How to use Alexa's to-do list

The beauty of using something like Alexa to manage your to-do list at all is the voice interaction. You suddenly think of something that you need to take care of later, but where's your phone, or even a pad and pen?

Alexa can take down that note for you, and here's how you use the to-do list feature.

How to add to the to-do list

There are two ways. The first involves opening up the Alexa app on your phone, tablet or in your web browser.

  1. Launch the Alexa app from your home screen or the app drawer.
  2. Open the sidebar menu.
  3. Tap or click on lists.
  4. Select to-do and not shopping.
  5. Add your to-do.

The other way is by asking Alexa to add something to your to-do list. It's pretty simple, just say:

"Alexa, add (your to-do) to my to-do list."

How to get your to-do list from Alexa

Amazon Echo

Naturally, if you can add your to-dos through Alexa, you can also hear them back or see them in the app. Follow steps 1 to 3 from above if you want to see a snapshot of your to-do list on your phone.

Alternatively, within earshot of your Echo simply say:

"Alexa, what's on my to-do list?"

Alexa will now tell you how many items you have on your to-do list and read each of them out to you in turn.

How to clear your to-do list

Alexa app

Currently, this is the only part you can't complete using your voice. If you ask Alexa to mark a to-do as complete or to clear your list, you'll be told to go to the Alexa app.

So, grab your phone, tablet, or head into your browser and follow the steps listed above to navigate to your to-do list. Tap the checkbox next to each complete item, and you'll then see it struck through. A delete button will present itself so you can clear out old tasks and keep it fresh for new ones.

Alexa will also display in the app what it heard if you used voice to add to-dos. This is handy to check if you're getting errors, as it'll highlight what was heard wrong.

Alexa to-do list in other apps

Any.do

Your Alexa to-do list inside Any.do

Because Alexa is a platform that other services can hook into, your to-do list can also be integrated with other apps. One of these is Any.do, which has an option in settings to link your Amazon Alexa account.

Once you've done this, a dedicated Alexa to-do list will be created within the app, and anything you add or remove in Alexa will sync with Any.do. And vice-versa, anything you scratch off in Any.do will disappear from Alexa.

If you have a favorite app that integrates Alexa's to-do list, be sure to drop it into the comments below.

Download Amazon Alexa from the Google Play Store

Richard Devine