Common questions (FAQ)
When we get a lot of questions about a particular thing related to a specific feature (e.g. calendar, date-based scheduling, or time blocking), we provide answers directly on the documentation page for that particular feature. If you did not find your answer there, we provide answers to other questions or reports we often get in this FAQ.
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Bugs and issues
1. Login email with a one-time sign-in code is not arriving
Please check your spam folder first. If the email is still nowhere to be found, please wait ten minutes. It can happen from time to time that there is a slight delay in delivering emails to your email provider. It is rare but normal. Our systems will keep trying until the email is successfully delivered. If there's no email in ten minutes, please send us a message.
2. The app asked me to login again and now my data is gone!
Since login is done via a one-time sign-in code sent to your mailbox, there are no separate signup and login flows, and accounts are provisioned on the fly when you log in for the first time. Because of that, people who have multiple email addresses sometimes accidentally create a new account when they use the wrong address. Perhaps your account and data safely lives under your Yahoo address instead of your Gmail one?
Please double-check your email address. You can do that, for example, by searching your mailbox for past login emails from Lunatask — if you don't find any, you know it's the wrong mailbox.
Please double-check your email address. You can do that, for example, by searching your mailbox for past login emails from Lunatask — if you don't find any, you know it's the wrong mailbox.
3. Scrollbars are missing in Windows/Linux versions of the app
Scrollbars are indeed missing there. The initial reason many years ago was that native Chromium's scrollbars are just so ugly, and the thinking was that everyone uses a mouse wheel or trackpad scroll gesture anyway. But since then, we learned there are a few people out there without such options. For those, Lunatask probably won't work today. However, we plan to reintroducing scrollbars to Windows/Linux versions of the app very soon (before Summer 2025). Keep an eye on the roadmap.
4. Notifications do not work for me in the mobile app
Make sure you have notifications enabled in Settings → Notifications for both tasks placed on your calendar and scheduled habits. Notifications are not enabled by default.
Note for users on alternative Android distributions: Our recently released Android app uses Google Play Services for notification delivery. Google's Android is the only officially supported Android platform. Although the app might work well on other distributions (like GrapheneOS), some features like notifications might not be available. Due to limited resources, there are currently no plans to introduce an alternative notification delivery system.
Note for users on alternative Android distributions: Our recently released Android app uses Google Play Services for notification delivery. Google's Android is the only officially supported Android platform. Although the app might work well on other distributions (like GrapheneOS), some features like notifications might not be available. Due to limited resources, there are currently no plans to introduce an alternative notification delivery system.
5. I cannot log in with password on GrapheneOS or in Lockdown Mode on iOS
Lunatask uses argon2 key derivation function for password hashing as part of our encryption toolchain, which is implemented in WebAssembly. Unfortunately, WebAssembly support is disabled system-wide in Lockdown Mode. To set up the app, please temporarily disable Lockdown Mode. Once you log in and set up a four-digit PIN in the settings, you can enable Lockdown Mode again, and it should not interfere with anything any longer.
On GrapheneOS, enable WebView JIT for the app.
On GrapheneOS, enable WebView JIT for the app.
6. There are black rectangles instead of text in alerts and confirmation messages on Linux
This issue might happen on some systems for those using the snap version of the app. Make sure hardware acceleration is disabled in Settings → Diagnostics, and try clearing font caches using the following commands:
fc-cache -r
rm ~/.cache/fontconfig/*
sudo rm -f /var/cache/fontconfig/*
If that does not help, or the issue comes back after app/system restart, please download the AppImage version of the app.
Help with features, roadmap, etc.
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Please check the Idea Portal first before asking if a certain feature is coming to Lunatask. If you find the feature there, add a vote for it instead. We use the Idea Portal to know what features are important to you and how much demand is for each.
7. Can I create reminders for tasks?
Lunatask has this feature – we call it time blocking. If you schedule something onto the calendar and plan it into you day, you will receive a notification on all your devices when the time comes. Of course, time blocking is currently available for today and tomorrow only, but this will likely change going forward. Keep an eye on the roadmap.
8. Can I add images to my notes or journal entries?
Yes, you can. However, Lunatask is an encrypted app, and implementing end-to-end encrypted file uploads in multi-platform apps like Lunatask is not a trivial task. Due to development, maintenance, and infrastructure complexity, we don't offer our own encrypted storage for your files and images.
But you can add images to your notes, journal entries, or task descriptions if you are hosting them yourself or if they are available on a publicly accessible URL. We also did our best to add native support for file storage and drive apps. We natively support Dropbox or Google Drive and their easy-to-create Share URLs. OneDrive's Embed URLs work too, and many more.
Unfortunately, some drive and storage providers actively prohibit this kind of usage, either out of principle (like iCloud or Google Photos) or for technical reasons (like Proton Drive and their own end-to-end encryption system).
But you can add images to your notes, journal entries, or task descriptions if you are hosting them yourself or if they are available on a publicly accessible URL. We also did our best to add native support for file storage and drive apps. We natively support Dropbox or Google Drive and their easy-to-create Share URLs. OneDrive's Embed URLs work too, and many more.
Unfortunately, some drive and storage providers actively prohibit this kind of usage, either out of principle (like iCloud or Google Photos) or for technical reasons (like Proton Drive and their own end-to-end encryption system).
9. What are the numbers next to tasks?
That's the age of a task in days. Although you might find it annoying initially, it has an important psychological effect – you will see once you use the app for a while. We are currently not considering adding an option to disable this feature.
10. Why some tasks have a notch in their checkbox? And what's your design philosophy in general?
In the past, many people asked us to add an indicator that a task has a note (task description) attached. We were reluctant to add another indicator behind task names, as it would clutter the UI and, in many cases, would not be needed. Ultimately, we devised a clever way to provide an indicator for those who need it without cluttering the UI for those who don't – hence the subtle notch in the checkbox on those tasks with a note attached.
Many people write to us appreciating our clean and simple UI of our desktop app. Our philosophy is that the best button is no button, but it has a downside. To give more examples:
One user was not able to find a way to create a new goal in the desktop app. A small "plus" button to add a goal appears when you hover over the goal list. This is intentional – if it were visible all the time, it would create a visual clutter and distraction for an operation rarely used.
Another example might be the "tomorrow" calendar. When you resize the calendar in our desktop app to a width that is wide enough, tomorrow appears. There's no explicit button to show tomorrow – again, intentionally not to clutter the UI with more buttons and icons.
Probably the best example is the collapsing of various task list sections. Most apps display an arrow icon that you can click to collapse or hide a section. We intentionally don't, and this operation is simply done by clicking the section name.
We are currently very resistant to adding an indicator that a task is a recurring task. Again, and for the same reason. It is not needed for anything usually or for most people. It would unnecessarily clutter the task list – it already has enough indicators, and less is sometimes more. In this specific example, you might have a recurring task to do something on Friday. An indicator that you will have the task to do again the Friday a week after, it does not serve much purpose. Focus on what's now – when you complete the task on Friday, a new task for the next Friday will be added to your list. No indicators much needed here cluttering the UI.
We understand that our approach might make some features harder to find or discover. We do our best to improve our documentation and onboarding to help, but not at the price of cluttering the UI with buttons and indicators for everything. That's what keeps the look of our desktop app clean, simple, and beautiful.
Many people write to us appreciating our clean and simple UI of our desktop app. Our philosophy is that the best button is no button, but it has a downside. To give more examples:
One user was not able to find a way to create a new goal in the desktop app. A small "plus" button to add a goal appears when you hover over the goal list. This is intentional – if it were visible all the time, it would create a visual clutter and distraction for an operation rarely used.
Another example might be the "tomorrow" calendar. When you resize the calendar in our desktop app to a width that is wide enough, tomorrow appears. There's no explicit button to show tomorrow – again, intentionally not to clutter the UI with more buttons and icons.
Probably the best example is the collapsing of various task list sections. Most apps display an arrow icon that you can click to collapse or hide a section. We intentionally don't, and this operation is simply done by clicking the section name.
We are currently very resistant to adding an indicator that a task is a recurring task. Again, and for the same reason. It is not needed for anything usually or for most people. It would unnecessarily clutter the task list – it already has enough indicators, and less is sometimes more. In this specific example, you might have a recurring task to do something on Friday. An indicator that you will have the task to do again the Friday a week after, it does not serve much purpose. Focus on what's now – when you complete the task on Friday, a new task for the next Friday will be added to your list. No indicators much needed here cluttering the UI.
We understand that our approach might make some features harder to find or discover. We do our best to improve our documentation and onboarding to help, but not at the price of cluttering the UI with buttons and indicators for everything. That's what keeps the look of our desktop app clean, simple, and beautiful.
11. Is there a way to schedule subtasks?
Unfortunately, there isn't at the moment, given we implement subtasks using Markdown checklists in task descriptions. Time-block your main task instead. When the time comes, open your main task and work on the next subtask that needs to be worked on.
12. Is there a view of all tasks between all areas and goals, not just planned ones?
Unfortunately, there isn't at the moment. Lunatask embraces the philosophy of "less is more". Although we understand you might want to use this occasionally, we generally don't want to have many different views on tasks in the app. Hence why we have only the "Next to work on" overview of all planned tasks across all areas and that's it.
13. Are there any plans for integrating tasks and notes?
To some degree. Deep-linking (some people call it bi-directional linking) is coming faily soon in the Summer. We also plan to add a feature allowing you to paste text, where tasks will be created for each line in the text. One could then select a whole checklist inside a note, copy it, switch to their task list, and paste to create tasks for each copied checklist item.
14. Can I delegate or share tasks or notes with my partner, family, etc?
Lunatask is an end-to-end encrypted app, so sharing data with other accounts is difficult. However, we might to make changes to our encryption model allowing sharing of task lists between users in the future.
At the moment, it is possible to add tasks to, for example, your children's lists without being able to view their other tasks, journal, or access anything else in their account. You can do that using our email integration, using Shortcuts on iOS and Mac, or any other of our integrations.
At the moment, it is possible to add tasks to, for example, your children's lists without being able to view their other tasks, journal, or access anything else in their account. You can do that using our email integration, using Shortcuts on iOS and Mac, or any other of our integrations.
15. I don't use the journal or relationship tracking. Can I turn them off?
Users ask from time to time for the ability to customize Lunatask to have only certain features they use. This feature is not challenging from a technical standpoint, but it would have profound implications on our product, business, marketing, who the target persona is for Lunatask, how the app should be priced, etc. It is a bit of a rabbit hole for us when discussing it and it is a product decision we made not to offer this feature.
Think of it this way: The solution is not to disable or hide the journal or habit tracker. The solution is to make them even better, so you cannot resist but to use them :)
Think of it this way: The solution is not to disable or hide the journal or habit tracker. The solution is to make them even better, so you cannot resist but to use them :)
16. Why sections/statuses hide when there are no tasks in them? I cannot drag and drop tasks easily.
Because they would be a clutter and distraction. Try
Shift+Left and Shift+Right keyboard shortcuts. Once you learn these, you won't want to go back.17. Why the keyboard shortcut for changing status ignores Waiting status?
The shortcut skips the
Waiting status as it's not part of normal flow. Tasks usually start in Later, then you move them into Next, start working on them by going another step into In progress, and lastly, you complete a task. So, Waiting status is a special flag that one uses rarely. You wouldn't want the app to move a task from Later into Waiting as the default first thing it does – it wouldn't make sense and would be super annoying.Other app-related questions
18. Are there any tutorials, webinars, or step-by-step videos on how to use the app?
Unfortunately, there are no official ones yet at the moment. Lunatask is a young app, built by a solo developer (hi!), so there's a lot on my plate – it's not just building and improving apps themselves, our server infrastructure, but also the website, documentation, doing customer support every day... well, everything.
I'm also not a native speaker, and I'm not natural in front of a camera. Documentation is much easier for me to update and keep up to date. There is certainly a lot to improve on the documentation side of things and in the app itself to improve onboarding, and I'm working on it, piece by piece. With every update, I'm improving this and making the app easier to understand, use, and in general, get started with. Thanks for your understanding!
I'm also not a native speaker, and I'm not natural in front of a camera. Documentation is much easier for me to update and keep up to date. There is certainly a lot to improve on the documentation side of things and in the app itself to improve onboarding, and I'm working on it, piece by piece. With every update, I'm improving this and making the app easier to understand, use, and in general, get started with. Thanks for your understanding!
19. Is Lunatask available in Portuguese, Korean, German, or other languages? Can I help with translating?
Our apps and documentation are available only in English. Lunatask is a young project, and everything we do is optimized for the speed of development – there's still so much left to be built. Maintaining localizations and translating each new feature or copy change into all languages would slow our development cycle considerably. For these reasons, we don't provide localizations for our apps, nor is it on our roadmap for the next 12 months.
20. I don't like the curvy font. Can I change it?
Well, we know it is a controversial choice. We used it to make the app's interface more friendly and welcoming. It is a temporary solution until we add the ability to pick between several font combinations for note titles and their content (for example, some people prefer serif fonts in their notes). We are also considering adding an option to disable the curvy font and fallback to a system one in one of the future releases, mainly for those who write in languages not supported by the curvy font (e.g. Thai).
21. Is the app's icon supposed to represent a pride flag?
No, it is a pure coincidence. The icon's background represents the colorful grid of our habit tracker. We did not realize that until one of our users pointed out the similarity. We support the LGBTQ+ cause anyway, so we don't mind the resemblance, but it was certainly not an intention.
Other non app-related questions
22. Why do you have a community on Slack and not Reddit or Discord?
It really comes to personal preferences. We are just used to and love Slack. Slack was the central communication hub of all companies we had worked in previously.
The second reason is that certain tools attract certain kinds of people. A community on Reddit will naturally have a different vibe and type of people than a community on Slack.
Regarding whether to have a public or private community, we opted to have a safe and private space for people who join.
The second reason is that certain tools attract certain kinds of people. A community on Reddit will naturally have a different vibe and type of people than a community on Slack.
Regarding whether to have a public or private community, we opted to have a safe and private space for people who join.
23. I'm a developer/designer/copywriter/etc, and I'd love to help
Mike sincerely appreciates your offer. However, he currently has all he needs, no external help needed. But thanks anyway! ❤️
Need more help?
Did not find your answer in the documentation or this FAQ? Feel free to send us a message. We are always here to help! Our Slack Community is also great for asking questions and sharing your feedback 👫