Capture tasks from text, images, and documents
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Todoist

    Capture tasks from text, images, and documents

    Ever walked out of a meeting with notes scattered across three different apps, or snapped a quick photo of a whiteboard before someone erases it? Todoist can take all that unstructured content and turn it into actual tasks – pulling out dates, priorities, and more so you don’t have to.

    Whether it’s bullet points from your meeting notes or that grocery list your partner scribbled on a napkin, just paste or upload it into Quick Add and Todoist handles the rest.

    Note

    Task Capture Assist is in beta: available to everyone without opting in, but it may still change. Learn more about beta and experimental features.

    How it works

    Extract tasks from text or files

    1. Open Quick Add.
    2. Click the + button to open the More actions menu.
    3. Select Extract tasks….
    4. Type or paste text, attach a file, or both.
    5. Click Add task(s).

    Note

    Review the preview before confirming. You can edit a task, remove one you don’t need, or add another manually. Nothing is added to Todoist until you confirm.

    Extract tasks from text or files

    1. Open Quick Add.
    2. Tap the + button to open the More actions menu.
    3. Select Extract tasks….
    4. Type or paste text, attach a file, or both.
    5. Tap Add task(s).

    Note

    You can edit or remove a task in the preview before confirming.

    Extract tasks from text or files

    1. Open Quick Add.
    2. Tap the + button to open the More actions menu.
    3. Select Extract tasks….
    4. Type or paste text, attach a file, or both.
    5. Tap Add task(s).

    Note

    You can edit or remove a task in the preview before confirming.

    What you can capture

    Text input

    Paste anything – formatted text, bullet points, content from emails, or notes from other apps. Up to 25,000 characters at once.

    Images

    Upload JPEG, PNG, or WebP files up to 10MB and 4000×4000px. Photos of typed text or clear handwriting work best.

    Note

    Image capture reads tasks that are already written in the image, such as a to-do list, meeting notes, or an agenda. If the image has no actionable tasks, you will see a message that no tasks were found.

    Documents

    Upload PDF, MD, or TXT files up to 10MB. You can process one file at a time, optionally combined with instructions.

    Instructions

    Add instructions to tell Todoist what to pull from your text or file, or add extra tasks of your own alongside it. For example, attach a meeting agenda and add “Only extract the action items assigned to me.”

    No tasks found?

    Task Capture Assist looks for deliverables in text, files, and images. For example, handwritten to-dos, meeting next steps, or actions buried within a chat discussion.

    If no tasks are found, the input was usually processed successfully but didn’t contain anything obvious to do. URLs, receipts, and objects normally produce no tasks, because they show information rather than ask you to do something.

    To turn these inputs into tasks, try adding instructions alongside. For example:

    • “Add a task to pay this invoice before it’s due”
    • “Add a task to review the page in this URL”
    • “Add a task to fix this broken table leg”

    What gets extracted

    See the table below for a list of supported and unsupported attributes:

    Supported attributesUnsupported attributes
    Task nameSub-task
    DescriptionCustom reminder
    Date and time
    Project
    Priority
    Section
    Label
    Deadline
    Duration
    Assignee

    Quick tip

    To get the best results with images, use good lighting and get close enough that text fills most of the frame. Photos of whiteboards, handwritten notes, and typed documents all work – just make sure the text is clear and legible.

    Privacy and security

    This feature runs on Todoist Assist. When using text and file capture, your input is processed securely and is not shared with third parties or used for training AI models. We may temporarily store usage data on our own secure servers to debug and improve the product. Todoist is SOC2 Type II certified, with enterprise-grade security and privacy controls. Check our privacy policy for more details.

    Comparison with other capture methods

    Text/File capture vs. Ramble

    Ramble captures your spoken thoughts in real-time – you talk, it transcribes, and creates tasks as you go. Text and file capture works with content you’ve already gathered. Both help you dump unstructured information into Todoist quickly, just in different ways.

    Use Ramble when you’re brainstorming or want to talk through your thoughts. Use text and file capture when you’ve got existing notes, photos, or content from other sources.

    Troubleshooting

    Feature not showing up?

    Make sure you’re on the latest version of Todoist for your platform. No opt-in is required for beta features.

    Tasks not being recognized properly?

    • For text: Try using bullet points or numbered lists for better recognition
    • For images: Keep the file under 10MB. Make sure the text is sharp and legible.
    • For handwriting: Results may vary depending on clarity – typed text generally works better.

    Share your feedback

    We invite you to use the thumbs-up and thumbs-down in-app icons when using text or file capture to share your feedback with us.

    If you’ve tried all the troubleshooting steps in this article and are still facing issues, get in touch with us.