Bring convenience and consistency to OmniFocus for iOS/iPadOS through the magic of Shortcuts.
OmniFocus is a personal task manager by the Omni Group for macOS, iOS, and iPadOS. The declared goal of the program is to be able to capture thoughts and ideas into to. OmniFocus makes this possible with nested filters that let you fine-tune the conditions tasks should match to be displayed inside a perspective. The last perspective I’ve put together for the iOS 14 review, called ‘Future’, displays review-related tasks which have a defer date in the future and are not due soon. Add the OmniFocus complication to your watch face and see how many items are due soon, and which one is due next — all without having to even open the app! Get a list of actions — for items due today, or due soon, for flagged items, and so on — and mark them. OmniFocus for the Web is a companion to OmniFocus 3 for Mac and OmniFocus 3 for iOS, available as part of an OmniFocus subscription. Using your web browser, you can view your projects, add actions, mark actions as complete, and more. It’s currently designed for use on a computer rather than use on a phone. Check browser compatibility.
Omni Automation Plug-Ins for OmniFocus For your convenience, the Omni Automation plug-ins (actions) contained in this website’s documentation for OmniFocus are listed here. All plug-ins are fully documented on their “More info” links, and are completely user-editable, should you wish to make changes or alterations.
Shortcuts is a technology that’s integrated into iOS/iPadOS that provides a simple yet powerful way to automate things you do on your iPhone and iPad. By tapping into this functionality you can bring speed, convenience, and consistency to your iOS/iPadOS workflows, including those that integrate with OmniFocus and complementary third-party apps.
Here are some of our favourite Shortcuts. Tap the Add Shortcut link on your iPhone or iPad to add these to your Shortcuts Library. You can use them as is or customize them to suit your needs.
How To Use Shortcuts with OmniFocus
If you’re a Learn OmniFocus Member, watch Automating OmniFocus 3 Using Siri Shortcuts: Basics if you’re new to using OmniFocus and Siri Shortcuts or want to review the basics. And further your knowledge by watching Automating OmniFocus 3 Using Siri Shortcuts – Beyond the Basics and Automating OmniFocus 3 Using Siri Shortcuts: Advanced.
MacSparky’s Shortcuts Field Guide
David Sparks (aka MacSparky), who’s been a guest on Learn OmniFocus, has an excellent Shortcuts Field Guide that offers an in-depth look at both basic and advanced topics, including enhancements to Shorcuts that were introduced in iOS/iPadOS 14.
Add a Call Task To OmniFocus
Use this Shortcut to quickly add an action to call someone (optionally with some added notes) to OmniFocus. This is an example Shortcut that you can easily modify to add virtually any set action to your system.
[ Add Shortcut ]
Add a Call Task To OmniFocus (Contacts)
When you run this Shortcut you’ll be prompted to choose someone from your Contact list. An action will be added to OmniFocus to remind you to call that person. Conveniently, their phone number(s) are automatically added to the notes field. And you can optionally add a due date.
[ Add Shortcut ]
Create Draft for Meeting Notes
This Shortcut helps you prepare for your meetings taking place in the next 48 hours by creating a Draft to store the meeting notes and, optionally, an OmniFocus action to prompt you to prepare. The Draft is tagged “meeting” and includes a title with the date and time of the meeting, the type of meeting (chat or client session), and the subject of the meeting (taken from the calendar event). If you choose to create an OmniFocus action to prepare, the new action is automatically linked to the new Draft and due two hours before the meeting begins.
[ Add Shortcut ]
Drive Time
Continue playing Overcast, and open an Errands perspective in OmniFocus. Featured in the Automating OmniFocus 3 with Launch Center Pro 3 video (Members Video).
[ Add Shortcut ]
Meeting Preparation
Get the next calendar event from your calendar and use that to create a note in Drafts, then open a Person perspective in OmniFocus to set you up for a meeting. Featured in the Automating OmniFocus 3 with Launch Center Pro 3 video (Members Video).
[ Add Shortcut ]
Multiple Tasks To Inbox
Quickly save multiple tasks to your OmniFocus Inbox with minimal fuss. This Shortcut prompts you to specify the tasks then uses the TaskPaper action to add them to your inbox for further processing.
[ Add Shortcut ]
OmniFocus Action + Bear Note
When you run this Shortcut you’ll be prompted for a task/note name. A new action will be added to your OmniFocus inbox that’s linked to a new Bear note with the same name. The Bear note will also include a link back to the OmniFocus action, making it easy to jump between Bear and OmniFocus.
[ Add Shortcut ]
OmniFocus Action + Schedule
Use this Shortcut to make time for an important action. You’ll be prompted for the name, duration, and the date/time you plan to step into action. An action will be added to your OmniFocus inbox, complete with an estimated duration. And an appointment will be added to your calendar with a link back to this action.
[ Add Shortcut ]
OmniFocus Month Tasks
Do you have actions or projects that need to be completed on a specific day each month? This Shortcut will prompt you for the name of the task and the day of the month, then add a year’s worth of actions or projects to your OmniFocus database.
[ Add Shortcut ]
OmniFocus Repeat Action
This Shortcut allows you to create multiple actions or projects in one fell swoop. You’ll be prompted for the name of the action, the number of repetitions, and the destination in OmniFocus. Numbers will automatically be added to the title (e.g. Read Chapter 1, Read Chapter 2, Read Chapter 3,…).
[ Add Shortcut ]
OmniFocus Repeat From … To
Use this Shortcut to create actions between two dates. You’ll be asked to specify the start and end dates, the days of the week that you need to perform this action, the time that these actions are due, and the destination in OmniFocus. The Shortcut will take care of creating the actions or projects based on these criteria.
[ Add Shortcut ]
Ready For Work
Create the start of a daily log in Drafts, play your work playlist in Overcast, and open OmniFocus to the perspective of your choice. Featured in the Automating OmniFocus 3 with Launch Center Pro 3 video (Members Video).
[ Add Shortcut ]
Review Calendar Events for Tomorrow
When you run this Shortcut you’ll be presented with a list of items that you have on your calendar for tomorrow. Check those that you need to prepare for and “Prepare for” actions for these appointments will magically appear in your OmniFocus Inbox.
[ Add Shortcut ]
Trigger List Tasks to OmniFocus
Use this Shortcut to help you think of important tasks that you need to add to OmniFocus.
[ Add Shortcut ]
Trip To Calendar & OmniFocus
Are you going on a trip? This Shortcut will add the trip to your calendar and create an OmniFocus project to help you prepare. This is intended as a basis to use create your own TaskPaper templates with variables in Shortcuts.
[ Add Shortcut ]
Add new functionality to OmniFocus on Mac, iPhone, and iPad using Omni Automation Plug-Ins.
Omni Automation is a technology that allows you to extend the capabilities of OmniFocus and the Omni Group’s other apps (OmniOutliner, OmniGraffle, and OmniPlan) using plug-ins. You can use plug-ins that other people have written, modify existing plug-ins, or even write your own.
The following plug-ins will allow you to tap into the power of Omni Automation, even if you’re not a programmer. Some can be used as-is and others require a bit of customization.
If you have some JavaScript programming skills, you can even write your own plug-ins. Visit the Omni Group’s Omni Automation website to learn more about writing plug-ins for OmniFocus and Omni’s other apps. And please drop us a line if you’d like to include one of your plug-in creations in our directory.
Please note that you’ll need the Pro version of OmniFocus to use Omni Automation.
Learn How to Use OmniFocus Plug-Ins
Take our Omni Automation: Fundamentals course and learn how to tap into the power of Omni Automation. No programming experience is needed.
Not a member yet? Join Learn OmniFocus to get access to the full course. All memberships include a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Table of Contents
Add Today’s Forecast
The built-in Forecast perspective is a signature feature of OmniFocus. This plug-in provides a quick and easy way to gain access to this perspective without losing track of what you were working on. On the Mac, this perspective is opened in a new tab and on iPad, a new split-screen window is automatically created with the Forecast set to today.
Download | Plug-In Page (Source: Omni Automation)
Complete and Await Reply
Let say you had an action to “Phone: Bob about TPS report”. If you phoned Bob and left a message you’ll likely want to create a new action to reflect the fact that you’re waiting for a response from Bob.
This plug-in automates the process of marketing the action complete and creating a duplicate “waiting” action. With a minor addition (documented on the plug-in page), this plug-in can also apply the tag of your choice to the duplicate action. To make this even more quick and convenient, consider assigning a keyboard shortcut to this plug-in.
Download | Plug-In Page (Source: Omni Automation)
Delete All Unused Tags
Is your sizeable collection of tags starting to feel a bit overwhelming? This plug-in can help. It deletes any tags that aren’t associated with any remaining or completed items in your database.
Download | Plug-In Page (Source: Omni Automation)
Learn OmniFocus Resources
This plug-in provides a quick and convenient way to access resources on the Learn OmniFocus website. It references information stored on our website, making it possible for us to update our list of resources without you having to update the plug-in.
Download (Source: Learn OmniFocus)
Open Project/Action Note URL
It can be very helpful to store a link in the note field of a project or action. For example, a project may include a link to a Google Doc containing the project specifications and an action may have a link to the website that you need to review.
This plug-in opens the link that you have stored in the selected note’s field. This is especially convenient when combined with a keyboard shortcut such as ⌥⌘L.
Download | Plug-In Page (Source: Omni Automation)
Toggling Tags
Toggle Tag
Omnifocus Ios Widget
You can use the Toggle Tag plug-in to toggle a specific tag for the selected item. If this tag is part of a group of tags, Toggle Tag can easily be configured to automatically remove any other tags in that group.
For example, if you had a Priority group of tags that contained Low, Medium, and High you could create Toggle Tag plug-ins that set the tag to Low, Medium and High, ensuring that only one of these three tags is applied at once. This is especially convenient when you assign keyboard shortcuts to these plug-ins.
Generate Toggle Tag
If you have a lot of tags to toggle, check out the Generate Toggle Tag plug-in. It adds a submenu to the Automation menu that includes all of the tags that you select. You can optionally specify that you only want one tag within a group of tags to be applied at a time.
For example, you could have a group of Weekday tags that contains a tag for each day of the week and use this plug-in to create an automation that allows you to apply one (and only) one of these tags to the selected projects and actions.
Download (Collection) | Plug-In Page (Source: Josh Hughes)
Update Reviews
OmniFocus has a very useful Review feature that makes it easy to keep track of when each project was last reviewed (and updated, if necessary). You can specify the review frequency for each project in OmniFocus. You may need to review some projects weekly (the default), whereas others may only need to be reviewed once a month, or even once a year.
Omnifocus Ios Price
While you can use the Review feature in an ad-hoc manner (i.e. review projects as they become available), you may prefer a more regimented review schedule. For example, you might want to align the project review dates so that you review all projects with a weekly review cadence on Fridays, all monthly review projects on the first of the month, and all annual review projects on January 15. That’s where this plug-in comes in.
The Update Reviews plug-in allows you to specify the dates of upcoming weekly, monthly, and annual reviews. When you launch the script you’ll be prompted to specify a date for each of these review frequencies. The review dates for projects that aren’t reviewed either weekly, monthly, or annually will be left unchanged. Check out Joe Buhlig’s blog post to learn more.
Download | Plug-In Page (Source: Joe Buhlig)