How to Use Microsoft Planner
Microsoft Planner is a visual task management tool included with Microsoft 365. It organises work into plans and boards, lets you assign tasks to team members, set due dates, track progress, and view workload across a project. This guide covers how to use Microsoft Planner from setup through to day-to-day task management.
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How to Access Microsoft Planner
Go to office.com and sign in with your Microsoft 365 account. Click the Planner app from the app launcher (the grid of dots in the top left). Alternatively, access Planner directly at tasks.office.com.
Planner is also available as a tab within Microsoft Teams. In any Teams channel, click the plus icon at the top to add a tab, search for Planner, and create a new plan or connect an existing one. This keeps task management directly inside the channel where the work is happening.
How to Create a Plan
In Planner, click New Plan. Give the plan a name and choose whether it is public (visible to everyone in your organisation) or private (only accessible to members you invite). Click Create Plan.
Each plan gets its own board view, where tasks are organised into columns called buckets. By default, a new plan starts with a single bucket called To Do. You can rename this and add more buckets to reflect your workflow.
| Practical tip: Name your buckets after stages rather than statuses. “Research”, “In Progress”, “Review”, and “Done” maps the flow of work more clearly than generic labels. Teams can then move tasks across buckets as they progress. |
How to Create and Assign Tasks
Click Add Task under any bucket. Type the task name and, optionally, set a due date. Press Enter to create the task, or click the task to open it and add more detail.
Inside a task, you can assign it to one or more team members, add a description, attach files, leave comments, add a checklist of sub-items, and set a priority level (Urgent, Important, Medium, Low). You can also add labels, which are colour-coded tags you can customise for your plan.
| Practical tip: Use the checklist feature inside tasks for multi-step work rather than creating separate tasks for each step. It keeps the board cleaner and shows progress within a task without cluttering the overall plan. |
How to Track Progress
Planner offers multiple views for tracking work. The Board view shows tasks in buckets as cards. The Charts view breaks down progress across the plan, showing how many tasks are not started, in progress, late, or complete, as well as a breakdown by bucket, priority, and assignee.
The Schedule view shows tasks on a calendar layout, which is useful for spotting deadline clusters and planning capacity. Switch between views using the tabs at the top of the plan.
At the individual level, click My Tasks in the left sidebar to see all tasks assigned to you across all plans. This is the quickest way to see what you personally need to work on without opening each plan separately.
How to Use Planner with Microsoft Teams
Adding Planner as a Teams tab means the whole team can access the board without switching apps. Task updates made in Teams sync to Planner and vice versa. Team members can comment on tasks directly in Teams, and those comments appear in Planner too.
When Planner is connected to a Teams channel, task assignments and due date reminders can generate notifications in Teams, keeping everyone aware of approaching deadlines without needing to check Planner manually.
For note-taking alongside task management, Microsoft OneNote pairs naturally with Planner. Use Planner for tasks and OneNote for the meeting notes, research, and context behind those tasks.
FAQs
Is Microsoft Planner included with Microsoft 365?
Yes. Planner is included with most Microsoft 365 business and education subscriptions. It does not require a separate licence. Check your subscription details at admin.microsoft.com if you are unsure whether Planner is available to your organisation.
What is the difference between Microsoft Planner and Microsoft To Do?
Planner is designed for team task management across projects. To Do is designed for personal task lists. They are complementary: tasks assigned to you in Planner appear in To Do under a My Tasks view. Use Planner for team coordination and To Do for your personal daily list.
Can I set recurring tasks in Planner?
Not natively. Planner does not currently support recurring tasks. The standard workaround is to create a recurring calendar event in Outlook as a reminder and manage the task manually in Planner, or use Power Automate to create a flow that generates a new task on a schedule.
How do I add someone to a plan?
Open the plan, click the three dots at the top right, and select Plan settings. Under Members, add people by name or email address. Members need a Microsoft 365 account within your organisation to access the plan.
