5.1 Basic TODO functionality

Any headline becomes a TODO item when it starts with the word `TODO', for example:

     *** TODO Write letter to Sam Fortune

The most important commands to work with TODO entries are:

C-c C-t

Rotate the TODO state of the current item among

          ,-> (unmarked) -> TODO -> DONE --.
          '--------------------------------'
     

The same rotation can also be done “remotely” from the timeline and agenda buffers with the t command key (see Agenda commands).

C-u C-c C-t

Select a specific keyword using completion or (if it has been set up) the fast selection interface. For the latter, you need to assign keys to TODO states, see Per-file keywords and Setting tags for more information.

S-<right>

S-<left>

Select the following/preceding TODO state, similar to cycling. Useful mostly if more than two TODO states are possible (see TODO extensions).

C-c C-v

C-c / t

View TODO items in a sparse tree (see Sparse trees). Folds the entire buffer, but shows all TODO items and the headings hierarchy above them. With a prefix argument, search for a specific TODO. You will be prompted for the keyword, and you can also give a list of keywords like KWD1|KWD2|.... With numeric prefix argument N, show the tree for the Nth keyword in the variable org-todo-keywords. With two prefix arguments, find all TODO and DONE entries.

C-c a t

Show the global TODO list. Collects the TODO items from all agenda files (see Agenda Views) into a single buffer. The new buffer will be in agenda-mode, which provides commands to examine and manipulate the TODO entries from the new buffer (see Agenda commands). See Global TODO list, for more information.

S-M-<RET>

Insert a new TODO entry below the current one.