Using OpenTodo › GuidesVersion 0.1.0

Import and export

Your tasks are yours. You can download all of them at any time, and bring tasks in from other places. Nothing is locked in.

Download everything#

Open Settings → Your data and select Download export (JSON). You get one file with all your projects, sections, tasks and subtasks, labels, reminders and saved views, including completed tasks and items in the Trash. Shared projects you're a member of are included too.

The file is plain JSON, so you can open it in any text editor, keep it as a backup, or load it into another OpenTodo server.

The person who runs your server can also set up automatic backups of the whole server.

Import from another app#

Open Settings → Import data (or press g then Shift+I) and choose a file. OpenTodo accepts:

• an OpenTodo export, for moving to another server or restoring,
• a CSV file, from a spreadsheet or a script, with a title column and optional columns for project, due date, priority, labels and more,
• JSON exports from other task apps, in the common shapes those apps use.

Nothing is written straight away. OpenTodo first shows a preview:

1. Check the format it detected. You can change it if it guessed wrong.
2. Choose the options: which project gets tasks that have none, the time zone for dates, whether sections stay sections or become labels, and what to do with possible duplicates and with rows that have errors.
3. Read the preview table. Each row says what will happen: created, updated, skipped (with the reason) or an error (with the reason). Problems are listed first.
4. Import. The import runs on the server, and the tasks reach all your devices on their next sync.

Recurring rules, reminders, subtasks, sections and completed tasks come across where the file has them. Anything OpenTodo can't store is listed as a warning on its row, never dropped silently.

Duplicates#

Importing the same file twice won't double your tasks. OpenTodo recognises rows it imported before, and flags tasks that look like ones you already have (same title, project and due date). Those are skipped unless you choose Import them anyway.

For an OpenTodo export, items that already exist on the server are kept as they are, unless you choose to overwrite changed fields.

Undo an import#

Every import appears under Past imports, with a summary. Undo removes everything that import created and leaves the rest alone. Tasks you added later to an imported project move to your Inbox rather than disappearing. You can then import the same file again, for example with different options.

Good to know#

• Import needs a connection to your server.
• Files can be up to 20 MB and 50,000 rows, unless your server allows more.
• Comments aren't imported. The preview tells you how many there were.
• In a CSV file, write dates as 2026-10-15 and put a time like 09:30 in a due_time column. The import reference lists every column, with an example file.
• If a JSON export from another app isn't recognised, convert it to CSV. Every field OpenTodo stores can be written as a CSV column.

The import formats reference has the details: each format, how fields are mapped, recurring rules and reminders.

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