Taskwell help

Getting started

The first time Taskwell opens, it adds a small starter project that shows you around by doing, and lets you try the quick-add shortcut.

Taskwell lives in the notification area (the tray), so reminders and quick add work even when the main window is closed.

Left-click the tray icon to add a task.
Right-click it for Today's tasks (click one to complete it), New task…, Open Taskwell, Settings, About / License and Quit.

Closing the main window keeps Taskwell running in the tray. You can hide the tray icon in Settings › General; then open Taskwell from the Start menu.

Quick add and natural dates

Press Ctrl+Alt+A in any app, type a task and press Enter (Esc cancels). Chips show what Taskwell understood before you save.

Dates like "tomorrow", "friday", "next friday" or "March 12" set the deadline. Day and month order follows your Windows region.
A time like "3pm" or "at 9" sets a reminder. "At 3" means 3 PM and "at 9" means 9 AM.
"tonight" or "friday evening" plans the task for that evening instead.
Repeats like "every weekday" or "every 2 weeks".
#name puts the task in a matching project, otherwise it becomes a tag.
!, !! or !!! set low, medium or high priority. "someday" parks the task in Later.
Text in "double quotes" is never treated as a date.

New tasks go to the Inbox unless you type a date or #project. Change this in Settings › General, where you can also pick a new shortcut.

Lists and dates

Inbox: new tasks you haven't sorted yet.
Today: tasks planned for today, due today or overdue, with a Tonight section.
Upcoming: the next 7 days, then weeks, then months.
Ready: everything you could do now, grouped by project.
Later: someday ideas, out of the way.
Done and Trash: finished and deleted tasks.

Each task can have two dates. Plan for (when) puts it in Today from that day. Deadline does too, and marks it overdue once it has passed. Use New list in the sidebar to add a New project… or New area…, and drag tasks between lists, projects and the sidebar.

Completed tasks stay checked in their list until midnight, then move to Done. Change that in Settings › General.

Repeats and reminders

Set Repeat on a task to repeat it every day, weekday, week, month or year, or a set time after you complete it. Only one copy is open at a time: completing it creates the next, and its checklist starts fresh.

When a reminder is due, a card appears above the notification area without taking focus. Choose Complete, or snooze for 10 min, 1 hour or Tomorrow. Reminders missed while the PC was asleep or off arrive together in one card.

In Settings › Reminders:

Default reminder for tasks with only a date adds a reminder time when quick add sees a date but no time.
Morning summary shows a short note like "5 tasks today" once each morning.
Reminders wait until Focus ends, except tasks marked Important (shows even during Focus). Show a test reminder lets you try it.

Keyboard shortcuts

Ctrl+Alt+A: quick add from any app.
Ctrl+K: command palette. Ctrl+N: new task. Ctrl+F: search.
Ctrl+1 to Ctrl+7: switch lists. Enter / Esc: open or close a task.
Space or Ctrl+D: complete. Ctrl+T: Today. Ctrl+E: Tonight. Ctrl+Shift+S: Later.
Ctrl+Shift+D: plan for a date. Ctrl+Shift+L: deadline. Ctrl+Shift+M: move to.
Alt+Up / Alt+Down: reorder. Del: delete. Ctrl+R: restore from Trash.
Ctrl+Z: undo. Ctrl+Comma: Settings.

Undo, backups and moving to a new PC

Ctrl+Z undoes the last 50 changes in a session, including completing, deleting, moving and editing. Deleted tasks stay in Trash for 30 days.

In Settings › Data:

Automatic backups keep one backup a day, the newest 30. Back up now makes one straight away, and Backup location lets you choose the folder.
Restore from backup saves your current tasks as a backup first, so a restore can be undone the same way.
Export everything saves all tasks, projects and areas, including done and trashed ones, to one file. It always works, trial or not.
Import replaces your current tasks with an export file, after backing them up. Use it to move to a new PC.

Keyboard shortcuts

These work from anywhere in Windows while Taskwell is running.

Action	Default shortcut
Quick add a task	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`A`

Trial and license

Taskwell is free to try for 14 days, with everything turned on. After that: Every task stays viewable, editable and completable, and you can add 5 new tasks a day. Reminders, search, backups and export keep working.

Entering your license key

Buy a license. Your key appears on screen as soon as the payment goes through, and arrives by email.
In Taskwell, open the License page in Settings.
Paste the key and choose Activate. The PC needs to be online for this step.

Using it on more than one PC

One key works on up to 3 PCs. To move it to a new PC, deactivate it on the old one from the License page first. If the old PC is gone, free up its place at Manage devices, using the email address you bought with or the key itself.

Once activated, Taskwell works offline. When it's online it checks the license about once a week, so a refunded or revoked key stops working on its next check.

Bought Taskwell in the Microsoft Store? The Store edition is licensed through your Microsoft account instead, and doesn't use a key.

Updates

To get the latest version, choose Check for updates in Taskwell. It asks before installing anything.

Each update is checked against a fingerprint (SHA-256) before it runs, and installs over the current version without touching your data. Updates for the Microsoft Store edition come through the Store.

See what’s new in each version.

Your data and uninstalling

Taskwell keeps its settings and data on your PC, in this folder (paste it into File Explorer’s address bar to open it):

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Hedgerow\Taskwell

To back it up, quit Taskwell and copy that folder.

To uninstall, open Windows Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find Taskwell and choose Uninstall. The uninstaller asks whether to remove your data too.

Still stuck?

Email support@hedgerowapps.com and we’ll get back to you. Mention your Taskwell version (shown in Settings › About) and your Windows version. More answers are on the support page.