howto.coytis.me

Google Tasks ↔ Microsoft To Do Sync Setup

6 min read

Warning

Turned out there’s no ‘mark completed’ for the Google Tasks trigger so you can’t get proper 2 way sync, but it’s sick for passing one to the other.

Overview

Four flows for complete bidirectional sync. Loop prevention uses the tag [S] in the task body/notes — each flow checks for it and skips if present, preventing bounced triggers.

Flow 1 (✅ DONE, needs modification) — Google Tasks → MS To Do (new tasks)
Flow 2 (to build) — MS To Do → Google Tasks (new tasks)
Flow 3 (to build) — MS To Do completed → Google Tasks completed
Flow 4 (to build) — Google Tasks completed → MS To Do completed

All flows are at: https://make.powerautomate.com/environments/Default-4f2fc910-3444-4c0d-85f5-439cbb5011ea/flows

Flow 1 — Modify existing: Google Tasks → MS To Do

Flow name: Google Tasks → Microsoft To Do
Direct link: https://make.powerautomate.com/environments/Default-4f2fc910-3444-4c0d-85f5-439cbb5011ea/flows/361796af-aab9-4779-ac00-08799a7629ae

Changes needed to existing flow

Open the flow, click Edit, switch to classic designer (toggle “New designer” off).

Step 1 — Insert a Condition between the trigger and “Add a to-do (V3)”

Hover over the arrow between the two steps → click the + → Add an action → Control → Condition.

Set the condition:

  • Left side: click in the field → Add dynamic content → select Notes (from the Google Tasks trigger)
  • Operator: contains
  • Right side: type [S]

In the Yes branch (Notes contains [PA-SYNCED]):

  • Add action → Control → Terminate
  • Status: Succeeded (just stops the flow silently)

In the No branch (Notes does NOT contain [PA-SYNCED]):

  • Move the existing “Add a to-do (V3)” step here by clicking ... → Move down, or delete and recreate it inside the No branch.

Step 2 — Update “Add a to-do (V3)” to include the sync tag

In the “Add a to-do (V3)” action, fill in Body Content:

  • Type: [S]

This marks the MS To Do task so Flow 2 doesn’t bounce it back to Google.

Save.

Flow 2 — New: MS To Do → Google Tasks (new tasks)

Flow name: Microsoft To Do → Google Tasks

Build from scratch

Go to Create → new Automated cloud flow (classic designer).

Trigger: Search for Microsoft To-Do → select “When a to-do is created (Business)”

  • Sign in with Microsoft account (coytis@coytis.me — should auto-connect)
  • To-do List: Tasks

Step 1 — Condition (loop prevention)

Add action → Control → Condition:

  • Left side: dynamic content → Body Content (from the To Do trigger)
  • Operator: contains
  • Right side: [S]

Yes branch (came from sync — ignore):

  • Control → Terminate → Succeeded

No branch (genuinely new task — sync it):

Add action → search Google Tasks → “Create a task” (or similar)

  • Task List: My Tasks
  • Title: dynamic content → Subject (or Title from the To Do trigger)
  • Notes: type [S] ← loop prevention tag
  • Due Date: dynamic content → Due Date/Time (if available)

Save as: Microsoft To Do → Google Tasks

Flow 3 — New: MS To Do completed → Google Tasks completed

Flow name: MS To Do Completed → Google Tasks Completed

Note: There is no “completed” trigger in the MS To Do connector — only “When a to-do is updated (Business)“. Use that trigger and add a condition to check the status field.

Build from scratch

Create → new Automated cloud flow (classic designer).

Trigger: Search Microsoft To-Do → “When a to-do is updated (Business)”

  • To-do List: Tasks

Step 1 — Check if the task was actually completed

Add action → Control → Condition:

  • Left side: dynamic content → Status (from the trigger)
  • Operator: is equal to
  • Right side: type completed

No branch (task was updated but not completed — ignore):

  • Control → Terminate → Succeeded

Yes branch (task is now completed — continue):

Step 2 — List Google Tasks to find the match

Add action → search Google Tasks → “List tasks in a task list”

  • Task List: My Tasks

Step 3 — Apply to each (loop through Google tasks to find title match)

Add action → Control → Apply to each

  • Select output from previous step: value (the list of tasks)

Inside the loop, add a Condition:

  • Left side: dynamic content → Title (current Google task in the loop)
  • Operator: is equal to
  • Right side: dynamic content → Subject (from the MS To Do trigger — the completed task’s title)

Yes branch (titles match — this is the one to complete):

Add action → Google Tasks → “Update a task” (or “Complete a task”)

  • Task List: My Tasks
  • Task ID: dynamic content → Id (from the current Google task in the loop)
  • Status: completed

No branch: leave empty.

Save as: MS To Do Completed → Google Tasks Completed

Flow 4 — New: Google Tasks completed → MS To Do completed

Flow name: Google Tasks Completed → MS To Do Completed

Build from scratch

Create → new Automated cloud flow (classic designer).

Trigger: Search Google Tasks → “When a task is completed in a task list”

  • Task List: My Tasks

Step 1 — Loop prevention check

Add action → Control → Condition:

  • Left side: dynamic content → Notes (from trigger)
  • Operator: contains
  • Right side: [S]

Yes branch: Control → Terminate → Succeeded

No branch:

Step 2 — List MS To Do tasks to find the match

Add action → Microsoft To-Do (Business) → “List to-do’s by folder (V2)”

  • To-do List: Tasks

Step 3 — Apply to each

Control → Apply to each → output from List to-do’s step (the value array)

Inside loop → Condition:

  • Left side: dynamic content → Subject (current MS To Do task title)
  • Operator: is equal to
  • Right side: dynamic content → Title (from Google Tasks trigger)

Yes branch:

Add action → Microsoft To-Do (Business) → “Update to-do (V2)”

  • To-do List: Tasks
  • To-do ID: dynamic content → Id (current MS To Do task in loop)
  • Status: completed

No branch: leave empty.

Save as: Google Tasks Completed → MS To Do Completed

Notes

  • The [S] tag in body/notes is the only loop guard — don’t remove it from any flow.
  • Flow 2 depends on MS To Do having a “When a to-do is created” trigger — verify this exists when building. If it doesn’t exist, Flow 2 can be done as a scheduled flow (every 15min, list all To Do tasks, check which ones aren’t in Google Tasks yet).
  • Flows 3 and 4 use “Apply to each” + title matching, which is slightly slow but reliable. The alternative is to store Google Task ID in the MS To Do body during creation (Flow 1), then use that ID directly instead of title-matching.
  • After building all 4 flows, test by adding a task in Google Tasks and confirming it appears in MS To Do within ~1 min, and vice versa.

Graph View