Import tasks from Todoist or TickTick

Heym can read Todoist’s project exports and TickTick’s backup file and turn them into Heym tasks, projects, sections and labels. You see a preview of everything first, and nothing changes in your account until you confirm. This page covers both apps, what comes across, and what to do if you’re coming from an app Heym can’t import.

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Open Import

Click your name at the top of the sidebar, choose Settings, then Import. Under Import from, pick Todoist or TickTick. The steps for exporting from that app appear right below.

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Import from Todoist

Todoist exports one CSV file per project, and the file name becomes the project’s name in Heym.

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Import from TickTick

TickTick puts all your lists into one backup file.

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Check the preview

The preview’s first lines sum up the import: how many tasks, how many new projects and sections, how many tasks go to the Inbox, and which new labels Heym will create. Below that, it says whether every row was read or lists what won’t come across exactly.

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Choose where each group goes

Under Where your tasks go, every Todoist project or TickTick list is a group with its tasks. Each group becomes its own project in Heym, unless you send it to your Inbox:

• Click Project next to a group’s name and choose Inbox to put its tasks in your Heym Inbox instead.
• New project means Heym will create the project. Adds to existing project means you already have a Heym project with that name, and the tasks go into it.
• Your Todoist or TickTick inbox goes to your Heym Inbox.

Tasks sent to the Inbox keep their dates. Undated ones show up in your Inbox. Dated ones show up in Today and Upcoming on their day, so the preview’s “tasks go to the Inbox” count can be higher than what you see in the Inbox list. The task list shows each task as it will look in Heym, with its priority, labels and date. Text that ends up in a task’s description, such as comments or Subtask of: lines, shows in small print under the task.

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Read the notes about changes

If some tasks can’t come across exactly as they are, the preview says so. Click a line such as 2 tasks import with changes or 1 row skipped to see which tasks and why: a date Heym couldn’t read, a repeat it doesn’t support, a dropped assignee. Tasks with changes still import, just without that part. One exception: a Todoist repeat Heym doesn’t support imports without a date, so give the task its date and repeat again afterwards. Skipped rows don’t import.

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Bring completed tasks along (TickTick)

TickTick backups include completed tasks. They’re left out unless you turn on Include completed tasks at the bottom of the preview. They then import already checked off. Todoist’s exports don’t include completed tasks, so there’s nothing to turn on.

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What comes across

A Todoist task with a deadline but no date gets the deadline as its date. These don’t come across:

• Todoist reminders and assignees. Tasks import without them, and the preview lists each one.
• TickTick folders. Heym has no folders, so each list in a folder becomes its own project.
• TickTick notes and tasks marked Won’t do. They’re skipped.
• Dates written in another language. Heym reads Todoist dates written in English. Others import without a date, and the preview says so.

New projects aren’t linked to a goal or a life area. Open each one afterwards and set its Alignment. See Projects.

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What happens if…

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I import the same files twice

Heym remembers what it imported and skips it. The preview says how many tasks were imported before and will be skipped. Only new tasks come across. Tasks you imported and then deleted still count while they’re in Trash, so Heym skips them. To import them again, delete them for good from Trash first, or restore them instead. See Undo and Trash. Todoist exports have no task IDs, so Heym recognizes a Todoist task by its project, section, title, date and description. If you changed a task in Todoist since the last import, it counts as new and comes across again.

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I want to undo an import

An import can’t be undone in one step. To take it back:

1. Delete each new project it created: open the project, click ⋯ at the top right, choose Delete and confirm. Its tasks move to Trash. See Projects.
2. Delete the other tasks it brought in yourself: the ones it added to a project you already had, and the ones it sent to your Inbox. Dated Inbox tasks are in Today and Upcoming.
3. Labels it created stay until you delete them. See Labels.

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Something went wrong

If Heym can’t read the files, it says so and shows no preview. Use each file exactly as Todoist or TickTick exported it, then try again. If you picked the wrong kind of file, the preview says Nothing new to import. and 1 row skipped. Click 1 row skipped to see why, for example This isn’t a Todoist export. If the import itself fails, nothing is changed, so you can try again.

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Limits

• 25 files at once from Todoist. Import the rest in a second round.
• 4 MB per file and for all files together.
• 5,000 tasks per import. If there are more, import the same files again: Heym skips what’s already there and brings in the next batch.
• 5,000 characters per description. Longer descriptions are cut off at the end.
• Projects on the Free plan: you can have 3 projects. If an import would create more projects than you have room for, the preview says how many are free, and you can’t click Import until the new projects fit. Send some groups to the Inbox, or upgrade to Pro.

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Coming from Things 3 or Notion

Heym can’t import from Things 3 or Notion. Instead of copying everything, start with what you still use: the areas and projects you’re working on now. Old and finished items can stay where they are. How a Things 3 setup maps onto Heym: From Notion, move pages you still read into Notes, and link each note to a goal or life area. Turn a task list into Heym tasks, ideally in a project or linked to a goal. What each block in Heym is for is on How Heym fits together.

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