Introduction to Goals

Warning

Goals will be removed from Todoist on 13 July 2026. After this date, your linked tasks will remain in your projects, but Goals will no longer be accessible. If you want a record of what you were tracking, take a screenshot before then, or use Claude or ChatGPT to export the data.

What to use instead of Goals

Goals helped you capture the “why” behind your work and track progress toward it. You can do both with features built into every project:

To add context and capture the “why”: use project descriptions and section descriptions (all plans).
To track progress automatically: use Project Insights, now available on Pro as well as Business. On Business, Project Health also factors in your project and section descriptions when assessing how a project is going.

Read the full update in our changelog.

Projects are the “how”. They organize your tasks and keep your work on track. Goals are the “why” – outcomes you’re working toward. Link tasks from any of your projects to a goal and get a single view of everything contributing to what matters most, with progress tracked automatically as you work.

Enable Goals

Warning

Goals isn’t available on the Pro Legacy plan.

To turn Goals on:

Go to Settings > General.
Turn on Experimental features.
Goals appears in the left sidebar.

You can pin or unpin Goals from the sidebar at any time in Settings > Sidebar.

Create a goal

Start by deciding whether your goal is personal or for your team.

Personal goals are private, so only you can see them. You can create up to 10. For example: complete a certification course, launch a side project, or prepare for a job interview.

Team goals are visible to everyone in your team workspace. You can create up to 50 team goals per team. For example: launch the Q3 roadmap, complete the annual handbook review, or onboard a new team member.

To create a goal:

Click Goals in the left sidebar.
Click Add goal.
Select Personal or Team.
Enter a name, optional description, and deadline.
Optionally, select a Responsible person (team goals only).
Click Create goal.

Link tasks to a goal

You can link tasks to a goal at any time, whether you’re creating the goal or coming back to it later.

Note

When you edit a goal, a suggestion chip may appear recommending tasks to link. You can use it or dismiss it.

From a task:

Open a task.
Click Goal in the task details panel.
Select a goal.

Using the multi-select toolbar:

Select multiple tasks by holding Shift or Ctrl/Cmd and clicking each one.
Click Goal in the multi-select toolbar.
Select a goal.

From a project or section context menu:

Click the three dots icon on a project or section.
Select Add tasks to Goal.
Select a goal.

This links every current task in the project or section to the goal at once. Tasks added later won’t be linked automatically – you’ll need to link new tasks manually using one of the methods above.

Note

Personal goals connect to your personal tasks, and team goals connect to your workspace tasks. You can’t link a personal task to a team goal, or a workspace task to a personal goal.

How progress is calculated

Your goal’s progress percentage is based on how many linked non-recurring tasks you’ve completed. Link 10 tasks, complete 4, and your goal shows 40% progress. It updates automatically each time you check off a linked task.

Goals vs. projects

Projects organize your work. Goals define what you want to achieve.

A project is a container for tasks, the “how.” A goal is an outcome you’re working toward, the “why.” A project lives in one place, but you can link tasks from any of your projects to a single goal, giving you one view of everything contributing to what matters most.

Quick tip

Use projects to plan and do the work. Use goals to track whether the work is moving you toward what you set out to achieve.

Complete or delete a goal

Complete a goal: Click the pentagon icon in the goal view to mark a goal complete. The goal is checked off but stays visible in your goals list, and linked tasks keep their connection to it.

Delete a goal: Deleting a goal removes the goal permanently and unlinks it from any tasks it was connected to.

Use Goals with AI assistants

Goals works with the Todoist MCP, so you can manage your goals through any MCP-enabled AI assistant, from creating and updating goals to linking tasks and marking them complete.

Find out more:

Known limitations

A few things to keep in mind while Goals is still available:

Auto-linking tasks in a project or section – Auto-linking tasks within a project or section, or linking an entire project or section to a goal, isn’t supported. To add all of a project or section’s current tasks at once, use its menu, then link any new tasks manually.
Viewing completed tasks within a goal – Viewing completed tasks within a goal isn’t available.
Reordering goals – You can’t change the order of your goals manually.

Troubleshooting

Goals isn’t showing in my sidebar

Enable experimental features first. Go to Settings > General and turn on Experimental features. If it still doesn’t appear, check that Goals is pinned: go to Settings > Sidebar and make sure Goals is turned on. If it’s still missing, make sure your app is updated to version 10552 or later.

I can’t find the Goal option on a task

The Goal option appears in the task details panel when you open a task on web. Make sure you’re viewing the full task panel and that experimental features are turned on.

Some tasks are grayed out when I try to link them

Tasks in restricted (private) projects in a team workspace can’t be linked to goals. Set the project to team access to link those tasks.

A button isn’t responding, or I’m getting an error

Update your app to the latest version, then log out and back in. If the issue continues, contact our support team.

Goal tools aren’t showing in my AI assistant

After connecting, refresh the connector. Go to Customize > Todoist connector > Refresh tool list.

Get in touch

If you have questions about Goals or the new features replacing it, get in touch with us.