Microsoft Teams gets new feature to easily create tasks from messages

What you need to know

• You can now create tasks from channel posts or chats in Microsoft Teams.
• The option is available through the "More actions" section of the ellipsis menu on any chat or channel post.
• To use the feature, you need to have the Tasks app installed on Teams.

Microsoft Teams has a new option that makes it easy to create tasks from any channel post or chat. Microsoft first announced the feature in September 2020, but it appears to be rolling out now. With the option, you can create a task from any chat message or channel post through the "More actions" section within the ellipsis menu.

Adam Deltinger, a Microsoft office apps and services MVP, spotted the feature on Teams and shared a screenshot on Twitter recently.

To create a task, you have to jump through a few menus, but it's still more convenient than copying text and having to open another app. Here's how to create a task:

1. Click the "..." menu on any chat or channel message.
2. Select More actions.
3. Select Create task.

Doing this opens a dialogue box that you can then use to set a due date, priority, and other aspects of the task. If you create a task through these steps, it will appear in the Tasks app in Teams and the Tasks list within Microsoft To Do.

As pointed out by OnMSFT, the option to create tasks from messages is turned on by default, but you need to have the Tasks app installed on Teams.