The complete guide to due dates and start dates in Todoist

Dates in Todoist can sometimes be a bit confusing. Here you will find a complete overview of the date formats and the ways of using dates in Todoist.

Note: I recommend to bookmark this post so that you can easily find it when you are struggling with dates in Todoist.

How to set dates in Todoist

You can set dates in Todoist using the calendar/date selector, or by using natural language.

Todoist will automatically recognize and add due dates as you type them into a task name. This feature is called Smart date recognition. You can turn this feature on or off by going to Settings / General / Smart date recognition.

Disabling Smart date recognition for a single task

Sometimes, Todoist’s Smart date recognition can be a source of irritation. Let’s say the task is “Finish monthly expense report” By the time you type “Finish mon” Todoist will have interpreted this as a task named “Finish” that is due on Monday. To avoid this, press backspace or delete on your keyboard, or tap the highlighted word on your phone or tablet.

Natural language formats

Relative dates

Specific dates

Specific days

Recurring due dates in Todoist

The only way to set recurring due dates in Todoist is by using natural language. I’m tempted to say that your imagination is the limit but to make it easy to get started, I have made some tables below.

Relative numbers

The use of ! (exclamation mark)

Thanks to the tip from Keith in the comment section, I can list a very useful function that was unknown to me: The format Every! will calculate the next occurrence from when you complete the task. Meaning that if you complete the task later than on the first due date, the next occurrence will be calculated from when you completed the previous task.

Specific dates and days

Setting start dates for non-recurring tasks in Todoist

Start dates for non-recurring tasks are actually not supported in Todoist. The dates above are all due dates. You have three options to get around this:

1. Register the start date as the due date. When the task shows up, use the every day until <due date> to make the task repeat until the desired due date.
2. Register the task with due date every day from <start date> to <due date> .
3. Register the task with a due date and set a reminder for the start date.

Start and end dates for recurring tasks in Todoist

Set due dates in Todoist with Smart Schedule

The Smart Schedule function in Todoist is an AI-based function that helps you schedule or re-schedule your tasks. It learns over time, making better and better predictions. To learn more about the Todoist Smart Schedule function, visit this help article from Todoist.

Dates in Todoist filters

For a complete overview of how to make filters in Todoist, please visit the below blog post.

The ultimate guide to Todoist filters

Here you will find everything worth knowing about Todoist filters. Filters are a great tool, both when you need an ...
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Date formats

• Given date: 15.01.2017
• Given date US format: 01/15/2017, Jan 15th
• Given date and time: 15.01.2017 16:00
• Given date and time US format: 01/15/2017 4 pm, Jan 15th 4 pm
• Relative date: yesterday, today, tomorrow
• Due Date: 2 days (due in the next two days), -2 days, (due in the past two days)
• Days of the week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Creation dates

• created:
• created before:
• created after:

Due dates

• due:
• due before:
• due after:
• next X days
• overdue
• recurring
• no date

Filtering on Creation dates

Filtering on Due dates