TickTick's backup holds all your lists in one CSV file, and thisflow imports it in one go. You see a preview first, nothing changes until you confirm, and TickTick stays as it is.

Make a backup in TickTick

Open TickTick on the web, go to Settings → Account and choose Generate backup. TickTick downloads a CSV file with all your lists.

Keep the file as it is. TickTick writes a few lines of notes above the column names; thisflow skips them and starts at the columns.

Open Import in thisflow

Go to Settings → Data → Import, or press ⌘K (Ctrl+K on Windows and Linux) and choose Import from Todoist or CSV. The page is called Import tasks.

Press Choose a file, or drop the backup on the page. thisflow recognises the file by its columns, and the preview shows TickTick backup under the file name.

Check the preview

Before anything is added, the preview shows what the backup holds:

  • New projects: one for each list, except your Inbox and lists with the same name as a project you already have.
  • New sections: the columns of lists you use as a kanban board.
  • Tasks, with how many of them are subtasks (subtasks and open checklist items).
  • Recurring: tasks that repeat. Comments stays at 0, because the backup has none for thisflow to read.
  • A line with how many tasks were already completed or archived and are left out.

If some rows could not be read fully, a note such as 2 rows need a look lists each row and why. A task with a date thisflow could not read still comes in, without the date; only a row with no title is skipped.

If the numbers are not what you expected, press Choose another file. Otherwise press the import button, which shows the number of tasks, for example Import 120 tasks.

Know what comes along

Here is how TickTick maps to thisflow:

  • Lists: each list becomes a project with the same name, and TickTick's Inbox goes to your thisflow Inbox. If you already have a project with a list's name, its tasks go into it instead.
  • Folders: not kept. The lists in a folder become projects of their own.
  • Kanban columns: become sections. The Inbox has no sections, so a column there is left out, and the preview says so.
  • Tasks and content: each task keeps its title, and its content becomes the note.
  • Subtasks: become subtasks. thisflow keeps one level, so anything nested deeper goes under the task at the top.
  • Checklists: each open item becomes a subtask. Ticked items are left out, and the rest of the text stays in the note.
  • Tags: become tags, in lower case.
  • Priority: High becomes P1, Medium P2 and Low P3. Tasks without a priority stay without one.
  • Due dates: the due day, in the time zone the task had in TickTick.
  • Repeats: a repeating task keeps repeating when thisflow can read its rule. One it cannot read comes in as a one-off task with its due date.

Some things stay behind:

  • Completed and archived tasks.
  • Times of day, reminders, start dates and durations.
  • Attachments and the folder structure.
  • The difference between tasks and notes: items in note lists come in as tasks too.

Import the backup

Press Import 120 tasks (with your number). thisflow adds everything in one go and opens your Inbox (or the project, if everything went into one), and a message confirms how many tasks were imported. If something looks wrong, press Undo in that message to take the whole import back.

Check the result

Look through the sidebar and a few projects:

  • Each list is now a project. Archive the ones you do not need any more.
  • Projects that had kanban columns show them as sections; switch to Board to see them as columns.
  • Set reminders and times again on the tasks that need them.
  • Every new project also gets a Done section at the end. When you complete a task, it moves there.

Why do I have so many new projects?

The backup holds every list in your TickTick account, and each list becomes a project. Archive the projects you do not need; their tasks are kept, and you can restore them from Settings → Archived projects.

Where are my reminders and times?

They are not imported. The tasks keep their due day, so add a time or a reminder in the task panel, or type it with quick add, where you need one.

Will my repeating tasks keep repeating?

Yes, when thisflow can read the rule: the preview counts them under Recurring. Compare that number with what you expect, and open a repeating task to check its next date.

What happens if I import the backup twice?

You get the tasks twice. Projects and sections are reused by name, but every task is added again. Press Undo right after an import you did not mean to make. For a side-by-side look at the two tools, see thisflow vs TickTick.