Todo List

A todo list is a written record of tasks you need to complete. It externalizes what you need to do so your brain does not have to hold everything at once. A good todo list is simple, honest, and kept short enough to be useful.

Human working memory is limited. Trying to remember everything you need to do creates background mental load that drains focus and causes anxiety. Writing tasks down frees your mind to concentrate on the work itself rather than on remembering the work.

No. Subtasks are useful only when a task is large enough to feel overwhelming or unclear as a single item. A task like "Reply to email" needs no subtasks. A task like "Launch website" benefits from breaking down into smaller concrete steps.

There is no fixed limit, but shorter lists work better in practice. When a list grows too long, it becomes a source of guilt rather than a useful tool. A daily list of five to ten tasks tends to be more effective than a backlog of fifty.

Yes, when used well. The benefit comes from clarity and focus: knowing exactly what to do next reduces the time spent deciding and the mental energy spent worrying. The key is keeping the list realistic and reviewing it regularly.

Keeping completed tasks visible lets you see your progress, which is motivating and useful for reviewing what you accomplished. This tool keeps completed tasks by default with a strikethrough style. You can hide them with the "Hide Completed" toggle if you prefer a cleaner view.

A quick daily review (at the start or end of the day) is enough for most people. A longer weekly review helps you clear completed tasks, reprioritize, and add anything new. Regular review prevents the list from becoming stale and useless.

A task is an item that needs to be completed. A subtask is a smaller step that belongs to a larger task. For example, "Build homepage" is a task; "Write headline copy" and "Set up navigation" are subtasks. Subtasks help you make progress on complex tasks one step at a time.

Yes, this to-do list saves without an account or sign-in. Every task you add, check off, or delete is written to browser storage immediately, so the checklist persists when you reload the page or restart the browser. For example, add "Book dentist appointment" tonight and it is still there tomorrow, checkbox state included. That makes it a good fit for tracking the steps of a one-off process, like moving apartments, without registering anywhere.

No, tasks do not sync across devices. This is a browser to-do list backed by local storage, not cloud sync, so a checklist created on your laptop stays on your laptop. Expecting tasks to sync across devices is the most common misunderstanding about this tool. For example, opening the page on your phone shows an empty list, because the phone browser has its own separate storage. Keep one device as the home for each list.

Clearing browser data is the most common cause: deleting cookies or site data also wipes localStorage, and losing the saved list this way is permanent, so copy important checklists somewhere durable before a cleanup. Two other causes look identical. A private or incognito window discards storage when it closes, and a different browser or profile keeps its own storage. For example, a list written in Chrome will never appear in Firefox on the same computer.

Use a browser to-do list for short, private checklists you need right now, and a full task app when you need cloud sync, reminders, due dates, or collaboration. This tool opens instantly with no sign-up and keeps tasks on your device, which suits a daily list of five to ten items or a quick shopping or packing list. For example, a packing list for a weekend trip fits here; a three-month team project does not.

Your tasks are stored in localStorage, a small storage area your browser keeps on this device. Nothing is uploaded, no server ever sees your checklist, and no account is needed; the page reads the saved tasks back each time it loads. For example, a task list written on your work laptop lives only in that browser on that machine. One honest caveat: clearing site data for this page erases the saved list along with it.