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How to assign tasks in Google Tasks

Google Tasks has no assignee field. These are the ways to hand a task to a teammate that actually work in 2026, with steps for each.

By the Team Tasks team · Published October 26, 2026 · TasksBoard prices checked against its own pricing page on October 24, 2026.

Why Google Tasks has no assign button

Google Tasks is a personal to-do list. A task has a title, notes, a due date, subtasks, and a done state, and it belongs to exactly one account. The official Google Tasks API has the same shape: there is no field for an owner, an assignee, or a list shared between accounts. That is why no setting will turn on assignments. The capability simply is not part of the product.

Assigning a task in the Google world therefore means one of two things. Either another Google product creates the task in the assignee's Tasks for you, or an app on top of Google Tasks keeps track of who owns each task.

Every way to assign a task, compared

TasksBoard prices are as published on October 24, 2026 and can change. Team Tasks is an independent product and is not affiliated with Google or TasksBoard.

1. Assign a task in a Google Chat space

This is Google's main way to assign tasks, and if your whole team is on Google Workspace it costs nothing extra. Every space in Google Chat has a Tasks tab.

1. Open Google Chat and go to the space for your team or project. Add the person first if they are not a member.
2. Open the Tasks tab at the top of the space.
3. Click Add space task, type a title, and optionally add details and a date.
4. Choose an assignee from the space members and save.

The task shows in the space for everyone, and it also appears in the assignee's personal Google Tasks, so they see it in the Gmail and Calendar sidebars and in the Google Tasks app. The limits: it only works for Workspace accounts, the shared view lives inside Chat, there is no board, and deleting a space task removes it for everyone, including from the assignee's list.

2. Assign a checklist item in Google Docs

If your team plans work in documents, such as meeting notes or a project brief, Google Docs can turn a checklist line into a task for someone. This is available on Google Workspace accounts.

1. In the doc, create a checklist (Format › Bullets & numbering › Checklist, or the checklist button in the toolbar).
2. Hover over a checklist item and click the Assign as a task icon, or @-mention the person in the item.
3. Pick the assignee and, if you want, a due date.

The item appears in the assignee's Google Tasks with a link back to the document, and checking it off in either place marks it done. It is a good fit for action items from a meeting. It is not a task system, though: there is no single place to see everything assigned across documents, and nothing groups tasks by person or project.

3. Assign tasks on a shared board with Team Tasks (that's us)

Team Tasks adds the team layer Google Tasks lacks while the tasks stay real Google Tasks. A company is organized into departments, each department has shared kanban boards, and any task can be assigned to a department member. It works with personal Gmail and Workspace accounts.

1. Sign in at app.team-tasks.io with Google and create your company. It starts with one department.
2. Invite teammates to the department by email address. Each person signs in with the Google account that matches the invited address.
3. Open a shared board. Shared boards are backed by a designated team Google account, and on a Google-synced board each column is one of that account's Google Tasks lists.
4. Open a task and choose an assignee. Add a comment and @-mention them if the task needs context.

Everyone on the board sees the change live, and you can filter the board by assignee to see one person's work. Each assignee also gets a My Day agenda that collects their tasks across every department they belong to.

To be clear about what syncs: the task's title, notes, due date, and done state sync both ways with the team account's Google Tasks. The assignee is kept in Team Tasks, because Google's task format has nowhere to store it. So an assigned task does not appear in the assignee's own personal Google Tasks list. They see it in Team Tasks. If tasks must land in each person's own Google Tasks, use a Chat space or TasksBoard instead.

Team Tasks is free for companies of up to 3 members. From the 4th member it is $2 per user per month with a $10 monthly minimum, after a 14-day free trial with no credit card. It requests Google sign-in and Tasks access, plus read-only Calendar access only if you turn on the calendar overlay, and never Gmail or Drive.

4. Assign tasks with TasksBoard

TasksBoard is a full-screen kanban app for Google Tasks and the longest-established option here. Its model is per-list sharing: each collaborator gets their own copy of a shared list in their Google Tasks, and assignees on shared lists are written into the task notes, so they show up in Google Tasks too. Shared boards need a paid plan for everyone on them: Pro at $4.79 a month or Team at $4.99 per user per month, both billed yearly as of October 2026. Our Team Tasks vs TasksBoard guide covers the differences in detail, including how each one syncs.

5. Workarounds without any extra tool

If you just need something today, small teams get by with:

• Putting a name in the title, such as "[Sam] Send the invoice", on lists in a shared Google account. It costs nothing, but no one is notified, and everyone shares a password.
• Emailing the task. Send the request, and the recipient opens the email in Gmail and clicks Add to Tasks. Now it is in their list with a link back to the email. You just can't see whether they finished it.

Both work for a few tasks a week. Once you are asking "who has this?" more than once a day, a real assignee field pays for itself.

Which one should you use?

• Everyone is on Google Workspace, and assigned tasks must land in each person's own Google Tasks: use Google Chat space tasks, or Docs checklists for meeting action items.
• You want a board where the team sees who owns what, with comments and departments: use Team Tasks. That is the gap it was built for.
• You want assignees written into each person's own Google Tasks, on personal Gmail too: TasksBoard's shared lists do that.
• You need timelines, automations, and reporting: you have outgrown Google Tasks. See Trello or Asana.

Frequently asked questions

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