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Edit and Delete a Standalone Task

You can reword a standalone task, change who it is assigned to, move its due date, attach it to a checklist or delete it outright. There are two routes into the same editor: the side panel on the Tasks grid, which works for every standalone task, and the checklist page, for a task that is attached to one.

Before You Start​

  • You must be an Administrator, or a Member with Task.Creator who created the task.
  • To change what the task is attached to you also need Task.Attacher. Editing a task that is already attached does not.
  • Only a standalone task can be edited this way. A task that came from a template is changed on the template — see Save a Template.

Edit a Task From the Tasks Grid​

This route works whether or not the task is attached to a checklist.

  1. Open the Tasks grid and find the task.
  2. Click the chevron in the Open column. The task opens in the side panel.
  3. Click Edit / Delete beside the task name. The panel is replaced by the task's editor.
  4. Change the Task Name, Assign Task, Set Due Date, Task Description, Subtasks or Files.
  5. Click Update Task.

Cancel Edit beside the task name puts the panel back without saving.

Edit a Task From the Checklist​

Use this when you are already looking at the checklist the task is attached to.

  1. Open the checklist.
  2. Scroll to Attached Tasks at the bottom and open the task.
  3. Click Edit / Delete Task. The Edit or Delete Task dialog opens with the task's current detail in it.
  4. Change the task.
  5. Click Update Task.

Either way a Task Updated message confirms it, and everybody looking at the checklist or the Tasks grid sees the change without reloading.

Change What the Task Is Attached To​

The editor on the Tasks grid carries the Attach Task to an Existing Checklist switch, so an edit can move the task as well as change it. The switch needs the Task.Attacher permission; without it the editor opens without it and the task stays where it is:

To do thisSet the switch to
Attach an unattached taskOn, then choose a Template and a Checklist
Move the task to another checklistOn, then choose the new Template and Checklist
Detach the task and leave it standing aloneOff

The checklist page's dialog has no switch, because it already knows which checklist you came from. Attaching, moving or detaching a task changes the progress of every checklist involved, and is recorded on each of their activity feeds.

Losing Task.Attacher detaches nothing. A task already on a checklist stays on it and stays editable by whoever raised it — the attachment is simply fixed until somebody who holds the permission moves it.

What an Edit Changes​

The task keeps its identity, so an edit is a change to the task rather than a replacement for it:

Part of the taskWhat editing does
Assign TaskReplaces the assignees with whoever is in the box when you save. Clear it and the task becomes unassigned.
Task DescriptionRewrites the description. Clear it entirely and the description is removed from the task.
SubtasksRewrites the wording and the order. Ticks already made are kept, so somebody working the task does not lose their progress. Removing every item removes the control.
FilesAdds the files you upload. Files already on the task cannot be removed here.
Comments, attachments and activityKept. They belong to the task, not to the edit.
Completion, snoozes and overdue remindersKept. A task that was already complete stays complete, and personal snoozes survive.
Created by and the creation dateUnchanged, whoever makes the edit.
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Saving from either editor also switches Only Assignees Can Complete This Task back on. If you had unticked it from the reassign icon so that anybody could pick the task up, editing the task restricts it to its assignees again. Check the setting from the reassign icon after an edit. See Tasks You Cannot Work On.

Delete a Task​

  1. Open the task from the Tasks grid and click Edit / Delete, or open it on the checklist and click Edit / Delete Task.
  2. Click Delete Task.
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Delete Task deletes immediately. There is no confirmation step and no undo. The task goes, and with it its description, subtasks, uploaded files, comments, attachments and activity. Nothing is recoverable, and no report or export keeps a copy.

To delete several tasks in one go, select their rows on the Tasks grid and use Delete Selected Tasks in the actions menu. The same two rules apply — see Bulk Actions.

A Task Deleted message confirms it, the task disappears from the checklist and from everybody's Tasks grid, and it stops counting in Analytics. Deleting an attached task changes the checklist's progress and is recorded on its activity feed. Deleting an unattached one leaves no entry, because there is no checklist to record it against.

Deleting the checklist instead leaves the task alone: it loses the attachment and carries on as an unattached standalone task, still editable from the Tasks grid. See Managing Checklists.

If It Does Not Work​

What you seeWhyWhat to do
No Edit / Delete button in the side panelYou did not create the task and you are not an Administrator, or the task came from a templateAsk its creator or an Administrator to make the change. A template task is changed on the template.
No Edit / Delete Task button on the checklistThe same rule applies on the checklist pageAs above.
No chevron in the Open columnThe task is assigned exclusively to somebody elseSee Tasks You Cannot Work On.
Only a team administrator or the person who created this task can change it.The permission changed while the editor was openReload the page, and ask an Administrator to make the change.
This task could not be found. It may have been deleted by someone else.The task was deleted while your editor was openClose the editor and reload the page.
No Attach Task to an Existing Checklist switch in the editorYou do not hold Task.AttacherAsk an Administrator to grant it. Everything else in the editor still works. See User Permissions.
You do not have permission to change the checklist this task is attached to.Task.Attacher was taken away while the editor was openReload the page. Nothing was saved, the rest of your edit included.
The Template list under the attach switch is emptyNo template you can see has Tasks Can Be Attached switched onSwitch it on from the template's Settings menu. See Attach a Task to a Checklist.
A file you removed is still on the taskFiles can only be added from this editorDelete the task and raise it again if the file must go.
Somebody can no longer complete the taskSaving an edit switches Only Assignees Can Complete This Task back onClick the reassign icon on the grid row and untick it.
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