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How to turn emails into tasks in Gmail
Gmail can turn any email into a Google Task with a link back to the message. Here is how on desktop and mobile, and the honest options when the task belongs to someone else.
On the web, open the email and click Add to Tasks in the toolbar above the message, press Shift + T, or drag the email into the Tasks side panel. The new task is titled with the subject and links back to the email.
In the Gmail app on Android or iPhone, open the email, tap the three-dot menu, and choose Add to Tasks.
The task lands in your Google Tasks only. Gmail cannot assign it to a teammate. For that, use a Google Chat space on Workspace, forward the email, or put the work on a shared board such as Team Tasks.
Turn an email into a task on desktop
There are three ways to do it in Gmail on the web, and they all create the same thing: a task in your default Google Tasks list, titled with the email's subject, with a link that opens the original message.
The Add to Tasks button
- Open the email.
- In the toolbar above the message, click the Add to Tasks icon (a check mark with a plus sign).
- The Tasks panel opens on the right with the new task. Click it to change the title, add notes, set a date and time, or move it to another list.
The keyboard shortcut
With keyboard shortcuts turned on (Settings › See all settings › General › Keyboard shortcuts on), select or open an email and press Shift + T. This is the fastest way to work through an inbox: read, Shift + T, archive, next.
Drag and drop
Open the Tasks panel from the right-hand side of Gmail, then drag an email from your inbox into the panel. Dropping it between two tasks puts it in that position in the list.
Turn an email into a task on your phone
- In the Gmail app, open the email.
- Tap the three-dot menu at the top of the message.
- Choose Add to Tasks. If you do not see it, update the Gmail app.
The task shows up in the Google Tasks app and in the Tasks panel on your computer, with the same link back to the email.
Make email tasks useful
An inbox's worth of tasks titled "Re: Fwd: quick question" is not much better than the inbox. A few habits help:
- Rename the task as an action. "Send Dana the revised quote" beats the subject line every time. The link to the email stays attached either way.
- Give it a date. Dated tasks appear on your Google Calendar, so they get looked at.
- Archive the email. Once it is a task, the inbox no longer has to remind you. That is the point.
- Use a list per area. Work, follow-ups, and waiting-on-others lists keep a long day manageable.
When the task is for someone else
This is where Gmail stops. Add to Tasks only ever creates a task in your own Google Tasks, and Google Tasks has no way to share or assign it. The link back to the email also only works for you, because the message is in your mailbox. If the email is really a request for a teammate, you have a few options.
Forward it, and let them add it
The simplest route: forward the email with a one-line ask, and the teammate clicks Add to Tasks on their side. It is free and the link works for them. You just have no way to see whether it got done.
Assign it in a Google Chat space (Workspace)
If you are on Google Workspace, create a task in the Tasks tab of the team's Chat space, summarize the email in the description, and assign it. It lands in the assignee's Google Tasks, and the whole space can see it. Our guide to assigning tasks in Google Tasks has the steps.
Put it on a shared board with Team Tasks (that's us)
If your team works from shared boards in Team Tasks, create the task on the right board, paste the key details from the email into its notes, and assign it to the teammate. Everyone on the board sees it, it can be discussed in comments with @mentions, and it stays a real Google Task in the board's team Google account. The assignee sees it on the board and in their My Day agenda in Team Tasks.
Team Tasks is free for companies of up to 3 members, then $2 per user per month with a $10 monthly minimum. It requests Google Tasks access and never asks for Gmail, so it cannot read your email. That is why the details get pasted in rather than pulled automatically.
Use a tool with a Gmail add-on
Some separate task managers, such as GQueues, have a Gmail add-on that creates tasks in their own system from an email. That gives you a one-click hand-off, but the tasks live outside Google Tasks, and the add-on needs permission to read the email you use it on. See Team Tasks vs GQueues and Google Tasks alternatives for teams.
Frequently asked questions
How do I turn an email into a task in Gmail?
Open the email in Gmail on the web and click the Add to Tasks icon in the toolbar above the message, press Shift + T with keyboard shortcuts on, or drag the email into the Tasks side panel. The task is titled with the subject and links back to the email.
Can I add an email to Google Tasks from my phone?
Yes. In the Gmail app on Android or iPhone, open the email, tap the three-dot menu, and choose Add to Tasks. The task appears in the Google Tasks app and the Tasks panel on your computer.
Does the task keep a link to the email?
Yes. A task created from Gmail links back to the original message, and clicking the link opens it. The link only works for you, because the email is in your mailbox, even if you copy the task's details somewhere else.
Can I assign an email task to someone else?
Not from Gmail. Add to Tasks creates a task in your own Google Tasks, which cannot be shared or assigned. To hand an email off, forward it so the teammate can add it themselves, assign a task in a Google Chat space on Workspace, or create it on a shared board in a team task app such as Team Tasks.
Related guides
When the email is a team task.
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