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OmniFocus 4 Reference Manual

Glossary

Some words and phrases used in OmniFocus have very specific meanings, and though we strive to make those meanings clear, this is a good place to come for further assistance.

Is there is a term missing from this list, or something here that doesn’t quite make sense? Please email us about what would be helpful, and we’ll do our best to clarify or update.

Action

A specific item which can be accomplished, and which you can capture in OmniFocus. Actions can be found in the Inbox, as part of a Project, or part of an Action Group within a project.

In other areas of your life, these are often referred to as tasks or to-dos. In OmniFocus, using the word action reminds you to always be thinking about the next step you can take to move a project towards completion, and attain your goal.

Action Group

A collection of Actions which are part of another action, and which must all be Resolved before the main action can be considered Completed.

Action Groups are normally part of a Project, and can be thought of as sub-projects, but may also be part of the Inbox.

Similar to a project, an action group may be Parallel or Sequential.

Action Groups use bold text, making it easy to quickly tell them apart from actions.

Action Group Type

Action Groups may be Parallel or Sequential.

Compare this to Project Types, which also includes Single Actions List.

Added Date

The date and time that a given Action, Action Group, Project, Folder, or Tag was Added.

Apple User Guides

Apple provides User Guides for a variety of devices, operating systems, and applications:

Availability

Availability is a derived state for a given Action or Action Group, which is calculated based upon the assigned Status of the item, as well as the status of the Folders, Projects, or Action Groups in which it is Contained, or the Tags that are assigned.

Availability states include:

Availability: Available

Available Actions, Action Groups, and Projects are ready for work, as they are Active, and are not Blocked, Deferred, or On Hold.

(If you are looking for more information about View Options, rather than Availability, please see View Options: Available).

Availability: Blocked

Blocked Actions and Action Groups are those not yet ready for work, even though they are Active, as another action must first be Completed or Dropped.

Blocked items are part of Projects or Action Groups that are Sequential, and contain items which must be completed in order. They can be unblocked by moving them to the top of the project or action group, or by changing the project or action group from Sequential to Parallel.

Availability: Blocked with Container

Actions and Action Groups may also be Blocked based on the Availability of their Project or Action Group.

Availability: Unavailable

Unavailable Actions and Action Groups are those not yet ready for work, even though they are Active, as they have a future Defer Date.

Availability: Unavailable with Container

Actions and Action Groups may also not be ready for work, if they are part of a Project or Action Group which has a future Defer Date, or they are part of a project which is On Hold.

Changed Date

The date and time that a given Action, Action Group, Project, Folder, or Tag was Changed.

Compact View

Default view on iPhone, or iPad (when running in some split screen sizes). This view shows each pane of OmniFocus individually, and can be thought of as navigating a series of stacked cards. You can see the Sidebar, Outline, or Inspector.

Compare this with Regular View.

Completed Date

The date and time that a given Action, Action Group, or Project was Completed.

Container

A Folder which contains Folders or Projects, or a Project or Action Group which contains Action Groups or Actions.

This term is used in the Inspector when viewing items which inherit Availability, Status, or properties such as Flagged or Due Date from their container.

Context

In OmniFocus 2 and earlier, it was possible to assign only a single context to any given action, action group, or project.

The context for a given item was considered the limiting factor: what was the single most important thing necessary to move this action, action group, or project forward?

OmniFocus 3 expanded the original assignment of contexts, adding the ability to assign as many tags as desired to any given action, action group, or project.

See Tag

Context Menu

See Shortcut Menu

Contextual Menu

See Shortcut Menu

Database

The collection of files that are bundled together as an OmniFocus.ofocus package, which OmniFocus uses to store all the information that you add to the app. Under normal circumstances, you should rarely need to interact directly with the database folder, as the various Perspectives show you all the contained information.

There are Database Settings that can optimize the performance of OmniFocus, and you can email us if it looks like something isn’t working correctly.

When using Mac, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro, you can have multiple windows open, in order to see different views of your data at the same time. When using Mac, you can open multiple database files at once to restore from a backup or archive, or view the contents of an OmniFocus database other than your primary data.

You may also see this referred to as your OmniFocus data, or OmniFocus library.

Defer Date

The date and time that an item becomes Available for work. Using Defer Date is an excellent way to get something off of your plate for now, knowing that it will return when it’s ready for work.

In the field of project management, this is referred to as a “Start No Earlier Than” constraint.

Projects or actions that have a future Defer Date are referred to as Deferred projects or actions.

Defer Dates may also be inherited from their Container. Read about Inherited Dates to learn more.

Compare to Planned Date and Due Date

Device

Hardware that runs each Platform supported by OmniFocus.

Supported devices include Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro.

Drag and Drop

A system-level function that allows dragging items into OmniFocus, out of OmniFocus, and between OmniFocus and other apps on Macs, iPads, and iPhones. Try dragging text into OmniFocus from other apps, reordering items in the outline, and dragging rows or selected text from OmniFocus to other apps on your device.

Dropped Date

The date and time that a given Action, Action Group, or Project was Dropped.

Due Date

The date and time by which a given Action, Action Group, or Project must be completed.

In the field of project management, this is referred to as a “End No Later Than” constraint.

Due dates may also be inherited from their Container. Read about Inherited Dates to learn more.

Compare to Defer Date and Planned Date

Due Soon

A designation for Actions, Action Groups, and Projects with assigned due dates that are approaching, and may need additional attention. Items that are due soon have a special style to make them more visible in your outline.

The exact meaning of Due Soon can be changed using the “Due Soon” Means setting.

Editing Menu

A menu available on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro, which allows editing of text in text fields; normally accessed by tapping in a text field while editing text.

Most often contains system commands such as:

May also contain OmniFocus-specific commands, such as:

Please note that this is not the same as the Edit menu.

Estimated Duration

The amount of time you think an Action, Action Group, or Project will take to complete.

Estimated Duration can be assigned using the Inspector, or the Outline (depending on your Layout Settings).

Estimated Duration is used when calculating the Latest Start Date, and can be used when building Custom Perspectives.

Favorite

Favorite perspectives can be selected to display in the Perspectives Bar on Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro; or on the main screen of OmniFocus for Apple Watch.

Setting your favorite perspectives:

This can be done in the Perspectives List on Mac, in Quick Open on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro, and in Settings on Apple Watch.

Flagged

An indication that an Action, Action Group, or Project is important.

Flags are inherited, making it easy to prioritize an entire project with a single click. Read more about this, in the Inherited Flag section of the reference manaul.

Items that are flagged also have a special orange Status Circle, with a flag hat.

Use Set/Clear Flag to add or remove Flagged status to an item.

Folder

A way to group together related projects or folders. By default, folders are shown in the Sidebar, and can optionally be shown in the Outline using Projects View Options.

Forecast Tag (Pro)

Requires OmniFocus Pro

A way of indicating that an Action, Action Group, or Project should be displayed in Forecast.

Select the Forecast Tag in Forecast View Options, and use Apply/Remove Forecast Tag to apply or remove the Forecast Tag to items.

Group

See Action Group

Hidden

An item that exists in your OmniFocus data, but that isn’t currently visible, based on your View Options. This can be relevant when OmniFocus alerts you that something might be deleted by mistake.

Hierarchy

See Structure & Hierarchy

Inbox

The built-in Inbox perspective is designed to hold Actions and Action Groups that you have captured in OmniFocus, prior to processing them… creating new projects, adding them to existing projects, or assigning tags.

Inbox Item

An Action which has been captured in the Inbox, and which has not yet been processed.

Inbox items can be assigned to a new or existing Project, or may be converted to a project.

Inbox Order

The order in which Action Groups and Actions are listed in the Inbox. This is a very common order in which to display your OmniFocus data, even when you are in other Perspectives.

See also Projects Order, Tags Order

Inspector

A view on the trailing side of the OmniFocus window (in Regular View), or that can be opened by swiping from the trailing side (in Compact View), which allows you to adjust all the details for Actions, Action Groups, Projects, Folders, and Tags. With something selected in the Outline or Sidebar, the Inspector automatically shows relevant fields. Click the Inspector button in the Toolbar, or choose Show Inspector from the View menu.

Additional information is available in the Inspector chapter.

Item

Term that may refer to Actions, Action Groups, Projects, Folders, or Tags. This reference manual will typically refer to the specific type of item being discussed, but there are a few topics where referring to an item is either necessary, or sufficiently clear.

Keyboard Shortcut

A single key, or set of keys pressed in combination, that calls a menu command. These are available when using a Mac, or with an external keyboard attached to an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Vision Pro. When using an iPad, pressing and holding the Command key (⌘) will see a list of shortcuts available from your current location in the app.

Latest Start Date

Date and time by which work must begin on a given Action, Action Group, or Project, in order to have work completed by the Due Date.

Latest Start Date is calculated by subtracting the Estimated Duration from the Due Date.

Leading/Trailing Edge

When using OmniFocus with a left to right language, the leading edge is the left side, and the trailing edge is the right side.

When using OmniFocus with a right to left language, the leading edge is the right side, and the trailing edge is the left side.

Mutually Exclusive Tags

By default, OmniFocus 3 and later allow assigning as many tags as desired to any given action, action group, or project.

This was a change from OmniFocus 2 and earlier, which allowed assigning only a single context to any given action, action group, or project.

As of OmniFocus 4.7 or later, you can turn on the Mutually Exclusive setting for a tag group. This forces all tags that are part of the tag group (including “parent,” “child,” and “descendant” tags) to behave as they did in OmniFocus 2 and earlier: only a single tag from the tag group may be assigned to any given action, action group, or project.

To learn more, please read about the Group Behavior Inspector

Omni Account

Your Omni Account can be used to start a free trial of our applications, purchase a license or subscription, upgrade an existing license, or sync our applications using the Omni Sync Server.

Read the Using and managing your Omni Account support article to learn more.

Omni Automation

A method of scripting OmniFocus with JavaScript. See the Omni Automation website for more information on this feature.

Outline

The main view of OmniFocus, where you see and interact with your Actions, Action Groups, and Projects, usually through a Structured view of your data. On a Mac or iPad, this is the center area of the OmniFocus window, with the Sidebar available on the Leading Edge, and the Inspector available on the Trailing Edge. On an iPhone, this is also the primary area of OmniFocus, with both the Sidebar and Inspector hidden most of the time, but available for changing your view or data. Some perspectives, such as Forecast, Nearby, and Review have specific ways of viewing your data, that may differ from the typical project structure.

Additional information is available in the Outline chapter.

Overdue

A state for items with a Due Date which has passed. Items that are overdue have red Status Circles for greater visibility.

Parallel

A Project or Action Group that contains actions which may be accomplished in any order. By default, all Active actions are considered Available. For a parallel project or action group, View Options set to First Available or Available will show different results, as the topmost action is considered First Available.

Compare Sequential projects or action groups, and Single Actions List projects.

Additional information is available in the Perspectives chapter.

Pending

This Custom Perspective filter rule from earlier versions of OmniFocus is now named Has an active project which has a future defer date.

Perspective

A view of your OmniFocus data, that can be quickly visited from the Perspectives Bar, Perspectives List, or Quick Open.

OmniFocus comes with nine Default Perspectives. Custom Perspectives can be created using OmniFocus Pro.

Read the Perspectives chapter, to learn more.

Planned Date

The date and time that an item is planned for work.

Using a Planned Date is an excellent way to schedule an item for work, without relying upon the Defer Date or Due Date.

Planned Dates may also be inherited from their Container. Read about Inherited Dates to learn more.

Compare to Defer Date and Due Date

Platform

Operating system that runs on each Apple device supported by OmniFocus.

Supported platforms include iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and visionOS.

Plug-In

Omni Automation Plug-Ins are written in JavaScript, and can be used for automating various tasks, when using OmniFocus Pro. Visit the Omni Automation in OmniFocus website for more information.

Project

A collection of Actions and Action Groups that are all working towards a common goal (see Parallel or Sequential) or that are united by another common element (see Single Actions List).

Project Type

Projects may be Parallel or Sequential, or they may be a Single Actions List.

Compare this to Action Group Types, which does not include Single Actions List.

Additional information is available in Project Type

Projects Order

The order in which Projects, Action Groups, and Actions are listed in the Projects perspective. This is a very common order in which to display your OmniFocus data, even when you are in other Perspectives.

See also Inbox Order, Tags Order

Regular View

Default view on Mac, iPad (when running in full screen), Apple Vision Pro, and Web. This view can show the Sidebar, Outline, and Inspector at the same time.

Compare this with Compact View.

Resolved

Projects, action groups, or actions that have either been Completed or Dropped.

Sequential

A Project or Action Group that contains actions which must be completed in a specific order, from top to bottom. By default, only the topmost Active action is considered Available, and all actions below that one are considered Blocked. For a sequential project or action group, View Options set to either First Available or Available should show the same result.

Compare Parallel projects or action groups, and Single Actions List projects.

Additional information is available in the Perspectives chapter.

Settings

See OmniFocus Settings or System Settings, depending on whether you want to change something about OmniFocus, or something about the system on which OmniFocus is running.

Shortcut Menu

If you touch and hold on an Item, Outline Row, or selection of text, a menu may appear with relevant commands.

Apple previously referred to this type of menu as a context or contextual menu.

A pane to the left of the Outline, which can display folders, projects, tags, or a calendar, depending on which Perspective you are viewing. When using Regular View, choosing Show/Hide Sidebar will show or hide the Sidebar, next to the Outline. When using Compact View, the Sidebar will slide in from the left, and will slide out to the left when you are finished using it, leaving the Outline visible.

Additional information is available in the Perspectives chapter.

Single Actions List

A Project which contains actions that may (or may not) be related in some way, but that are not part of an overall goal. Unlike with parallel or sequential projects, the position of an action in a single actions list does not matter; each action can be thought of as a very small standalone project. For a single actions list, View Options set to First Available or Available will show identical results, as all actions are considered First Available.

Compare Parallel and Sequential projects and action groups.

Additional information is available in the Perspectives chapter.

Stalled

This Custom Perspective filter rule from earlier versions of OmniFocus is now named Has an active project which has no remaining actions.

Starred

See Favorite

Status

Status can be directly assigned to an Action, Action Group, Project, Folder, or Tag, or it can be inherited from a Container.

Directly applied status options are:

Inherited status options are:

You can update the status for an item by:

Or by selecting an item and pressing:

To learn more about inheritance, please see the Inherited Status part of the Containers, Properties, and Inheritance section, in the Outline chapter.

Status: Active

Actions, Action Groups, Projects, or Folders which are planned for work, or Tags which are currently in use.

This is the default status for all newly added Items.

Status: Completed

Actions, Action Groups, and Projects for which all work has been completed.

Status: Completed with Container

Actions or Action Groups which are Active, but which are part of an Action Group or Project that has been Completed.

Status: Dropped

Actions, Action Groups, Projects, Folders, or Tags that are no longer planned for work.

Status: Dropped with Container

Actions, Action Groups, or Tags which are Active, but which are part of an Action Group, Project, or Tag Group that has been Dropped.

Unlike dropping an Action Group, Project, or Folder, dropping a Tag does not drop Actions with that tag assigned.

Status: On Hold

Projects or Tags which are not currently planned for work, but which may be planned for work in the future.

Actions or Action Groups inside of a project which is On Hold will be considered Unavailable.

Actions or Action Groups which are assigned to a tag which is On Hold will be considered Blocked.

Projects are not affected by a tag which is On Hold.

Structure and Hierarchy

OmniFocus data is structured in a specific way, often referred to as the hierarchy of OmniFocus.

The smallest item in OmniFocus is the Action, which can either exist in the Inbox, or as part of a specific Project. While part of the Inbox, an action is just that: a single item which has the potential to be completed, but which may or may not be part of a larger goal (a project).

When switching to the Projects perspective, you begin to see where else an action can exist. Actions, whether or not they are part of an Action Group, are also part of a project. Projects may contain many actions or action groups, but may not contain other projects.

How can you group projects into areas, such as “Work” or “Renovate House”? Look at the Projects Sidebar, where you can create Folders, which can hold projects, or even other folders.

Project Hierarchy

The project hierarchy of OmniFocus is: folders can contain folders or projects, projects can contain action groups or actions, action groups can contain action groups or actions, while at the bottom of the structure lives the most important part: the action.

This hierarchy can most easily be seen in the Projects Sidebar, or in the Projects Outline, after turning on Show folders in outline.

Tag Hierarchy

There is also a tag hierarchy, which is that tags can contain other tags, and any level of tag can be assigned to an action, action group, or project.

This hierarchy can most easily be seen in the Tags Sidebar, as the Tags Outline only displays rows for tags that have been assigned to visible actions, action groups, or projects.

Status Circle

The circle next to an Active Action or Action Group that can be clicked or tapped to set the item to Completed; Option + click will set the item to Dropped.

The color of the circle also indicates whether it is Due Soon, Overdue, or Flagged; actions and group configured to Repeat also have a special status circle, containing 3 dots.

For additional information, see the Status Circle section of the Outline chapter.

Sub-Project

See Action Group

Sync

Syncing OmniFocus updates your local OmniFocus data with another copy stored on a server, such as the Omni Sync Server.

This allows you to keep all of your copies of OmniFocus up-to-date, as changes go from one device, to the server, to another device, and back again.

System Settings

Apple application that allows you to change options that affect either your entire device, or only OmniFocus.

This application is named Settings on iPad, iPhone, or Apple Watch; it is named System Settings on Mac (it was previously called System Preferences).

Tag

Tags can be assigned to an Action, Action Group, or Project, and provide another way of looking at your OmniFocus database.

They can represent a person, place, thing, state of mind, energy level, or any other factor that you find useful. These allow you to pull together all related actions, action groups, and projects into one place.

Your use of tags can be simple, such as showing you all the items related to work; or it can be complex, such as showing you all the items related to work that you need to coordinate with your co-worker, which must be completed while you have high-energy and are sitting near your computer.

See also Tag and Context

Tag Group

A collection of child Tags nested underneath a parent tag. Selecting a parent tag in the Sidebar will also select child tags. Assigning a child tag to an action or project will also assign the parent tag.

See also Tag Group

Tags Order

The order in which Projects, Action Groups, and Actions are listed in the Tags perspective.

See also Inbox Order, Project Order

Task

See Action

Title

The name of your Action, Action Group, Project, Folder, Tag, or Tag Group.

One of the only Properties that is always shown in the Outline and Inspector.

Toolbar

An area at either the top or bottom of the OmniFocus window that contains Tools & Commands for modifying the contents of that window, or provides access to additional functionality, such as Settings, Help, or Automation.

For additional information, see the Toolbar chapter.

Untagged

Actions, Action Groups, and Projects without at least one assigned Tag.

Untagged items can be found using an Is untagged perspective rule in a Custom Perspective, and are grouped together in the Tags Sidebar.

View Options

View Options allow you to change how OmniFocus displays your information, as well as which Actions, Action Groups, or Projects are shown in specific Perspectives.

These options are available in most perspectives:

For general information about View Options, please see the View Options section of the Perspectives chapter, as well as the View Options sections for each of the Default Perspectives and Custom Perspectives.

View Options: Available

Displays all Actions, Action Groups, Projects, Folders, and Tags which are both Active and Available.

Items must not be Blocked, Deferred, or On Hold.

View Options: Everything

Displays all Actions, Action Groups, Projects, Folders, and Tags, including those which have been Completed or Dropped.

View Options: First Available

Displays only the first Action, which is both Active and Available, in a given Project.

Action must not be Blocked, Deferred, or On Hold.

This is a focused version of Available, which also takes into account the relationship between actions within a project, as well as the Project Type.

In a Sequential project, the First Available action must be above any Blocked or Unavailable actions in order to display. It is common for a sequential project to not have a First Available action.

In a Parallel project, the First Available action may be anywhere in the project, as actions in parallel projects may be completed in any order.

In a Single Actions List, which is a collection of individual actions rather than actions working towards a common goal, all Available actions are also considered First Available.

View Options: Remaining

Displays all Actions, Action Groups, Projects, Folders, and Tags, except for those which have been Completed or Dropped.