Working with tasks

Most task actions start from the row, the expanded card, a swipe, or the context menu. The exact gesture depends on the device.

Use this page when you want to know how to open a task, change it, or understand what happens after a destructive action.

Open and edit a task

On compact task lists, task taps follow your Tap Task Opens setting in Settings under Behavior. This setting is for the compact row layout, not Mac or regular-width iPad task cards.

Choose Edit when tapping a task should start inline title editing. Choose Details when tapping a task should open the details surface first.

Fastest path in compact layout

Use Edit when fast renaming matters most. Use Details when you usually want the full task surface.

To open details from a compact task row:

• set Tap Task Opens to Details
• tap the info button while editing
• long-press the task and choose Details
• swipe right and choose Details

On iPad, tap a collapsed task card to expand it in place. Tap a non-interactive area of the expanded card to collapse it again.

On Mac, click once to select a collapsed task. Click the selected task again, or double-click it, to expand it. Command-click toggles multi-selection.

Complete and reopen

Use the checkbox or checkmark on a task row or card to mark it Done. Use the same control again to reopen it as Not Started.

Completing a task:

• sets the task to Done
• records the completion time
• ends an active focus session for that task
• follows your completion behavior setting
• creates the next occurrence if the task is recurring and another occurrence is allowed

Reopening a completed task clears terminal timestamps because the task is no longer Done or Canceled.

Swipe actions

On iPhone and iPad, task rows have actions on both sides.

Swipe left to reveal Delete. A full left swipe deletes the task.

Swipe right to reveal:

• Details
• Tomorrow
• Schedule
• In Progress, unless the task is already in progress

Swipe actions are disabled while you are editing a title on iPhone, while an iPad card is expanded, during iPad multi-select, and in read-only mode.

Swipe delete changes data

Swipe left exposes Delete. A full left swipe deletes the task, so use Archive or Done when you only want to finish or hide the task.

Use the context menu

Long-press on iPhone or iPad, or right-click on Mac, to open the task context menu.

The active-task menu can include:

• Status
• Defer
• Snooze
• Deadline
• Estimate
• Calendar
• Move to Project
• Tags
• Convert to Project
• Duplicate
• Copy Link
• Open in New Window
• Start Focus on iOS
• Skip This Occurrence for eligible recurring tasks
• Delete

Opening the menu does not change the task. Each action has its own behavior and undo support.

Task fields

A task can hold:

• title
• notes
• checklist items
• When date and optional time
• Deadline and optional time
• estimate
• status
• recurrence
• project
• tags
• linked Calendar event
• Next Action flag when the task belongs to a GTD project

In read-only mode, task cards and detail windows remain inspectable, but interactive editing controls are hidden, disabled, or converted to display-only controls.

Notes, checklists, tags, and metadata

Notes are editable in active tasks. In read-only mode, notes are shown as formatted static text.

Checklist items can be added, edited, toggled, and removed on active tasks. When a recurring task creates a next occurrence, checklist item text is copied, but items start unchecked.

Tags can be added and removed from active tasks. Pinwork normalizes tag names so small casing or spacing differences do not create duplicates.

Metadata chips and bottom actions let you edit project, When, Deadline, estimate, recurrence, and Next Action where those fields apply. A linked task can also show a Calendar chip so you can see that it has an Apple Calendar event.

Duplicate a task

Use Duplicate from the context menu, floating action bar, keyboard shortcut, or batch action bar.

Duplicate copies:

• title
• notes
• When
• Deadline
• estimate
• project
• tags
• Next Action flag

Checklist items are copied but reset to unchecked.

Duplicate clears:

• Calendar link
• snooze
• rollover state
• started, completed, and canceled timestamps
• parent recurring-instance link

Waiting and Someday/Maybe statuses are preserved. Other statuses become Not Started. Recurring templates keep recurrence, but generated recurring instances do not.

Single duplicate actions are undoable.

What does not copy

Duplicate intentionally clears calendar links, snooze state, terminal timestamps, and generated recurring-instance links so the new task starts clean.

Copy a task link

Use Copy Link to copy a Pinwork deep link for the task.

This does not change the task. Paste the link into notes, messages, automation tools, or another app so you can jump back to the task later.

Reference tasks from anywhere

A copied task link works in Pinwork notes, Apple Notes, Reminders, calendar event descriptions, and Shortcuts actions that open URLs.

Open in a new window

On iPad and Mac, use Open in New Window to open a task in its own detached window when the system supports multiple scenes.

On Mac, a task with a project can also show Open Project in New Window.

Convert a task to a project

Use Convert to Project when a task has grown into a larger piece of work.

Pinwork creates a new project from the task, can turn checklist items into subtasks, and then deletes the original task after conversion.

The new project can use the task title, tags, status mapping, notes, and metadata notes for original due date, schedule, and estimate.

Recurring tasks cannot be converted.

Pinwork asks for confirmation first. The conversion is undoable, including the original task, created project, and created subtasks.

The original task is removed

Convert to Project creates the project and subtasks, then deletes the original task as part of the conversion. Use undo if you converted the wrong task.

Delete an active task

Deleting an active task removes it from the active task list. This is not the same as archiving it.

If the task has a linked Calendar event, Pinwork attempts to remove that event too.

Single active-task deletion is undoable right away. Batch deletion pushes a batch of delete undo actions.

Delete is not archive

Deleting an active task removes it from the active task list. Completing or canceling a task is what makes it appear in Archive.

Archive and restore

Archive is status-based. Tasks appear in Archive when their status is terminal:

• Done
• Canceled

Archive rows are read-only for normal task editing, but you can expand them for inspection.

From Archive, you can restore a task:

• Restore to Inbox makes it Not Started and clears its When date.
• Restore to Today makes it Not Started and schedules it for today without a time.

Restore clears completed and canceled timestamps. Restore is undoable when the current session allows undo.

Delete permanently

Archived tasks can be deleted permanently from Archive.

Permanent delete removes the task from the database. If the task has a linked Calendar event, Pinwork attempts to remove that event too.

Permanent delete asks for confirmation and cannot be undone.

Permanent means permanent

Use permanent delete only when you are sure you no longer need the archived task. This action cannot be undone.

Read-only mode

If access is locked, you can still browse task lists, open task cards, inspect details, and view archived tasks.

Changes are blocked, including:

• add
• edit
• complete or reopen
• delete
• duplicate
• schedule or defer
• drag reschedule
• batch actions
• most task shortcuts

When a blocked action is attempted, Pinwork opens the access screen instead of changing data.

Related

• Scheduling a task: When, Deadline, defer, snooze, and recurrence.
• Calendar: linked Apple Calendar events.
• Workflows: projects, tags, optional GTD mode, and Review.
• Automation: keyboard shortcuts, Shortcuts, deep links, and AppleScript.