How to Use Natural Language in Todoist (Quick Add Syntax, 2026)
Todoist’s superpower is that you never fill out a form. You type a task the way you’d say it — “Send the invoice Friday at 2pm” — and Todoist reads the date, time, project, label, and priority straight out of the sentence. This is Quick Add with natural language parsing. Learn the handful of symbols below and adding a fully-organized task takes two seconds.
How to Use Quick Add
- Press Q from anywhere in Todoist (or click Add task).
- Type the task and its details in one line.
- As Todoist recognizes each piece, it highlights it and removes it from the task name.
- Press Enter.
Example:
Send the proposal to Sam tomorrow at 9am #Work @email p2Files as: task “Send the proposal to Sam,” due tomorrow 9am, in #Work, labeled @email, priority P2.
The Symbol Cheat Sheet
| Type this | To set | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Plain date words | Due date | today, tomorrow, Friday, next week, Jan 15 |
at + time | Due time | at 3pm, at 17:00 |
every … | Recurrence | every Monday, every weekday, every! 30 days |
# | Project | #Work, #"Client Acme" |
/ | Section (inside a project) | /In Progress |
@ | Label | @email, @quick |
p1–p4 | Priority | p1 (highest) … p4 (none) |
+ | Assign to a person | +Sam (shared projects) |
{duration} | Time block length | for 30 min, for 1h |
You can stack them all in one line, in any order.
Dates Todoist Understands
The date parser is the deepest part. It handles:
- Relative:
today,tomorrow,tod,tmrw,next week,in 3 days,in 2 weeks - Weekdays:
Monday,mon,this Friday,next Tuesday - Specific:
Jan 15,15 Jan,27th,Dec 25 2026 - Times:
at 5pm,at 17:30,noon,midnight - Recurring:
every day,every other week,every 1st,every last day,every weekday at 9am - Deadlines vs. start: add
at [time]for a precise moment
See How to set recurring tasks in Todoist for the full recurrence syntax, including the crucial every vs. every! distinction.
Worked Examples
A recurring timed routine in #Personal:
Take vitamins every morning #PersonalA delegated, high-priority task with a deadline:
Review the contract by Thursday 5pm #Legal @waiting p1 +DanaA quick errand tagged by context:
Buy stamps today @errandsA time-blocked focus session:
Write Q3 report tomorrow at 9am for 90 min #Work p2Escaping the Symbols
Sometimes you want a literal # or @ in the task name (an email address, a hashtag, a price). Two options:
- Wrap the literal text so it isn’t parsed, or type the symbol-bearing word and then click it to keep it as text.
- Add the symbol-laden detail first, then set the date/project last, so the parser doesn’t grab the wrong token.
If a label or project keeps getting created by accident, it’s because the word right after @/# matched the parser — rephrase or move it.
Why Parsing Goes Wrong
A date word got missed. Put the date at the end of the line and spell it plainly (tomorrow, not tmrw eve).
Wrong project created. Typing # followed by a new word creates that project. Pick from the dropdown instead of typing the full new name, or check the suggestion before pressing Enter.
Time zone shifted the date. at 9am uses your account time zone — confirm it in Settings if times land off.
Project/label name has a space. Quote it: #"Marketing Q3". Labels can’t contain spaces at all — use _.
The Fastest Capture Is Still Manual Capture
Quick Add makes recording a task instant — but you’re still the one who has to remember to type it, and then do it. Carly is an AI assistant that connects to 200+ apps including Todoist and can capture tasks from your email, messages, and meetings and act on them for you — so the work shows up organized without you typing it out in the first place.
More on Todoist: How to set recurring tasks in Todoist · How to use filters in Todoist · How to add labels in Todoist · How to use Todoist · Best AI tools for solopreneurs
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