Microsoft launches Microsoft Lists for Microsoft 365

Microsoft on Tuesday launched its new “smart tracking app” for Microsoft 365 users, the Microsoft Lists app.

The app sounds more like a to-do app. However, it has more functionalities and is way more advanced than the tech giant’s to-do app for consumers, Microsoft To-Do.

Microsoft Lists will offer functionalities that will go way beyond basic to-do apps. The app is more like an extension of Microsoft’s SharePoint Lists.

“Microsoft Lists is a Microsoft 365 app that helps you track information and organize your work. Lists are simple, smart, and flexible, so you can stay on top of what matters most to your team,” Microsoft said in an official blog post.

SharePoint users have been using these lists to organize their tasks and track issues. Microsoft Lists will work across its collaboration platforms including Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and Outlook.

The app will provide include templates for various tasks including quick lists.

“Track issues, assets, routines, contacts, inventory and more using customizable views and smart rules and alerts to keep everyone in sync. With ready-made templates, you can quickly start lists online, on our new mobile app, and directly from within Microsoft Teams. And because it is part of Microsoft 365, you can rely on enterprise-grade security and compliance,” it said.

These templates will help users manage their team contacts, event itineraries, approvals for business travel and onboarding checklists. The app makes it flexible for users to maintain a list and organize their tasks for multiple use cases.

Users can manage their lists in different views. Microsoft offers three different views for its app- grid, gallery and calendar. The view is set to “grid” by default.

Another major feature of Lists that it lets users to allow rules for their lists.

“Once you decide on the outcome, click through if/then steps to evolve your rules,” Microsoft wrote.

“Choose people, status, and value changes to send notifications or programmatically update values elsewhere in the list. Finally, use rules to set reminders to keep you and your team informed.”

The company has created a separate list app for web and mobile and has also fully integrated lists into Microsoft Teams. It is planning to roll out Microsoft Lists this summer.