Learn how to assign to-dos to contacts in Things so you can keep track of what you have other people doing.
Please note that this feature will be deprecated in a future release. We recommend using Tags for contacts’ names instead; this will allow you to filter lists and quickly locate items via search.
The Contacts feature allows you to pin special lists to the sidebar in Things on your Mac. This is intended as a way to simply keep track of tasks you have other people doing: assigning a to-do to a contact in Things does not send that person any information – only you can see what to-dos you’ve assigned to them.
A to-do can only be assigned to a contact on the Mac, but once you’ve done that, the contact’s name will also show inside of that to-do on your iPad or iPhone.
Add a to-do to a contact
You can create a list in Things that bears a contact’s name, and then add to-dos to that list. This feature is independent of the Contacts app (macOS 10.14 and better); you can specify any name you like for a contact. Here’s how:
Mac
- On your Mac, open Things.
- In the menu bar at the top of your screen, click File → Add Contact.
- You’ll see a message about the feature being deprecated; click Add Contact Anyway.
- In the new list, type a name and hit Return.
- Now select a to-do and drag it onto a the contact’s name.
The contact’s name will show on the to-do to help you keep track of who is responsible for that item.
iPad
You can’t assign a to-do to a contact directly on your iPad. However, once you’ve assigned a to-do to a contact in Things on your Mac, the contact’s name will also show inside of that to-do in Things on your iPad.
iPhone
You can’t assign a to-do to a contact directly on your iPhone. However, once you’ve assigned a to-do to a contact in Things on your Mac, the contact’s name will also show inside of that to-do in Things on your iPhone.
Vision
In Things for Vision, please follow the same steps as described in the iPad tab above.
Remove a to-do from a contact
You can remove a to-do from a contact in Things on your Mac. Here’s how:
Mac
- On your Mac, open Things.
- In the sidebar on the left, click the contact’s name.
- Locate the item you want to remove from that contact, and click to select it.
- In the menu bar at the top of your screen, click Items → Remove from Contact.
The contact’s name will be removed from that to-do, and the to-do will no longer show in that contact’s list.
iPad
You can’t remove a to-do from a contact directly on your iPad. However, once you’ve removed a to-do from a contact in Things on your Mac, the contact’s name will also be removed from that to-do in Things on your iPad.
iPhone
You can’t remove a to-do from a contact directly on your iPhone. However, once you’ve removed a to-do from a contact in Things on your Mac, the contact’s name will also be removed from that to-do in Things on your iPhone.
Vision
In Things for Vision, please follow the same steps as described in the iPad tab above.
Delete a contact from Things
You can remove a contact from Things entirely. This will remove that person’s name from all the to-dos that have previously been assigned to it, but it will not delete the to-dos themselves.
Mac
- On your Mac, open Things.
- In the sidebar on the left, right-click the contact’s name, and choose Remove Contact.
The contact’s name will be removed from Things and will no longer show in the sidebar.
iPad
A contact can only be deleted via Things on your Mac.
iPhone
A contact can only be deleted via Things on your Mac.
Vision
A contact can only be deleted via Things on your Mac.