Microsoft To Do Zapier integrationAutomate Microsoft To Do with Zapier.
The Microsoft To Do Zapier integration offers 4 triggers, 4 actions and 1 search. All four triggers are checked on a timer, none is instant. Here is what each operation does, what it costs, and where a To Do Zap usually goes wrong.
Verified Trustpilot reviews · AI, automation & growth agency
What the Microsoft To Do Zapier integration does for you
It connects your Microsoft To Do account to Zapier, so that a task being created, updated or completed can start an automation, and so that other tools can create lists and tasks in To Do, or tick them off, without you typing anything. No code involved: you pick events from menus and map fields.
Three outcomes people usually build first.
Follow-ups that write themselves. Completed Task notices when you tick something off, and Create Task adds the next step as a new task. Finish "send the quote" and "call back about the quote" is already waiting.
A to-do list fed by your other tools. A form answer, a flagged email or a new deal in another app becomes a To Do item through Create Task, with the reminder switched on if you want one.
Tasks closed from elsewhere. Complete Task ticks off an item when the real work is marked done in another tool, so your list stops lying to you.
What this integration does not do: no trigger is instant, so on the free plan a new or completed task can wait up to 15 minutes before the Zap notices. The single search only looks inside one list at a time. And nothing here edits a task's content after creation: the four actions create lists, create tasks, complete tasks, or send a raw request.
There is no dedicated To Do page for Make or n8n on this site yet. If you are weighing tools, start with Make vs Zapier.
Zapier vocabulary in one minute
The page uses eight Zapier words. Each one, once, in plain English.
- Zap
- An automation on Zapier: one trigger, then one or more actions that run every time the trigger event happens in your account.
- Trigger
- The event that starts a Zap, such as a task being completed in To Do. Once the Zap is on, Zapier waits for it.
- Action
- What the Zap does after it starts: the step that creates, ticks off or sends something for you in an app.
- Task (billing)
- Zapier's billing unit, not a To Do item: one action your Zap completed successfully. Your plan counts these.
- Polling vs instant
- Polling: Zapier checks the app on a timer for new items. Instant: the app tells Zapier itself, the moment the event happens.
- Filter
- A step that lets the Zap carry on only when what arrived matches the condition you set, and stops it quietly otherwise.
- Search step
- A step that looks for something already in an app, like an existing To Do item, so the following steps can use it.
- Connection
- Your Microsoft account linked to Zapier once, then reused by every To Do step in every Zap you build.
What a To Do Zap really costs
Microsoft To Do is not a premium app on Zapier, so the free plan can use it. Two words collide here: a Zapier task is a billing unit, not a to-do item.
- Premium appNo, available on the free plan
- Free plan100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps
- Trigger checksNever billed
- Failed actionNot counted
The trigger costs nothing, and neither do Zapier's checks for new items, however often they run. Each action that succeeds counts as one Zapier task: a Zap that creates two To Do items per run uses two. An action that fails is not counted. The free plan includes 100 tasks a month, unlimited Zaps and a check every 15 minutes, but only two-step Zaps: one trigger, one action. A filter, a search like Find a Task or a second action makes the Zap multi-step, and that needs a paid plan.
Connect Microsoft To Do in three steps
- 01
Start a new connection
Open the Apps page of your Zapier account and click + Add connection. In the dialog that opens, type Microsoft To Do in the search box and select it from the results.
- 02
Sign in with Microsoft
Click Add connection. A tab opens on Microsoft's sign-in page. Use the Microsoft account that holds the lists you want the Zap to read and write, then sign in.
- 03
Allow access
Grant Zapier access to that account. The connection then appears on your Apps page and every To Do step reuses it. Lists you don't own need read or write rights for you too.
Your first Zap: a follow-up after every completed task
GoalWhen you complete a task in a chosen list, a follow-up task appears automatically, so the next step of a job is never forgotten.
- 01
Create the Zap
Start a new Zap, pick Microsoft To Do as the app that starts it and Completed Task as the event. Choose your To Do connection.
- 02
Test the trigger
Run the test. Zapier brings back the three most recently completed tasks of your account, so you build the rest of the Zap on a real one.
- 03
Narrow it with a filter
Add a Filter from the plus icon and set the field, the rule and the value. Remember: a filter makes the Zap multi-step, so it needs a paid plan.
- 04
Add Create Task
Add Microsoft To Do again with Create Task. Fill in the Title, the only required field, using words from the completed task, and turn the reminder on if useful.
- 05
Test and publish
Test the action once and check the new task in To Do. Then click Publish. Only tasks completed from now on will count, never older ones.
The 4 Microsoft To Do triggers
4 events start a Zap when something happens in Microsoft To Do. Zapier checks for them at the interval your plan allows.
Completed Task
Polling triggerIn Zapier“Triggers when a task is completed.”
Ticking an item off is the event this one waits for. The Zap starts with the finished task, which makes it the natural hook for anything that should happen after the work is done.
New List
Polling triggerIn Zapier“Triggers when a new list is created.”
A brand-new list in your To Do account starts the Zap. Lists usually mean a new project, a trip or a client, so this is where setup routines belong.
New Task
Polling triggerIn Zapier“Triggers when a new task is created.”
The trigger Zapier puts forward for To Do: each task added to your account starts the Zap. That includes tasks typed by hand and tasks created by other tools.
Updated Task
Polling triggerIn Zapier“Triggers when a task is updated.”
Any change to an existing task, rather than a new one, is what this trigger reports. It suits workflows that care about edits more than about creation.
The 4 Microsoft To Do actions
Microsoft To Do gives you 4 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.
Create List
ActionIn Zapier“Creates a new list.”
Adds a new list to your To Do account. The only required field is its title, which you can map from a project or client name in an earlier step.
Create Task
ActionIn Zapier“Creates a new task.”
Puts a new item in To Do with the title you give it, and can switch a reminder on so the task pings you later.
Complete Task
ActionIn Zapier“Marks a task as complete.”
Marks an existing task as done. You point it at a list, then at the task inside it; both are required.
API Request (Beta)
ActionIn Zapier“This is an advanced action which makes a raw HTTP request that includes this integration's authentication.”
An advanced step that sends a raw request to Microsoft's service with your existing To Do connection, for needs the three other actions don't cover.
The Microsoft To Do search
1 search step looks for data that already exists in Microsoft To Do, so a later step can use it.
A search step finds an item that already exists in To Do and hands it to the next steps. Searches sit at the bottom of the Action event list, under SEARCH. Three settings decide what happens when the result is not the one you expected.
Find a Task
SearchFind or createIn Zapier“Search for a Task.”
Looks for a task inside one list you choose and returns it to the following steps. Completed tasks stay out unless you ask to include them.
The three settings every search exposes
- Successful if no search results are found?By default, a search that finds nothing stops the Zap and skips what depended on it. Turn it on and the Zap continues without the result.
- Create X if it doesn't exist yet?Tick it and the search becomes a find-or-create: the setting above disappears and the step asks for the fields it needs to create the missing task.
- If multiple search results are found?When several tasks match: keep the first one (the default), stop the Zap, or pass all of them on at once.
When a To Do Zap breaks
Zapier links one help article to this app, How to get started with Microsoft To Do on Zapier. The traps below come from the operations themselves and from how Zapier works.
To Do Zaps rarely fail loudly. They loop, they miss old items, or the search comes back empty. When a run fails and the reason is unclear, the Zapier troubleshooting guide covers the usual checks.
A Zap that keeps creating tasks
A Zap on New Task that uses Create Task in the same account restarts itself on each item it creates, and burns through your task count fast.Find a Task comes back empty
Completed tasks are left out unless you include them, and the search only looks in the list you picked. Check both before blaming the title.Older tasks never show up
A Zap only reacts to what happens after you publish it. Tasks that already existed are not picked up; moving them is a separate job.A bulk import goes quiet
Importing many tasks at once can make a trigger return a huge batch, and Zapier's flood protection may hold those runs back.
Need help automating Microsoft To Do with Zapier?
A person reads every message.
