Question 1

How do I create an account?

Accepted Answer

Tap "Start Free" on the landing page. Enter your email address, choose a password (at least 8 characters with at least one letter, one digit, and one symbol), and confirm it. A verification email will be sent to your address — click the link to verify your account. Once verified, you are automatically logged in and taken to your Dashboard. You can also sign up with Google using the "Sign up with Google" button.

Question 2

How do I log in?

Accepted Answer

Tap "Sign In" on the landing page and enter your email and password. On success you are redirected to your Dashboard. You can also use the "Sign in with Google" button to sign in with your Google account. If you have forgotten your password, use the "Forgot your password?" link to reset it.

Question 3

Can I sign in with Google?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Sign Up dialog has a "Sign up with Google" button and the Sign In dialog has a "Sign in with Google" button. Choose your Google account, and if it is your first time you are signed up automatically — no separate password needed. If you already have an account with the same email, signing in with Google links to it. You can still use email and password at any time. (If Google sign-in is not configured for your deployment, the button is hidden and you sign in with email and password.)

Question 4

How do I reset my password?

Accepted Answer

On the login screen, tap "Forgot your password? Reset it." Enter your email address and follow the instructions. You will be taken to a form where you can set a new password and then log in with it.

Question 5

How do I change my password?

Accepted Answer

Go to Settings and find the Account section. Tap "Change Password." You will need to enter your current password and then type and confirm your new password. All other sessions are automatically revoked when you change your password.

Question 6

How do I log out?

Accepted Answer

You can log out from three places: the avatar dropdown in the top navigation bar, the Sidebar footer, or the Settings page under Sessions by ending your current session. A confirmation dialog will appear before you are signed out. Logging out in one tab logs you out of all open tabs automatically.

Question 7

What are sessions and how do I manage them?

Accepted Answer

Each device or browser you log in from creates a session. Go to Settings to see all your active sessions, including the device name, IP address, and last activity time. You can end any individual session remotely, or use "End All Other Sessions" to revoke every session except the one you are currently using. An ended device is signed out within a few minutes. Sessions that have not been used for 14 days expire automatically and no longer appear in the list.

Question 8

I didn't get the verification email. What do I do?

Accepted Answer

Check your spam or junk folder first. If it's not there, use the "Resend Verification Email" button on the verification screen — you can resend every 60 seconds. The app will automatically detect when you verify from any browser or device and log you in. If you still have trouble, contact support@whatsnextaction.com.

Question 9

What methodology does WhatsNextAction use?

Accepted Answer

WhatsNextAction is built on a five-step productivity system: Capture everything that has your attention, Clarify what each item means and what action it requires, Organize the results into the right categories, Reflect on your system regularly, and Engage with confidence knowing nothing is slipping through the cracks. This approach helps you achieve stress-free productivity.

Question 10

What's the difference between a project and an action?

Accepted Answer

An action is a single, concrete, physical step you can take — for example, "Call the dentist to schedule an appointment." A project is any outcome that requires more than one action step to complete — for example, "Plan birthday party." Every active project must always have at least one next action. When you complete a project's next action, the next item in the backlog automatically promotes to become the new next action.

Question 11

What is the difference between Next Actions and Today?

Accepted Answer

Next Actions is your full list of ready-to-do actions — things you could work on right now. Today is a focused subset of actions you have specifically chosen to work on today. Think of Next Actions as your complete menu and Today as what you have put on your plate for the day.

Question 12

What is the Weekly Review?

Accepted Answer

The Weekly Review is a cornerstone of effective productivity. It is a routine where you step back and review your entire system to make sure it is complete and current. WhatsNextAction guides you through six steps: empty your Inbox, review Next Actions, review Waiting For items, review Projects, review Someday/Maybe, and review your Calendar. You can enable it in Settings and even set up a recurring reminder.

Question 13

How do I add a new item?

Accepted Answer

Use the Quick Add button (+) in the top navigation bar to capture something from any page. You can also go to your Inbox and type directly into the input field at the top. Press Enter to save. Everything you capture starts as "stuff" in your Inbox — raw, unprocessed items with no metadata.

Question 14

What is the Inbox and how does it work?

Accepted Answer

The Inbox is your capture zone for raw, unprocessed items called "stuff." Items in the Inbox intentionally have no tags, due dates, or delegation — they are just titles. The idea is to get things out of your head quickly without worrying about organizing. When you are ready, use the Clarify button to process each item and decide what it means and where it belongs.

Question 15

What happens during Clarify?

Accepted Answer

Clarify is a guided, step-by-step wizard that helps you process each Inbox item according to proven productivity principles. First you decide whether the item is actionable. If not, you can file it as Reference, park it in Someday/Maybe, or Trash it. If it is actionable, you decide whether it is a single action or a multi-step project. Single actions that take less than two minutes should be done immediately (the two-minute rule). Otherwise, you create an action with optional tags, dates, and a description, or create a project with an outcome definition.

Question 16

Can I send items to my Inbox by email?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on the Pro and Team plans. Go to Settings and find the "Email to Inbox" section, then generate your unique inbox address. Tap Copy to copy it, then email or forward anything to that address — the subject becomes the item title and the body becomes its description, and it lands in your Inbox as new stuff. You can pause capture with the toggle, or reset the address (the old one stops working immediately). Daily limits apply: 50 emails per day on Pro and 100 per day on Team. This feature is not available on the Free plan.

Question 17

How do I move an item to a different list?

Accepted Answer

Open the item's detail page and use the "Move" dropdown in the action bar at the top. It shows all valid destinations for that item. Some destinations require extra information — moving to Calendar asks for a date and time, Waiting For asks who you are waiting on, and Projects asks for an outcome. You can also drag items from any list view directly onto sidebar menu items to move them.

Question 18

How do I complete an item?

Accepted Answer

In any list view, tap the checkbox next to an item to mark it as complete. You can also tap "Done" on the detail page. Completed items move to the Completed page. If you complete something by mistake, go to the Completed page and uncheck the checkbox — or tap "Undo" on the detail page — to restore it to its original list.

Question 19

Can I reorder my lists?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can drag and drop items to reorder them in the Inbox, Next Actions, Today, Waiting For, Someday/Maybe, Projects, and project action lists. On touch devices, press and hold an item briefly to start dragging. Your custom order is saved automatically.

Question 20

What is Someday/Maybe?

Accepted Answer

Someday/Maybe is where you park ideas and possibilities that you are not ready to act on right now but do not want to forget. Stuff, actions, and projects can all live here. During your Weekly Review, scan this list to see if anything should be activated. Use the "Activate" button to move an item back to its original bucket when you are ready to act on it.

Question 21

What is the Waiting For list?

Accepted Answer

Waiting For tracks actions you have delegated or are waiting on someone else to complete. Each item records who or what you are waiting for and how long you have been waiting. When the item comes back to you, use the "Got it" button to move it to your Next Actions list, or mark it as done if it has been completed.

Question 22

Can I set due dates and deferred dates?

Accepted Answer

Yes. On any action's detail page, expand the Dates section. You can set a due date with an optional time for hard deadlines. You can also defer an action with either "Scheduled for" (a specific date, time, and duration that appears on your Calendar) or "Start after" (a tickler date that hides the action until that day, then surfaces it in Next Actions). Note: scheduled dates and due dates are mutually exclusive — setting one clears the other. Start-after dates and due dates can coexist.

Question 23

How does the Calendar work?

Accepted Answer

The Calendar shows your time-specific actions and commitments — your "hard landscape". It offers Day, Week, Month, Year, and Recurring views. In Day and Week views, scheduled actions appear as time blocks based on their start time and duration. You can click an empty time slot to create a new action, drag items to reschedule them, and switch to the Recurring view to manage repeating action templates. Calendar settings (week start day, time format, business hours) are configurable in Settings.

Question 24

What are recurring actions?

Accepted Answer

Recurring actions let you create templates that automatically spawn action instances on a schedule. You can set the frequency (daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly), choose specific days, set a time and duration, and define an end condition (never, after N occurrences, or until a date). Access recurring templates from the Calendar page's Recurring view. This feature is available on the Pro and Team plans.

Question 25

What are context tags and how do I use them?

Accepted Answer

Context tags help you filter your actions by where you are or what resources you have available. Common examples include @computer, @office, @home, @calls, and @anywhere. You can also use energy levels (energy:high, energy:low) or time estimates (min:5, min:30). Add tags to any action or project from its detail page. Use the per-page tag filter icon to filter a single list, or set a global Context Filter in the sidebar to filter all lists at once.

Question 26

Can I customize my tag presets?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Go to Settings and find the Tags section. Your current presets are shown as chips. Tap to edit them — you can add, remove, or reorder the preset tags that appear as quick-add buttons when tagging items. The defaults are @computer, @office, @home, @calls, @anywhere, energy:high, energy:low, min:5, and min:30.

Question 27

How do I edit an item's title or description?

Accepted Answer

Tap the title text in any list view to edit it inline — press Enter or tap outside to save, or press Escape to cancel. On the detail page, tap the title or description area to start editing. The title field auto-resizes as you type. Changes are saved when you finish editing.

Question 28

Can I add comments to items?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every action, project, and stuff item has a Comments section on its detail page. Tap "Add a comment..." to open the text area, type your note (up to 2000 characters), and tap Save. Comments are shown newest-first with your avatar and a relative timestamp. Each item supports up to 50 comments. Comments cannot be edited or deleted after posting.

Question 29

Can I attach files to items?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Actions, projects, and stuff items each support up to 10 file attachments. The maximum file size depends on your plan: 5 MB on Free, 20 MB on Pro, and 50 MB on Team. On the detail page, click the upload area or drag and drop files onto it. Upload progress is shown in real time. Attached images and PDFs can be previewed directly in the app. You can also download or delete any attachment.

Question 30

How does the Reference file manager work?

Accepted Answer

Reference is your non-actionable file storage — the Reference bucket. It works like a file manager with folders, file uploads (up to 20 MB per file on Pro and 50 MB on Team), global search, and a separate trash. Uploading and organizing files requires a Pro or Team plan — Free accounts have view-only access. You can create folders, upload files by clicking or dragging, rename and move items, and preview images, PDFs, and text files in the browser. Your storage quota is shown in the toolbar. Stuff items clarified as "Reference" are automatically saved here as text notes.

Question 31

How do I recover deleted items?

Accepted Answer

When you delete an item, it moves to the Trash instead of being permanently removed. Visit the Trash page to restore individual items back to their original list. If you want to permanently remove everything, use the "Empty Trash" button — be careful, this action cannot be undone. The Reference file manager has its own separate trash with the same restore and permanent delete options.

Question 32

What is the Team plan and how does collaboration work?

Accepted Answer

The Team plan unlocks collaboration with other people. It is built on three things: connections (peer relationships with other WhatsNextAction users), delegation (handing an action to a connection), and shared projects (working a project together with assigned roles). Connecting, delegating, and sharing all require the Team plan, but anyone — including Free and Pro users — can receive and accept a connection invitation, and free-text "Waiting for…" delegation works on every plan.

Question 33

How do connections work?

Accepted Answer

Connections are peer relationships between WhatsNextAction users. Open the Connections page from the sidebar and invite someone by email (Team plan). They receive an invitation they can accept or decline — receiving and declining invitations is available on every plan. Once connected, you can delegate actions to each other and share projects. Either side can remove the connection at any time, and downgrading from Team automatically removes your connections.

Question 34

How do I delegate an action to someone?

Accepted Answer

On the Team plan, you can hand an action to one of your connections — from the Clarify wizard ("Delegate It"), from an action's detail page by moving it to Waiting For, from the Move dropdown, or when adding a Waiting For item using the connection picker. The action moves to your Waiting For list, and a copy lands in your connection's Inbox with a "From:" chip. When they complete it, a "Done." comment is posted back to your action and it automatically returns to your Next Actions (or Calendar if it was scheduled). On any plan you can still track free-text "Waiting for…" items without a connection.

Question 35

What are shared projects?

Accepted Answer

On the Team plan, a project owner can tap "Share…" to share a project with their connections. Each member gets a role: Owner, Write, or Read-only. Shared members see the project backlog, action titles and descriptions, attachments, who is assigned to what, who completed what, and comments. Tags always stay private to each person, even on a shared project. Anyone — including read-only members — can comment. Members can leave a shared project, and the owner can remove members; if everyone but the owner leaves, the project reverts to a personal project.

Question 36

Is my data secure?

Accepted Answer

Your account is protected by password requirements (minimum 8 characters with letters, digits, and symbols) and token-based authentication. Sessions are tracked per device — you can review, revoke, or end them from Settings at any time. Logging out in one browser tab instantly logs you out of all other open tabs. Changing your password automatically ends all other sessions.

Question 37

What plans are available?

Accepted Answer

WhatsNextAction offers three plans: Free, Pro, and Team. The Free plan lets you get started with up to 7 active projects, 10 distinct context tags, and 50 MB of file storage (reference files are view-only). The Pro plan is for serious users — unlimited projects and tags, recurring actions, reference file uploads, email-to-inbox capture, and 250 MB of storage. The Team plan adds collaboration: connections, delegation, and shared projects, plus 1 GB of storage per user. Actions and inbox items are unlimited on every plan, including Free. Visit the Pricing page for current prices (in EUR, VAT included) and yearly discounts.

Question 38

What are the limits on each plan?

Accepted Answer

Active projects: 7 on Free, unlimited on Pro and Team. Distinct context tags: 10 on Free, unlimited on Pro and Team. Recurring actions: not available on Free, included on Pro and Team. File storage: 50 MB on Free, 250 MB on Pro, and 1 GB per user on Team. Maximum attachment size: 5 MB on Free, 20 MB on Pro, and 50 MB on Team. Actions and inbox items are unlimited on every plan, including Free.

Question 39

What are the limits on attachments and comments?

Accepted Answer

Each item (action, project, or stuff) supports up to 10 file attachments; the maximum file size is 5 MB on Free, 20 MB on Pro, and 50 MB on Team. Comments are limited to 50 per item, with each comment up to 2000 characters. The attachment count, comment count, and comment length apply across all plans.

Question 40

How do I upgrade to Pro or Team?

Accepted Answer

Go to Settings and, in the Plan section, tap Update plan → Upgrade (the Pricing page and upgrade prompts lead to the same place). Choose Pro or Team and a monthly or yearly billing cycle, enter your billing address (the country determines the VAT on your invoice), agree to the Terms of Service (buyers in the EU tick the checkbox), and tap Subscribe and pay. You enter your card on our payment provider's secure checkout page — we never see or store your full card number; only the card brand and last 4 digits appear on your invoice. As soon as the payment is confirmed, your new plan is active. Prices are in EUR and include VAT.

Question 41

How do I cancel my subscription?

Accepted Answer

Go to Settings → Plan and tap Cancel subscription. Automatic renewal stops, and you keep your paid plan until the date shown ("Access until …"). After that your account returns to the Free plan — nothing is deleted, but Free plan limits apply again. You can subscribe again at any time. Cancelling does not refund the current period. Within 14 days of purchase, EU consumers can instead withdraw and get a full refund by emailing info@whatsnextaction.com — see the Terms of Service.

Question 42

Can I switch between plans or billing cycles?

Accepted Answer

Not directly. To move between Pro and Team or between monthly and yearly billing, cancel your current subscription, and once it has ended, subscribe to the new plan from Settings.

Question 43

Where can I find my invoices?

Accepted Answer

An invoice is emailed to you for every payment, including each renewal. You can also open Settings → Plan → Billing history to see all your payments, refunds, invoices, and credit notes, view any document, and download it as a PDF.

Question 44

What happens if a renewal payment fails?

Accepted Answer

You receive a payment notice by email and in the app, and your plan stays active until the end of the current billing period while the payment provider retries the charge. If the payment still does not go through, your account returns to the Free plan at the end of the period. Your data is kept, and you can subscribe again at any time.

Question 45

Can I switch to dark mode?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Go to Settings and find the Application section. Choose Light, Dark, or System Default. System Default follows your operating system's preference and updates live when you change it.

Question 46

How do I change my avatar?

Accepted Answer

WhatsNextAction uses Gravatar for profile pictures. Create a free account at gravatar.com with the same email you use for WhatsNextAction, and your avatar will appear automatically. If you don't have a Gravatar, the app displays a colored circle with your initials.

Question 47

How do I manage email notifications?

Accepted Answer

Go to Settings and find the Notifications section. A master toggle turns all email notifications on or off. Below it, individual toggles let you control specific emails: daily digest, project-needs-next-action alerts, delegated-to-you, delegation-completed, and connection invitations. An Announcements toggle controls occasional product news emails. Security emails (verification, password resets, login alerts), subscription and payment notices, and service notices (terms changes, maintenance, security) are always delivered and cannot be disabled. In-app notifications (the bell in the top bar) cannot be turned off.

Question 48

What are in-app notifications?

Accepted Answer

In-app notifications appear under the bell icon in the top navigation bar, with a badge showing your unread count. Open it to see your most recent notifications — project-needs-next-action alerts, delegation updates (delegated to you and delegation completed), shared-project activity, connection invitations, and subscription and payment notices. Scroll down to load older ones. Notifications are marked as read automatically once they are fully visible in the open list; click one to jump straight to the related item. In-app notifications are available to every signed-in user and cannot be disabled.

Question 49

What does "overdue" mean and how are overdue items shown?

Accepted Answer

An item is overdue when its due date has passed, or when a timed scheduled action's time slot has already ended. Overdue items are highlighted with a red left border and light red background in all list views. On the Dashboard, an Overdue section appears first, showing how many items are overdue and the oldest deadlines, and a red dot appears on the Dashboard icon (and on the affected list) in the sidebar. In the Calendar, overdue items appear in dark red. A "Start after" tickler date never makes an item overdue.

Question 50

How do I send feedback or contact support?

Accepted Answer

Use the feedback button — the small round button (with a question-mark icon) pinned to the right edge of every page. It opens a menu with two options: "Contact Support" emails support@whatsnextaction.com, and "Report a Bug" emails bug@whatsnextaction.com. Both open your email app with the subject pre-filled, so you just describe what you need and send.

Question 51

How do I delete my account?

Accepted Answer

You can delete your account from the Settings page. Upon deletion, your content is permanently removed within 30 days, including backup copies. If you have an active paid subscription, it will be cancelled. Invoices and payment records are kept for the period required by tax law, as described in the Privacy Policy. This action cannot be undone. If you have any questions before deleting, contact support@whatsnextaction.com.

Question 52

Can I use WhatsNextAction on my phone?

Accepted Answer

Yes. WhatsNextAction is a responsive web application that works on any device with a modern browser. On mobile you get a slide-in navigation drawer, bottom action sheets for dropdowns and selects, full-screen modals, and touch-friendly controls. The Quick Add button becomes a floating button in the bottom-right corner. Action buttons are always visible on touch devices without needing to hover. You can also install WhatsNextAction on your home screen so it opens like an app: on Android (Chrome) use ⋮ → Install app or Add to Home screen, on iPhone/iPad (Safari) use Share → Add to Home Screen, on a Mac (Safari) use File → Add to Dock, and in desktop Chrome or Edge use the install icon in the address bar.

Question 53

Are there keyboard shortcuts?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Press Enter to submit forms and save inline edits. Press Escape to cancel editing, close modals, and close dropdowns. In the Clarify wizard, Backspace goes back a step (when you are not typing in an input). In the tag input, arrow keys navigate suggestions and comma commits a tag. On list pages, long-press (touch) or click-and-drag (desktop) to reorder items.

Question 54

What is the Dashboard / Engage page?

Accepted Answer

The Engage page is your home screen after logging in. It gives you a bird's-eye overview: an Overdue section when anything is overdue, your Today actions, a snapshot of Next Actions, your Waiting For items, and nudges when your Inbox needs clarifying, projects are missing a next action, or your Weekly Review is overdue. All sections respect the active Context Filter so you can focus on one context at a time.

Frequently Asked Questions