Twos

Lists

Templates

iPhoneiPadAndroidWebMacWindowsLinuxWatchPlusUpdated 2026-09-06

A template is a list saved as a starting point, so you can create it again without rebuilding it.

Templates are part of Twos Plus. Plus

Why you'd care

Anything you set up the same way more than twice is a template: a packing list, a weekly review, a client onboarding, a recipe format. Rebuilding it by hand each time is both slow and where things get forgotten.

The 60-second version

Save an existing list as a template, then use it whenever you need it.

Three ways to use one

Which one you want depends on whether you need a whole new list or just the things in it.

Make a new list from it

Open the template and press Use Template. You get a brand-new list with the same contents, and you land in it. The new list is an ordinary list, not another template.

This is the one to reach for when the template is the whole job: a packing list for this trip, this week's review.

Insert it into the list you are already in

From inside another list, open the add menu on the capture bar and pick Templates. Choosing one asks how you want it inserted:

ChoiceWhat you get
Insert TemplateA sublist on the current list, holding a copy of the template
Insert ThingsThe template's things copied straight into the current list, with no sublist

Insert Template keeps the block tidy and collapsible, which is what you want when the template is one part of a bigger list. Insert Things is right when the template is the list you are building, and you do not want a layer in between.

Save someone else's

Opening a template shared with you gives you a second button that saves it into your own templates, so it is there next time without you rebuilding it.

Going further

A template is a snapshot, not a link. Lists created from it are independent, so editing one does not change the template or the others. That is usually what you want, and it is the opposite of clones.

Structure comes across. Headings, indentation, thing types and notes are all preserved, so a template can encode a whole way of working rather than just a set of items.

Template or auto reset? A template makes a new list each time. A reset unchecks the same list on a schedule. For a routine you run over and over, reset is better. See auto reset.

Tips

  • Build the template from a real list you have already used twice, not from imagination. The imagined version is always wrong.
  • Include the things you always forget, not the ones you always remember.
  • If you find yourself inserting the same template into the same list every week, that is a list with auto reset set to weekly, not a template.