Managing your Outlook Tasks from your iPhone or iPad - and a couple of apps that help

If you are a user of the Outlook app on your Windows computer or Mac, you may also be a user of the Tasks aspect of Microsoft's Outlook app.

Outlook's Tasks functionality allows you to manage your 'to do' list, set reminders, flags, priorities and more.

I must say that, even on my Mac, I do prefer to use Outlook's Tasks instead of Apple's Reminders app for managing my 'to do list'. There are just so many more options for sorting, filtering and editing.

Another big advantage of Outlook's Tasks, as discussed in this separate article from iTandCoffee, is that you can quickly create a task that includes the full content of an email - making management of email follow-ups so much easier.

How do I see and manage my tasks/reminders on my iPhone, iPad or other smartphone/tablet?

What many people don't realise - especially if they have the combination of an Apple Mobile device and a Windows computer - is that the Tasks that they create in Outlook on a Mac or Windows computer can be available on, and managed from, any number of other devices - including Apple iPhones and iPads.

I so often speak to people who believe that, because they are storing their tasks in Outlook on a Windows computer, then there is no compatibility with their iPhone or other devices.

If you have an Exchange or Outlook email account, the Tasks that you create in the Outlook app are stored in this email account. This means they are 'cloud-based' and can be accessed from any other device.

On the iPhone or iPad, when you sign in to your Outlook/Exchange account in the Password and Accounts ​area in Settings, you turn on access to the Outlook Tasks by enabling the Reminders setting. You also choose what other aspects of the account you want to use - Mail, Contacts, Calendar and Notes.

When I did this on my own iPhone (as shown in the below images), I immediately saw my Tasks list from my Exchange account appear in the Reminders app, along with the Reminder lists that I have in my iCloud account (see the fourth image below).

This means that I receive alerts on my iPhone for any reminders that I have created from the Outlook app on my Mac or Windows computer.

The reminders I create with Siri on my iPhone appear in Outlook Tasks on my computer!

I am a big user of Siri for the creation of Reminders. The ability to quickly set reminders during my busy day really allows me to stay on top of things.

It is essential that I then see those Siri-created reminders in my list of tasks/reminders in the Outlook app on my Mac or Windows computer.

So that this can happen, I have set up my iPhone so that, when I use Siri to create a new Reminder, the reminder always goes into my Exchange account's Tasks list.

I do this from my iPhone/iPad Settings app, from the Reminders option. I tap on the Default List option and choose the applicable list (in my case, called Tasks) in my Exchange account, as shown in the images below. 

Then we get to the issue of managing tasks/reminders on the iPhone & iPad

While I am a huge fan of using Siri to create Reminders on the iPad and iPhone - and rely on these Reminders to manage my busy day - I am not a big fan of the standard Reminders app. It is a very basic app that does not provide much in the way of flexibility or features.

I use a combination of two other Apps to manage my reminders/task list from my iPhone. Both are well worth checking out, although the first does come at a cost.

Fantastical 2 ($7.99)

One app I use is Fantastical, which combines my tasks/reminders and calendar in a single app, so that I can see my To Do list for each day, listed with my events and appointments for the day.

However, what Fantastical doesn't show me is my 'flagged email' reminders from Outlook. 

​Neither does it include any attachments that may have been associated with an email that I used to create a Task.

Microsoft To-Do (free)

A recent addition to my iPhone is Microsoft's To-Do app, which 'plugs the gaps' left by my other Reminders apps.

​To-Do allows me to look at and sort my list of tasks in several ways.

It show the full content of a task, including any attachments.

​It also includes my flagged emails and, for those where I have set a reminder date, allows me to sort by the reminder date.

Need help with any of this?

iTandCoffee in Camberwell can offer assistance with a huge range of technology issues and topics - relating to both business and personal use of your devices. Helping you to be more productive and organised - and empowered - is our aim, regardless of your level of experience with technology.

Contact us on [email protected] or 1300 885 420, or book an appointment at itandcoffee.com.au/appointment-request.