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Microsoft has renamed the task-management surface in Teams. If an older guide tells you to install Tasks or Tasks by Planner and To Do, look for Planner instead. The current Planner app combines personal tasks, assigned work, flagged Outlook emails, basic Planner plans, premium plans, Loop plans, and tasks from Teams meeting notes.

This guide shows how to add Planner to Teams, use its task lists, create personal or shared plans, add a plan to a channel, and turn a Teams message into a task.

What happened to the Tasks app in Teams?

The old Tasks experience is now presented as Planner in the current Microsoft Teams interface. The name change affects the instructions you follow, not the basic purpose of the tool: you can collect tasks, organize work into plans, assign tasks to people, and track progress.

Search for Planner when adding the app. The current app includes these main areas:

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  • My Day — a short list for today.
  • My Tasks — personal tasks, assignments, flagged emails, and an all-in-one list.
  • My Plans — plans and task lists available to you across Microsoft 365.
  • New Plan — creates a personal or shared plan.

How to add Planner to Microsoft Teams

  1. In Teams, select View more apps in the left navigation.
  2. Search for Planner.
  3. Select Add.
  4. To keep the app visible, right-click Planner in the left navigation and select Pin.

To use Planner in its own window, select Open in new window.

If Planner does not appear in the search results, your organization may have disabled the app. In that case, contact your Microsoft 365 or Teams administrator.

Use My Day for today’s work

My Day is a temporary daily view. Planner automatically adds tasks due today from My Tasks and personal plans. You can also add tasks manually when you want to focus on them today.

My Day clears itself every night. This does not delete unfinished tasks. The original task remains in its source plan or task list and can be added to another day later.

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This distinction matters: My Day is a daily work list, not a separate storage location for your tasks.

Understand the My Tasks sections

Select My Tasks in Planner to see the task lists available to you.

Section What it contains
Private tasks Tasks you create before placing them in a plan.
Assigned to me Tasks assigned to you from meeting notes, basic and premium plans, Loop components, and shared To Do lists.
Flagged emails Outlook emails you have flagged as tasks.
All A combined view of Private tasks, Assigned to me, and Flagged emails, with filtering and sorting.

Private tasks

Use Private tasks for work that does not yet belong to a shared plan. After creating a task, open its More actions menu to organize it into a plan.

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Assigned to me

This view gathers assignments from several Microsoft 365 sources. It is useful when you need one list of work assigned to you instead of opening every plan or meeting note separately.

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Flagged emails

Flag an email in Outlook and it can appear in Flagged emails. Select the task’s attachment to open the related email.

All

All combines the three sections above. Use its filter and sort controls when you need to narrow the list by attributes such as status, date, or source.

Create a personal or shared plan

  1. In Planner, select New in the left navigation.
  2. Choose a blank plan or an available template.
  3. Enter a plan name.
  4. Optionally select or enter a Microsoft 365 group.
  5. Complete the creation process.

Leave the Microsoft 365 group field blank to create a personal plan. Select or provide a group to create a shared plan.

Some templates and plan features are premium and require a premium license. Basic plans offer these views:

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  • Grid
  • Board
  • Schedule
  • Charts

Premium plans can include Grid, Board, Timeline, Charts, People, Goals, and Assignments. Availability can depend on the premium license assigned to you.

Add Planner to a Teams channel

A channel tab makes a plan available alongside the channel’s conversations and files. Use the current tab path below rather than older instructions referring to “Tasks by Planner and To Do.”

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  1. Open Teams.
  2. Select the team and channel where you want the plan.
  3. Select Add a tab at the top of the channel.
  4. Select Apps, then choose Planner.
  5. Select Save.
  6. Choose Create a new plan or Add an existing plan.

An existing plan must be shared with the channel or with the Microsoft 365 group associated with that channel. If the plan is personal or belongs to an unrelated group, it may not be available to add.

Create a task from a Teams message

Turn a message into a task without copying its text manually.

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  1. Hover over the Teams message.
  2. Select ….
  3. Select More actions.
  4. Select Create Planner task.
  5. Use Create in to choose the destination.
  6. Complete the task details and select the option to create it.

If you choose Private Tasks, you can edit the task name, priority, due date, and notes in the dialog.

If you choose a plan, the dialog provides more fields, including the task name, priority, due date, notes, progress, bucket, and assignment. You can also choose to post a reply in the chat about the new task.

This workflow uses Teams menus and buttons. There is no command syntax to type.

Assign tasks and know the collaboration limits

A task can be assigned to up to 11 people. Every assignee sees the task in Assigned to me.

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There is an important completion rule for multi-person tasks: if any assignee marks the task complete, it becomes complete for all assignees. Create separate tasks when each person must report completion independently.

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Removing someone from a basic plan does not necessarily remove their ability to view or edit tasks already assigned to them. To restrict that person’s access, unassign them from every task assigned to them.

Planner notifications in Teams

Teams activity-feed notifications can appear when another person:

  • Assigns a task to you.
  • Assigns an urgent task to you.
  • Changes the urgency of a task assigned to you.
  • Changes progress on a task assigned to you.
  • Removes you from a task.

These notifications are available in Teams desktop and the Teams mobile app.

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Show Planner assignments in Microsoft To Do

Planner assignments do not appear in To Do unless the relevant settings are enabled. Turn on both:

  • Assigned to me under Smart lists.
  • Planner under Connected apps.

The settings path depends on your device:

Client Path
Windows To Do Select your name, then Settings.
To Do for iOS or Android Select the menu icon, then your name.
To Do or Outlook on the web Select Settings, then To Do Settings.

If the Planner connection option is missing, a missing Planner license may be the cause. Some users can view or interact with plans without having a Planner license, but that does not guarantee that every Planner-to-To Do connection feature will be available.

From To Do, you can edit a Planner task’s name, checklist items, due date, description under Add a note, and whether it is added to My Day. For other changes, open the task in Planner by selecting Planner under the due date.

Microsoft is updating the To Do instructions for the new Planner experience. Users in GCC, GCC High, or DoD environments should continue using the older instructions supplied for those environments.

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Why can’t I edit an app-powered task?

App-powered tasks are currently documented as a public-preview feature. They have a distinct app-powered-task icon in Planner.

Their fields are read-only. You cannot directly change the dates, reassign the task, or mark it Completed. The organization’s configuration updates these fields automatically. If you need to change one, use the connected app or process that created the task rather than trying to edit it in Planner.

FAQ

Is the Tasks app in Teams now called Planner?

Yes. In the current Teams experience, search for and add Planner. Older Microsoft documentation may refer to the same surface as Tasks or Tasks by Planner and To Do.

How do I add Planner to Microsoft Teams?

Select View more apps, search for Planner, and select Add. Right-click Planner afterward and select Pin if you want it to remain in the left navigation.

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Does clearing My Day delete tasks?

No. My Day clears every night, but unfinished tasks remain in their original plan or task list.

Can I add an existing Planner plan to a Teams channel?

Yes. In the channel, select Add a tab, choose Apps, select Planner, and save. The existing plan must be shared with that channel or its associated group.

How many people can be assigned to one Planner task?

Up to 11 people. All assignees see the task in Assigned to me, and completing it by any one assignee marks it complete for everyone assigned.

Why is Planner missing from Teams?

Your organization may have turned off the Planner app. Contact your Teams or Microsoft 365 administrator.

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The Bottom Line

For current Teams instructions, replace the old “Tasks” terminology with Planner. Add Planner from View more apps, use My Tasks for a consolidated task list, use My Day for daily focus, and add plans to channels through Add a tab → Apps → Planner. Remember that My Day clearing is harmless, multi-assignee tasks complete for everyone when one person finishes them, and some Planner features depend on your license or organization settings.

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