Momentum
Importing your library
Momentum brings your existing system over from Things 3, Apple Reminders, Todoist and OmniFocus. Each app hands its data over differently, so each section below says how to get it out, what arrives, and — just as important — what doesn't.
Before you start
You can import from the welcome window's Bring your library page on first launch, or any time from File ▸ Import on the Mac. Importing is Mac-only; your iPhone and iPad pick the result up through iCloud sync.
- Nothing is deleted or overwritten. Imports only add to your library.
- A backup is saved first, every time. Before an import touches anything, Momentum writes a full backup of your library — and if it can't, the import doesn't run. Restore one with File ▸ Import ▸ Momentum Backup (JSON)…; File ▸ Import ▸ Show Safety Backups in Finder takes you to them.
- Importing twice is safe. Things 3 items are matched by their Things identity; everything else by title within its project. Anything already there is skipped, so overlapping exports cost nothing.
- Your old app is untouched. Momentum only reads.
Things 3
No export needed. Momentum reads Things' own database directly and never writes to it — this is the route to use.
- Choose File ▸ Import ▸ From Things 3 (its database)…
- The file picker opens in Things' folder. Open the ThingsData folder inside it if you're not already there, and choose Things Database.thingsdatabase.
- Click Import. A large library takes seconds.
If you have a JSON export from the things-cli tool instead, use
From Things 3 (things-cli JSON)….
What comes across
| Things | Momentum | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Areas, projects, headings | Areas, projects, headings | Projects keep their area |
| To-dos | Tasks | With notes, tags, when-dates and deadlines |
| Checklists | Checklists | Order and ticked items preserved |
| Completed and cancelled to-dos | Logbook | Your history, including every past instance of a repeating to-do |
What doesn't
- Repeat rules. Things stores them in a private format. A repeating to-do arrives as its current instance plus its full history, but without the rule — re-add it on the ones you still use. The import summary reminds you.
- Trashed items, and anything in a trashed project, are skipped on purpose. So are to-dos with no title.
- Attachments, Things' own reminders, and times of day on "when" dates.
Cancelled to-dos are filed in the Logbook alongside completed ones: it's the only place that keeps them, since the Trash empties itself after 30 days.
Apple Reminders
Reminders has no export file, so Momentum reads it directly with your permission.
- Choose File ▸ Import ▸ From Apple Reminders… (or the Apple Reminders card in the welcome window).
- Allow access when macOS asks. If you said no earlier, turn Momentum on under Reminders in System Settings, then reopen the window.
- Choose the lists to bring over. Completed reminders are left out unless you tick the option to include them.
What comes across
| Reminders | Momentum | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Your default list | Inbox | It's a catch-all, so it lands unfiled, ready to triage |
| Other lists | Projects | One project per list |
| Due date and time | When date and time | |
| Notes and links | Notes | |
| Repeats | Repeat rules | Where Momentum can express them — see below |
| Completed reminders (optional) | Logbook |
What doesn't
- Subtasks, tags, flags and list groups. Apple doesn't include them in what it shares with other apps.
- Unusual repeat patterns arrive as one-time tasks, and a repeat's end date or "after N times" limit is dropped. The import summary counts both, so you know which to check.
Todoist
Todoist exports one CSV file per project, not one for your whole account.
- In Todoist, open a project → project menu → Export as template → Export as CSV. Repeat for each project.
- In Momentum, choose File ▸ Import ▸ From Todoist (CSV)… and select all the files at once.
Each file's name becomes the project's name, so name the files the way you want the projects called.
What comes across
| Todoist | Momentum | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Project (one file) | Project | Named from the file |
| Sections | Headings | In order, including empty ones |
| Tasks | Tasks | Filed as Anytime in their project |
| Description and comments | Notes | Comments are appended to their task |
| Due date, and a time on it | When date and time | |
| Deadline | Deadline | Kept separate from the due date |
| Duration | Estimated time | A "day" counts as 8 working hours |
| Labels | Tags | |
| Priority 1 | Urgent tag | Priorities 2–4 aren't carried over |
| Repeats | Repeat rules | Every day, week, month or year, weekdays, and intervals like "every 2 weeks" |
What doesn't
- Completed tasks. Todoist leaves them out of the export entirely, so your completion history stays in Todoist. Decide deliberately before closing that account.
- Sub-task nesting. Sub-tasks arrive as ordinary tasks under the same heading, in order. Nothing is lost, but the hierarchy is flat — a checklist on the parent is the closest equivalent.
- A repeat Momentum can't express (say, "every 3rd Monday") arrives as a one-time task with the original phrase kept in its notes.
- Attachments, assignees, reminders, filters, project colours, and archived projects — export archived ones first if you want them.
Todoist writes dates in your account's language. Imports so far have only been checked against English-language accounts; if yours is in another language and the dates come through wrong, please tell us.
OmniFocus
OmniFocus's CSV export contains only what the current perspective shows, so one file is not enough. The mistake to avoid is exporting Projects and assuming you have everything.
- In OmniFocus, switch to Projects and choose File ▸ Export… ▸ CSV. That's every active project and task.
- Switch to Completed and export again. That's your history, which the Projects perspective leaves out.
- If you keep things in the Inbox, export that too. They arrive in Momentum's Inbox.
- In Momentum, choose File ▸ Import ▸ From OmniFocus (CSV)… for each file. Overlap between them is skipped, so order doesn't matter.
What comes across
| OmniFocus | Momentum | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Projects and actions | Projects and tasks | Action groups arrive as tasks, in order |
| Due date | Deadline | Including a time of day |
| Defer date | When date | "Not yet" becomes scheduled |
| Estimated duration | Estimated time | The real number, e.g. 1h 30m |
| Tags (or contexts) | Tags | |
| Flagged | Urgent tag | |
| Notes | Notes |
What doesn't
These are limits of OmniFocus's CSV format, not of the importer:
- Repeat rules. The CSV has no column for them; a repeating action arrives once, with its due date.
- Folders. A project in a folder exports exactly like one that isn't, so folders can't become Areas. Re-file projects into Areas after importing.
- Dropped actions aren't in any perspective's export.
- Attachments, perspectives, review intervals, project types (sequential, parallel, single-action) and Planned dates.
Imports so far have only been checked against English-language OmniFocus. If yours is in another language and everything arrives as plain tasks, please tell us.
If something came through wrong
Tell us — importers are the most valuable thing a beta tester can check. Use Help ▸ Send Feedback… and say which app you came from, roughly how big the library is, and what's different from the original. If the result isn't what you want, restore the backup Momentum saved just before the import (see Before you start).
The File ▸ Import menu also lists TickTick and Daylite. Those importers aren't supported during the beta: they may work, but their results haven't been checked the way the four above have.