Boards & columns

A List can show its Tasks as a flat list or as a Board of columns, and the view switch in the List’s toolbar flips between the two. The view is part of the List itself, so everyone who opens it sees the same thing – and on a Cowork List, only the Owner can change it. Smart Lists always show as flat lists; the Inbox is the one exception, covered below.

Board view for a List

In Board view, a List’s Tasks are laid out in columns instead of a single running list. Every Board has two built-in columns: Open first and Closed last, with your own columns in between. Open holds the Tasks that are not in any other column; the Tasks you complete gather in Closed. Each column header shows a count of the Tasks in it, so you can see at a glance how work is spread across the Board.

You can:

Drag a card from column to column to move the Task. Dropping it into Closed completes it, and dragging it out of Closed reopens it.
Add a Task straight into a column, so it lands where you want it from the start – new cards join at the top.
Collapse a column to tuck it out of the way, and expand it again when you need it.

A reopened Task always returns to Open – it does not remember the column it was in.

Switching a List between flat and Board view does not change its Tasks – it only changes how they are shown. All the usual Task actions, like completing, moving, and assigning, work the same in either view. Any Board can also be flipped into a Calendar – Week view even borrows the Board layout, one column per weekday; see "Calendar" for the details.

Managing columns

Columns belong to the List, so on a Cowork Board they are the Owner’s to manage: Members work with the cards, but only the Owner can add, rename, reorder or delete columns.

Add a column with the New column button in the toolbar.
Rename or delete a column from the menu in its header, and drag it by its handle to reorder.
Open and Closed are fixed – they cannot be renamed, moved or deleted.

Deleting a column never deletes its Tasks: they move back to Open.

Your Inbox as a personal board

Your Private Inbox can be used as a personal Board with your own private columns. Here the view and the columns are yours alone – each person shapes their own Inbox without affecting anyone else, separate from any shared Cowork List. The Cowork Inbox always stays a flat list.

Set up the columns that suit how you work, then add Tasks directly to a column or collapse the ones you are not using right now. The counts on each column header apply here too, so your Inbox board stays easy to read as it fills up.