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Overview: Reclaim's integration with Google Tasks
Overview: Reclaim's integration with Google Tasks

How the integration between Reclaim and Google Tasks works, and how to get the most out of it.

Updated over a week ago

Reclaim's Google Tasks integration creates a two-way sync between tasks created in Google Tasks and Reclaim Tasks, resulting in new Google Tasks items getting blocked out on your calendar within seconds.

Note: for free Reclaim users, we will sync new tasks and updates to tasks every 5 minutes; for paid users, this should happen within seconds.

How to set up the Reclaim <> Google Tasks integration

  1. Navigate to Settings > Integrations in Reclaim

  2. Click Connect Google Tasks.

  3. You will be prompted to give Reclaim permissions to view, edit, and delete your Google Tasks.

  4. Navigate to your Google Calendar UI

  5. Click Google Tasks icon on the right-hand navigation panel.

  6. Click the dropdown carat next to My Tasks

  7. Select the πŸ—“ Reclaim task list.

You should see a "test task" that Reclaim created for you to help you get started.

We recommend unchecking the "Tasks" calendar on the lefthand side of your Google Calendar. This will make it so that tasks created by Reclaim in Google Tasks won't show up as events at the top of your calendar, and will only show as events on the main calendar.

How Reclaim Tasks sync with Google Tasks

Once you've set up the integration, Reclaim will automatically pull in any newly created Reclaim Tasks into Google Tasks so that they can be managed directly there.

You must use the πŸ—“ Reclaim list to add tasks to the integration. Any other tasks in other lists will not be synced with Reclaim.

Any new tasks you create will automatically get added to Google Tasks, and any tasks you create directly in Google Tasks will automatically get added to your Reclaim Task list. The integration with Google Tasks is a true two-way sync, so updates will always pull in both directions:

  • Marking a task as done in either Reclaim or Google Tasks will mark it done in both places and remove it from your calendar.

  • Marking a task as incomplete in either Reclaim or Google Tasks will mark it incomplete in both places and add it back to your calendar.

  • Deleting a task in either Reclaim or Google Tasks will delete it in both places.

  • Updating details of a task in either Reclaim or Google Tasks (e.g., title, duration, due date) will update it in both places.

Connecting Google Tasks to multiple Google Accounts

You can opt to connect the integration to multiple Google Accounts so that you can add tasks to the πŸ“† Reclaim list from any Google Account that you've connected to your Reclaim account. To do this, head over to the Google Task integration settings and select Choose account:

When prompted, select the account you'd like to connect the integration to.

Creating a Reclaim Task in Google Tasks

You can create a task directly within Google Tasks by using the Add a task button from within the Google Tasks sidebar in Google Calendar. When adding a task, you can simply give it a title and due date, and Reclaim will sync it using your default Task settings. Here's an example where we've added a task and given it a due date:

Because Google Tasks doesn't offer all the options that Reclaim does for its Tasks, you can use natural language within the title of the task to give it additional instructions. To learn more about using natural language in Google Tasks, check out this doc.

Due dates are not required to sync a Google Task to Reclaim. If you don't specify a due date, Reclaim will use the default due date you've set in your settings as well as the default priority level for tasks. =

You can also create Google Tasks directly from Gmail, which will sync to Reclaim. Check out this guide for more info on how to do that.

Handling recurring / repeating Google Tasks

Google Tasks has a recurrence feature that allows for a task to get recreated automatically on a certain interval. For example, the following task is configured repeat every Saturday:

Repeating tasks in Google Tasks will automatically create a new task on each due date for the previous task. This will continue until you find an instance of that task and turn off the repetition.

Each time the new Task Event resurfaces, Reclaim will see it as a brand new event. This can work well if you want a simple task that repeats on a regular basis and a Habit doesn't quite fit your needs.

Removing a recurring Task

If you aren't paying close attention, you might find yourself getting surprised with old tasks "popping back up"β€”when in reality they are new tasks being cloned from an old task that got flagged for repetition.

To fully end a repeating task, deleting the Task in Reclaim. You need to get rid of the repetition rule in Google Tasks, which you can only do if you mark the Task is incomplete first.

  1. Mark the Task as done through Reclaim or the Google Task integration

  2. At the bottom of the Google Task panel, expand the menu labeled Completed to show a list of completed Tasks.

  3. Click on the recurring Task.

  4. Click the "x" next to the Repeat setting.

  5. Click Stop repeating to confirm.

Notes on recurring tasks from Google Tasks

  • You can't use the natural language capability to customize the Task. That's because Reclaim cuts the text in the parenthesis out when it processes the first task, and then all subsequent tasks that get created won't have it. There is no workaround for this currently.

Unsupported Google Task workflows

Currently, Google has a known limitation in its API that prevents Reclaim from seeing certain tasks, even when they are in the πŸ—“ Reclaim task list. Tasks currently cannot be synced from checklists in Google Docs or Tasks created in Google Spaces.

This means that even if a task is synced from Google Docs or a Task created in Google Spaces to your personal Google Task list and then manually moved to the πŸ—“ Reclaim task list, the task will not sync.

Disconnecting the Google Tasks integration

  1. Make sure you're on the πŸ—“ Reclaim task list in Google Task.

  2. Click the three dots labeled More.

  3. Select Delete list.

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