How to Use Microsoft Planner for Task Management

Applies to: Microsoft 365 (Microsoft Planner, Teams, Outlook)
Article Type: How-To
Last Updated: 2026-05-17

Summary

This article shows you how to use Microsoft Planner to create task boards, assign work to team members, track progress, and integrate your plans into Microsoft Teams — giving your team a shared, visual way to manage projects and to-do lists.

Prerequisites

• A Microsoft 365 account with access to Planner (included in most Business and Enterprise plans).
• Membership in a Microsoft 365 Group or Team (Planner plans are tied to groups).
• An active internet connection.
• No admin rights are required for any step in this article.

Instructions

1. Open Microsoft Planner

You can access Planner from multiple entry points across Microsoft 365.

1. From the web: Navigate to https://tasks.office.com and sign in with your Microsoft 365 account.
2. From the Microsoft 365 app launcher: Click the App launcher (grid icon) in the top-left corner of any Microsoft 365 page and select Planner. If not visible, click All apps and search for Planner.
3. From Teams: Open a Teams channel, click the + (Add a tab) button at the top, and select Tasks by Planner and To Do from the app gallery.

Verification: The Planner hub displays with sections for My tasks, My plans, and Favorites.

2. Create a New Plan

A plan is a task board for a specific project, team, or workstream.

1. Click + New plan in the left navigation pane.
2. Enter a Plan name (e.g., Q3 Marketing Campaign or IT Onboarding Checklist).
3. Choose the group:
   • Add to an existing Microsoft 365 group — Select a group or Team that already exists. This makes the plan accessible to all group members.
   • Create a new group — Planner creates a new Microsoft 365 Group for this plan. You can add members later.
4. Choose the privacy level:
   • Public — Anyone in your organization can find and join the plan.
   • Private — Only members you add can see the plan.
5. Click Create plan.

Verification: The new plan opens in Board view with a default bucket called To do.

3. Organize Work with Buckets

Buckets are columns on your board that group tasks by category, phase, or workstream.

1. In your plan's Board view, click + Add new bucket to the right of the existing buckets.
2. Enter a name for the bucket (e.g., In Progress, Waiting on Approval, Completed, or team-specific names like Design, Development, Testing).
3. Press Enter to create the bucket.
4. Repeat to create additional buckets as needed.
5. To rename a bucket, click its name and type a new one.
6. To reorder buckets, drag and drop them left or right on the board.

Tip: Common bucket structures include:

• Kanban: To Do → In Progress → Review → Done
• By team: Design → Engineering → QA → Launch
• By priority: Urgent → This Week → Backlog

4. Create and Assign Tasks

Each task represents a single unit of work that can be assigned, tracked, and completed.

1. Click + Add task under the appropriate bucket.
2. Enter a Task name (e.g., Draft press release for product launch).
3. Set a Due date using the date picker.
4. Click Assign and select one or more team members from the list.
5. Click Add task to create it.
6. To add more details, click on the task card to open the Task detail pane:
   • Priority: Set to Urgent, Important, Medium, or Low.
   • Progress: Set to Not started, In progress, or Completed.
   • Start date: Set a start date in addition to the due date.
   • Notes: Add a description, context, or instructions.
   • Checklist: Add sub-items for multi-step tasks (e.g., ☐ Write first draft, ☐ Get manager review, ☐ Publish).
   • Attachments: Attach files from your computer, OneDrive, or SharePoint.
   • Labels: Apply colour-coded labels for quick visual categorization (e.g., red = Blocked, green = On Track).

5. Track Progress with Charts and Views

Planner provides multiple views to understand project status at a glance.

1. Board view (default): A Kanban-style board showing task cards organized by bucket. Drag cards between buckets to update status.
2. Charts view: Click Charts in the top navigation. This shows:
   • A pie chart of tasks by status (Not started / In progress / Completed / Late).
   • A bar chart of tasks per member.
   • A summary of bucket distribution.
3. Schedule view: Click Schedule in the top navigation. Tasks appear on a calendar based on their start and due dates. Drag tasks to reschedule them.
4. Group by options: In Board view, click Group by in the toolbar to rearrange the board by:
   • Bucket (default)
   • Assigned to — See each person's task load.
   • Progress — Group by Not started / In progress / Completed.
   • Due date — Group by Late / This week / Next week / Future / No date.
   • Priority — Group by Urgent / Important / Medium / Low.
   • Labels — Group by your custom label categories.

Verification: Switch between views to confirm your tasks, assignments, and dates display correctly across all perspectives.

6. Add Planner as a Tab in Microsoft Teams

Embedding a plan in a Teams channel makes it accessible where your team already works.

1. Open Microsoft Teams and navigate to the channel where you want to add the plan.
2. Click the + (Add a tab) button at the top of the channel.
3. Select Tasks by Planner and To Do from the app gallery.
4. Choose one of the following:
   • Create a new plan — Creates a brand new plan linked to this channel.
   • Use an existing plan from this team — Select a plan already associated with the team's Microsoft 365 Group.
5. Click Save.
6. The plan now appears as a tab in the channel. Team members can view, create, and update tasks directly within Teams.

7. Stay Updated with Planner Notifications and Outlook Integration

Planner sends notifications so you never miss a deadline or assignment.

1. Email notifications: Planner sends daily or weekly email summaries of upcoming and overdue tasks. To manage these:
   • Open Planner in the browser.
   • Click the ⚙️ Settings gear icon in the top-right.
   • Under Notifications, toggle email summaries on or off.
2. Teams notifications: When Planner is added as a tab, task assignments and completions can trigger notifications in the Teams channel's Activity feed.
3. Outlook integration: Tasks assigned to you in Planner automatically appear in your Microsoft To Do app under Assigned to me, which syncs with Outlook Tasks. You can view them in Outlook by clicking To Do in the left navigation.

Troubleshooting

TIP

If you are unsure whether to use Planner, Microsoft Lists, or Microsoft To Do, here is a quick guide: Use To Do for personal tasks. Use Planner for team project boards with assignments. Use Lists for structured data tracking (inventory, issues, requests) with custom columns and views.

Symptom / Error	Potential Cause	Solution
"You don't have access to create a plan"	Not a member of a Microsoft 365 Group	Ask the group owner to add you as a member, or create a new plan that creates a new group.
Tasks do not appear in Teams tab	Wrong plan selected or tab not refreshed	Remove the tab and re-add it, selecting the correct plan. Refresh the Teams app.
Assigned tasks not showing in To Do / Outlook	To Do sync delay or Planner not linked	Open Microsoft To Do and check the Assigned to me list. Allow a few minutes for sync. If missing, sign out and back into To Do.
Cannot drag tasks between buckets	Browser compatibility issue	Use Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome. Clear the browser cache and try again.
Chart view shows incorrect counts	Completed tasks still in active buckets	Mark tasks as Completed using the progress dropdown or the circle checkbox on the task card.

Related Articles

• How to Create and Manage Teams Channels
• How to Create and Use a List in Microsoft Lists
• How to Use Power Automate Basics in Microsoft 365
• How to Use OneNote for Note-Taking and Organization
• Understanding Microsoft 365 Apps — What Each App Does and When to Use It
• Understanding Task Management in Microsoft 365 — To Do vs. Planner vs. Lists

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