Move an item to another list

A move puts a task, a note or an item onto a different list. It is the same thing afterwards, with the same title, body, conversation and history, shown with the properties of the list it lands on. Turning a task into a note, filing a task on the list you keep for a trip, and bringing it back are all the same move.

How to move something

On the Mac and in the browser, every move goes through one menu. Right click a row, or press the ⋯ on an open task, and pick Move task (Move item on any other list). The destinations start with Tasks, then your own lists in the order the sidebar shows them, then the lists people shared with you. The list pill on an open item opens the same menu, and so does ⌘K: press ⌘P with an item selected and the palette opens on the destinations.

Dragging works too. Drag a row from any layout onto a list in the sidebar, onto the Tasks row, or onto a list under Favorites or Shared with me, and the list it will land on lights up. Select several rows and drag them together, and they move as one act. On the Tasks page with Show tasks from all lists on, a row dropped on a list's pill moves there, and on a board grouped by List, a card dropped into another list's column does the same.

On your iPhone, press and hold a row and pick Move task or Move item, or tap the list pill on the open item. The destinations are in the same order as on the Mac.

You can also ask your operator: "move the dentist task to Health", or "turn this into a note", which moves it onto the Notes list. An agent connected to your account moves items the same way, with a preview first (what an agent can do).

What travels with it

Everything the item is stays with it: its title, its body, its attachments, its conversation with the operator, its version history, its favorite, and when it was created and last edited. Its id stays too, so a link to it keeps working wherever it sits.

Its status and due date ride along even onto a list that has no Status or Due date property. They are not shown there, and a reminder rings only while the item sits on a list that keeps a Due date. Move a task onto Notes and back, and its date and its status are exactly where you left them. A copy of its property values is kept in its version history before the move, so the move is recorded like any other edit.

The moved item lands at the top of the destination, in that list's own layout and view (what a list is).

Values the new list has no property for

Each value follows its property: first a property with the same id, then one with the same name and type, and a select option by its label (properties). A value with nowhere to go is dropped, and only after you say so. Mara moves a book from her reading list, which has Rating and Genre, onto Tasks, which has neither. Before anything happens, Roma asks: "Moving Night Train Atlas to Tasks drops some of its values. Its values for Rating (1) and Genre (1) will be dropped. Tasks has no property for them, so they cannot come along." Move anyway moves it, Cancel leaves it where it is. On the iPhone the question reads "Move Night Train Atlas to Tasks? Rating, Genre have no place on that list and will be dropped." For a selection, the counts are summed per property, so "Rating (6)" means six rows lose a rating. The operator asks the same question before a lossy move, and an agent receives a preview and has to acknowledge the loss before anything moves.

Moving into or out of a shared list

A move can change who sees the thing, so Roma asks when it does. Into a shared list: "Move this task into Trip planning? Trip planning is a shared list. Anyone with access to it will be able to view and edit this task." Out of a shared list onto one of your own: "Stop sharing this task?", because everyone in that list loses access and the shared conversation goes with them. If you had shared the task on its own as well, those people keep their access, and the question says so.

Into a shared list someone else owns, the item changes hands: it becomes theirs, and the Event Log records who gave it and who received it. A member of a shared list can move an item out of it, and it becomes theirs. Someone you shared a single task with cannot move it, because the filing stays with the owner (share a list).

Questions people ask

Does moving a task to Notes lose its due date?

No. The status and the due date ride on the item itself, not on the list, so they survive a move onto a list that has no Status or Due date property. They are not shown while the item sits there, and its reminder does not fire until it is back on a list that keeps a status and a due date. Move it back and both are exactly as you left them.

Can I move several tasks at once?

Yes. On the Mac and in the browser, select the rows, then drag them onto a list in the sidebar or pick Move task from the menu, and they move as one act with one set of questions for the whole selection. A value the new list has no property for is counted across the selection, so the question says how many rows lose it.

Can I undo a move?

On the Mac and in the browser, ⌘Z moves the item straight back as long as nothing else changed it in the meantime. Later, moving it back by hand is the same move in the other direction, and the Event Log keeps the line that says where it came from.

Why does Roma ask before moving?

Roma asks in two cases only. When the destination has no property for some of the item's values, because those values would be dropped. And when the move changes who can see the item, because it goes into a shared list or leaves one. A move between two of your own lists whose properties line up asks nothing and happens at once.