Moving from TickTick or Todoist¶
Bring your lists across in a few minutes. The import runs in the app on your device: the export file is read there and never uploaded as a file; what it finds becomes ordinary tasks, which sync to your server like any others. Google Tasks, Microsoft To Do and iCalendar files work the same way (the other apps).
1. Get the export¶
TickTick's backup is one .csv file with every list.
- Sign in at ticktick.com in a browser.
- Settings > Account > Backup, then Generate backup.
- Keep the
.csvit downloads.
Todoist exports one .csv file a project. Either:
- Everything: Settings > Backups, and download the latest. It is a
.zipwith a file for each project; give Punchlist the.zipas it is. - One project: the project's ... menu > Export as a CSV file. You can choose several such files at once.
2. Import it¶
- In Punchlist: Settings > Your data > Import from another app.
- Pick TickTick or Todoist under From, and choose the file (or files).
- Punchlist shows what it found (lists, open and closed tasks, tags), what is already here from an earlier import, and anything it cannot keep, before it changes anything. Nothing is imported until you press Import.
- Choose how it lands:
- Merge with what you have: the import goes beside your tasks. Add to lists with the same name is on, so an imported "Groceries" goes into your Groceries list instead of a second one; turn it off to get new lists beside yours.
- Replace what you have: your own lists, your Mess Drawer's tasks and your tags go to the Trash first. Lists other people share with you stay. The dialog says how many.
- Import. It is one step: the undo toast takes all of it back, including what Replace moved to the Trash.
Your TickTick or Todoist Inbox goes into Punchlist's Mess Drawer (its inbox); every other list or project becomes a list of the same name, with a colour of its own.
Before anything lands, Punchlist checks that the result is valid data. If it is not, nothing is imported, and the message names the task and what is wrong with it; please report it. Large exports are fine: 5,000 tasks take a few seconds.
Importing again¶
Importing a newer export of the same account with Merge adds only what is new. A task is left out when one with the same title already sits in the list it would land in, under the same parent; from TickTick, its created time must match too (Todoist's export has none). The preview shows how many are already here, and the done message how many were left out. Tasks you changed in Punchlist since stay as you left them: the import does not overwrite them (but one you renamed counts as new, and comes in again).
This needs the import to land in the same lists, so keep Add to lists with the same name on. With it off, only the Mess Drawer's tasks are recognised and every other list comes in again. Two tasks of the same name in one file stay two.
What comes across¶
| What | From TickTick | From Todoist |
|---|---|---|
| Lists | Every list; the Inbox into the Mess Drawer | Every project (named after its file); the Inbox into the Mess Drawer |
| Folders | Not kept: their lists come in on their own, and the preview says so | (Todoist has none) |
| Sections and kanban columns | Not kept: their tasks stay in the list, and the preview says so | Not kept: their tasks stay in the list, and the preview says so |
| Subtasks | Yes, in TickTick's order, up to 5 levels deep | Yes, from the indent, up to 5 levels deep |
| Checklist items | A checklist in the task's notes, ticked items ticked | (Todoist has none; sub-tasks come as subtasks) |
| Notes and descriptions | Yes, as written, Markdown included (headings, links, lists, code, tables) | The description, as written |
| Comments | Not in TickTick's backup | Added to the task's notes, below the description |
| Tags and labels | Yes. Names are lowercased and spaces become dashes (Work Stuff is work-stuff); home/garden nests under home; emoji kept |
Yes, from @label in the task's text (the title loses them), named and nested the same way |
| Priorities | High, medium, low, none | p1 to high, p2 medium, p3 low, p4 none |
| Start and due dates, times | Yes, all-day or timed, in each task's own time zone (the device's when the row names none); a span keeps its first and last day | Read from the date as Todoist writes it ("Nov 4 2026 9am"), in the task's own time zone when the export names one, else the device's |
| Duration | A timed span keeps its end | A timed task's duration becomes its end time |
| Deadlines | (TickTick has none) | Todoist's deadline becomes the task's due date |
| Repeats | Yes, when the rule is one Punchlist follows: daily, every weekday, weekly on days, monthly on a day, the last day or the last Friday, yearly, until a date or a count | Yes, from the date words: "every monday at 9am", "every weekday", "every 15th", "every last day", "every last friday", "every 2 weeks starting Nov 4", "every day until Dec 31"; every! repeats from when you finish it |
| Reminders | Yes, before a timed task, or at a time on an all-day one; up to 10 a task (more are counted in the preview) | Not in Todoist's export |
| Completed tasks | Yes, closed with the time they were done. The backup has no archived flag | Not in Todoist's export (it holds open tasks only, not completed or archived ones) |
| Won't do | Yes, closed as won't do | (Todoist has none) |
| When a task was made | Yes | Not in Todoist's export |
| Notes (TickTick's note kind) | Come in as tasks | (Todoist has none) |
| Attachments | No: the backup holds no files. Each one leaves a line in the notes, 📎 receipt.jpg (attachment not imported), and the preview counts them. Download the ones you need from TickTick first |
No, the same: a line in the notes for each file on a task or comment |
| Sharing, assignees | No: the import is yours. Share the lists again in Punchlist | No, the same |
| List colours, pins, habits, focus records | No | No |
A few more things work the way TickTick and Todoist mean them, not literally:
- Done means done. A task left open under a completed one (an unticked item in a completed TickTick task, say) comes in completed with it.
- Too deep. Subtasks deeper than Punchlist's five levels move up under the deepest task they can sit under. The preview says how many.
- Repeats Punchlist cannot follow (TickTick's "these dates", for one): the task comes in without a repeat. The preview counts them.
- Dates Punchlist cannot read in a Todoist export come in without a date, and the preview counts them too.
- Reminders it cannot keep (unreadable, or past the tenth on a task) are dropped and counted. One set more than a year before its task becomes a reminder at that date and time instead.
After the import¶
- Check the counts in the message against TickTick's or Todoist's own.
- Share lists with the people who had them before: sharing.
- Keep the export file until you are happy. It is also the way back: Punchlist exports TickTick and Todoist files too (Settings > Your data > Export for another app).
Something came across wrong? Report it, and if you can, attach a small export that shows it with the private parts edited out.