no way to create custom views, save complex filters, or add information beyond the built in fields.

Pricing

Microsoft To Do is completely free. There is no paid tier, no premium features, and no per user pricing. The app is included with any Microsoft account (free or paid). For organizations on Microsoft 365 Business or Enterprise plans, To Do is part of the existing subscription at no additional cost.

This makes Microsoft To Do the cheapest task management tool on this list by a significant margin: it costs nothing.

Verdict

Microsoft To Do earns a 6 out of 10 for task management. It does one thing well: provide a simple, free task list that integrates deeply with Microsoft 365. My Day is a genuinely useful daily planning feature. But the lack of Kanban views, custom fields, automations, and advanced collaboration keeps it in the “basic personal task list” category. For Microsoft 365 users who need a quick place to track tasks alongside their email, it is perfect. For anyone else, Todoist, TickTick, or ClickUp offer more capability.