Learn how to migrate your data to Things from other apps.
This page is about migrating an entire database to Things from another to-do app. If you’re looking for ways to add individual to-dos from other apps, read this.
Before Proceeding
Before importing a large amount of data, consider the possibility that it might be better to start with a clean slate and manually move items over as you think about which to-dos and projects you actually need. Things’ paste function helps to make manual entry relatively easy.
Available Importers
At this time, Things provides a migration path from the following apps:
If you want to migrate data from a different app, check if it’s possible to migrate to Apple Reminders first, then migrate from there to Things. You can also check below to see if an alternative method could help.
Alternative Migration Methods
There are a few other ways to get data into Things, but they involve a bit of manual work, and some require deeper technical knowledge.
Copy & Paste
You can paste raw text from your clipboard directly into Things and the app will convert it into to-dos for you. Learn more.
Plain Text
Download this script, which creates a to-do for each line in a plain text file (e.g. .txt or .md). After a to-do’s title, insert a tab and everything that follows on that row will be appended as the note: Title ⇥ Tab Note. This script only works on a Mac.
Microsoft To Do
While Things doesn’t currently have a way to migrate an entire database from Microsoft To Do, there is a way to import to-dos one by one.
AppleScript
If you know how to write AppleScript, you could create a custom script to migrate your data. This is only possible on a Mac, and the app you’re coming from must also support AppleScript. Please note that you would need to manage this yourself as we don’t provide custom solutions. Learn more.
Apple Shortcuts
Things integrates with Apple’s Shortcuts app, so you might be able to use that to get data into Things from other apps or formats. Please note that you would need to manage this yourself as we don’t provide custom solutions. Learn more.
URL Scheme & JSON
If you’re more technical, Things’ URL scheme can be used to send data into the app. This can include full-blown projects in JSON format. Please note that you would need to manage this yourself as we don’t provide custom solutions. Learn more.