Migration
Move from Microsoft To Do to Done Bear
Save your Microsoft To Do lists as JSON from Graph Explorer and upload the file to Done Bear. Lists, categories, repeats and due dates come across.
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The short answer
Done Bear imports Microsoft To Do from a JSON file of your lists, saved from Microsoft Graph Explorer. Each list becomes a project, categories become labels, and repeats, due dates and completed tasks come across. The file has no steps, so print each list with Print steps turned on first. Reminders, attachments and the Important flag stay behind.
Key takeaways
- Microsoft To Do lists save as JSON from Microsoft Graph Explorer.
- Each list becomes a Done Bear project, and categories become labels.
- Due dates import as all-day deadlines, and reminder times stay behind.
- Repeats become Done Bear rules, without the repeat's end date.
- The import reads your file and never signs in to Microsoft.
What to export from Microsoft To Do
The file to bring from Microsoft To Do: Graph JSON export. These are the steps the import wizard shows, so the file you make is one it accepts.
- 1.Open Graph Explorer (developer.microsoft.com/graph/graph-explorer) and sign in.
- 2.Run GET /me/todo/lists?$expand=tasks and consent to the read-only scope.
- 3.Save the JSON response and upload it here. Done Bear reads it in your browser.
The long version: how to export Microsoft To Do
What Microsoft To Do concepts become in Done Bear
This table is the whole mapping from Microsoft To Do to Done Bear. Read the notes column before you import, because the exceptions are there.
| Microsoft To Do | Done Bear | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| List | Project | Every list in the file becomes a project with the list's name, including built-in lists such as Flagged email, even when they are empty. |
| List group | Not imported | The importer creates no teams from a Microsoft To Do file, so lists arrive side by side without their group. |
| Task | Task | A task with no title is skipped, and the preview says so. Created and modified dates carry over. |
| Note | Description | Formatted notes arrive as plain text. |
| Step | Not imported | The Graph Explorer file has no steps, so none come across. Before you import, print each list with Print steps turned on, then add the steps you still need as checklist items. |
| Due date | Deadline | Due dates arrive as all-day deadlines, because To Do has no due time. A deadline of today or earlier shows the task in Today. |
| Remind me | Not imported | The preview lists reminder times as fields Done Bear has no place for. Set the reminders you still want after the import. |
| Start date | Start date | When the file has one, a start of today or earlier lands in Today, and a later one in Upcoming. |
| Repeat | Repeat rule | Daily, weekly, monthly and yearly repeats arrive as rules Done Bear runs, with their interval and days. A repeat like 'the last weekday of the month' may change, and the preview warns you. A pattern Done Bear cannot run is kept as text in the description. An end date or a set number of repeats is not read, so the repeat keeps going. |
| Completed task | Logbook | Completed tasks arrive completed, with their completion date. Tasks marked in progress, waiting on others or deferred arrive open. |
| Category | Label | A label you already have with the same name is reused. |
| Important | Not imported | Read for the preview only. Done Bear tasks have no priority field. |
| Linked item from another app | Line in the description | The web address of the first item linked to a task, when the file has one, is added at the end of the description. |
| File attachment | Not imported | The preview flags that the file mentions attachments. The files stay in Microsoft To Do, so save any you still need first. |
| My Day | Not imported | Microsoft Graph documents no My Day field on a task, so plan today again in Done Bear. |
What comes across and what does not
Done Bear imports the fields below from Microsoft To Do. The second list is what stays behind, so you can decide what to save by hand before you delete anything.
Comes across
- Completed tasks
- Tags and labels
- Projects and lists
- Repeating tasks
Stays behind
- Areas and folders (become teams)
- Attachments
- Sub-tasks
- Microsoft To Do has no due time, so due dates import as all-day.
- The Graph Explorer request returns no steps, so tasks arrive without them. To keep a copy of your steps, print each list with Print steps turned on before you import.
Running the import
The import wizard lives in Settings, Integrations & Import, Import from another app. Choose Microsoft To Do, upload your file, and Done Bear previews every record it found. Nothing is written until you confirm.
Re-running it and undoing it
Re-importing the same file is safe. Done Bear recognises the tasks it already brought across from that export and adds only what is new. The completion screen offers an undo, which removes what the import created and keeps anything you have edited since.
Frequently asked questions
Does Microsoft To Do have an export button?
No. In January 2025 a Microsoft community representative answered on Microsoft Q&A that To Do has no direct export feature, and that the Export setting in Outlook.com works only for personal accounts. Classic Outlook for Windows can save a work account's Tasks folder to a .pst file, unless the organisation turns .pst files off, but no other task manager reads that file. Graph Explorer reads personal, work and school lists and saves them as JSON.
Can Done Bear connect to my Microsoft account instead?
Not yet. Upload the JSON file from Graph Explorer instead. Done Bear reads it in your browser and never signs in to Microsoft.
What happens to my steps?
They stay behind. The Graph Explorer file has no steps, because Microsoft stores them separately from each task. Before you import, open each list in To Do on the web or the Windows app, turn on Print steps, and print it to a PDF. Then add the steps you still need as checklist items in Done Bear.
Do reminders and My Day come across?
No. Microsoft To Do due dates are whole days, so no reminder time comes from them, and the preview lists the Remind me times in the file as fields Done Bear has no place for. Microsoft Graph documents no My Day field, so nothing in the file says what was in My Day. Plan today again in Done Bear and set the reminders you still want.
Does importing change my Microsoft To Do lists?
No. Graph Explorer's request only reads your lists, and Done Bear reads the file you upload without signing in to Microsoft. If you import the same file twice, the tasks Done Bear already brought across are left as they are. The completion screen also offers an undo that keeps anything you have edited since.
Where this information comes from
- Done Bear, Importing from another app (Done Bear imports a Microsoft To Do JSON file and previews every record before anything is written, and undo keeps rows you have edited since)
- Microsoft Q&A, There is no way to export data from Microsoft To Do for Office 365 users (a Microsoft community representative said in January 2025 that To Do offers no direct export for lists and tasks, and that the Outlook.com Export setting works only for personal accounts)
- Microsoft Learn, todoTask resource type (a To Do task's documented fields include due date, reminder, recurrence, categories and importance, with steps as a separate checklistItems relationship and no My Day field)
- Microsoft Learn, List Todo tasks (reading To Do tasks needs only the Tasks.Read permission, for personal and for work or school accounts)
- Microsoft Learn, Use a policy to control PST files in Outlook (an organisation can stop classic Outlook users creating or adding .pst files by policy)
Related
Free up to 250 tasks, completed tasks included. No credit card.