Amplenote Explained 8: Recurring tasks and hiding tasks

Recurring tasks in Amplenote let users schedule to-dos that must reappear on a regular cadence—like paying bills or working out on a set schedule—while keeping the main task list clean. Once a recurring task is completed or dismissed, it doesn’t simply move to the completed area; it follows a recurrence rule and is automatically hidden until the next due date. That default behavior matters because it prevents “done” items from cluttering what’s actionable right now.

Amplenote offers two recurrence modes. Fixed recurrence repeats on a predictable calendar pattern regardless of when the task gets completed. Users can set examples such as repeating every day at a specific time, every Monday and Friday at 10:00 a.m., or even on the last Friday of each month. Flexible recurrence, by contrast, ties the next occurrence to the completion date. If a task is marked complete, the next instance appears a set amount of time later—such as 3 days after completion or 2 weeks after completion—so the schedule shifts based on actual behavior.

By default, recurring tasks are hidden when completed and remain hidden until the day they reoccur. In practice, if a fixed recurring task starts 2 days from now, it stays out of the main list until that due date arrives. Opening the task details reveals the hiding pattern, and users can edit it—for example, changing the task to remain hidden except for a 2-day window before it’s due again. This makes it possible to balance “future planning” with day-to-day focus.

The interface supports different ways to view what’s coming. In Tasks mode, hidden tasks are excluded from the flat, actionable list. Users can override this by enabling a setting that shows hidden tasks in the list. For a more planning-oriented view, Agenda mode groups tasks by due date, allowing hidden recurring tasks to appear as upcoming items even before they become actionable.

Hiding isn’t limited to recurring tasks. Any task can be hidden manually for an arbitrary number of days using the hide task command, which moves it into the same hidden tab used by recurring tasks. That means postponed items remain retrievable without polluting the primary to-do stream.

Finally, the transcript highlights more advanced recurrence patterns. Users can specify weekdays (e.g., “every weekday” or “every Monday, Wednesday, Friday”) to skip weekends. They can also repeat a task a fixed number of times and then dismiss it—for example, “every day for 15 times.” Taken together, fixed vs. flexible recurrence and the hiding controls provide a structured way to manage both predictable schedules and completion-dependent habits without losing visibility into what’s next.