How to Add Outlook Tasks on iPhone and Other Tricks

Apple’s iOS ecosystem has a reputation for being called a “ walled garden ” by third-party app makers. Over the years, the company improves on this front and allows developers a rich integration into the operating system. Microsoft and Google both benefit by offering their products directly in the iOS applications.

Microsoft seems more aggressive here. It supports advanced applications on iOS and, at the same time, you can also use some of its services like Outlook Mail, contacts and tasks in Apple applications.

In this article, we are going to talk about how to add Outlook tasks in the Apple Reminders app. You can still use the Microsoft To-Do app for this, but integrating Outlook with Apple Reminders offers more features like Siri support, iOS widgets, etc.

We will guide you step by step through the process and will also mention other tips for Outlook tasks on the iPhone.

If you’ve somehow deleted the default Apple Reminders app on the iPhone, go to the App Store and download the app again.

Download the Apple Reminders app

Change the default location of tasks in the Reminders app

By default, Apple uses its iCloud platform to save tasks. However, you can change this to Outlook. Follow the steps below to change the default list in the Apple Reminders app.

Step 1: Open device settings and access Apple reminders.

2nd step: Tap the Default List option.

Step 3: Replace the default list with an Outlook list.

So what exactly is the advantage of changing the default list on the iPhone? The answer is the integration of Siri.

If you add a task using the Siri voice assistant, the task is added to the Apple Reminders app’s default list. For example, you can say “Hey Siri, remind me to write a message,” and that will save the task to the Outlook list you selected in the Reminders app.

Consumers can also use the iOS widget menu to quickly complete and add tasks to Outlook lists, which the Microsoft To-Do app doesn’t offer.

Use Siri shortcuts

Unsurprisingly, Siri Shortcuts works best with Apple apps by default. Using Siri, you can create shortcuts to open the default list, add tasks, etc. Let’s create a Siri shortcut to open the default task list.

Step 1: Download the Siri Shortcuts app from the App Store.

2nd step: Open the application and press the “+” symbol.

Step 3: Press “Add action” and select Applications.

Step 4: Choose the Reminders app and it will open the app’s default shortcuts.

Step 5: Select View reminder list and tap the list name and select the appropriate list for the shortcut to open.

Step 6: Press Next, give a shortcut to the shortcut name and click Done.

Now you can just ask Siri to open the list or use the Siri Shortcuts widget to open the list directly in the Apple Reminders app.

Download the Siri Shortcuts app

Access Outlook tasks on Mac

Unfortunately, using the same tips above, you can’t access Outlook tasks on the Mac Reminders app. So how can you create, edit and use Outlook tasks on macOS?

Use the Microsoft To-Do app

Microsoft recently released the To-Do app for the macOS platform. You can download the app from the Mac Store and sign in using the same Microsoft account.

From there, you can access all Outlook lists, create new tasks, and even delete irrelevant ones from the app. The app also supports the dark theme.

Download Microsoft To-Do for Mac

Use Outlook Web

Microsoft has done a great job of integrating its services like Mail, Contacts, To-Do and Skype in one place.

Visit Outlook Web on the Mac browser and sign in using Microsoft credentials. It will open Outlook mail by default. You can go to the to-do section in the lower left corner. It will switch to the web version of Microsoft To-Do and here you will see tasks, Outlook lists and more.

Visit Outlook Web

Use Outlook like a pro

Using the tips above, you can easily integrate and use Outlook tasks on iPhone and Mac. It is free, available on all platforms (unlike iCloud and Apple reminders) and offers more functions than its competitors. What not to like here?