A Kanban board organizes tasks into columns representing stages of a workflow. Teams use Kanban boards to visualize work in progress, identify bottlenecks, and move tasks from start to completion.

In ClickUp, Board view provides a fully customizable Kanban board connected to your tasks, Automations, and reporting.

Feature availability and limits vary by plan and user role. Learn more

What is a Kanban board?

A Kanban board is a visual system for managing in progress work. Tasks are represented as cards and organized into columns that reflect stages of your workflow, such as To Do, In Progress, and Done.

The core principles are:

• Make work visible
• Limit how much work is active at once
• Move tasks through the system smoothly

It works well for teams with continuous workflows, support queues, content pipelines, and any process where work flows through predictable stages. If your team frequently wonders what others are working on at any given moment, a Kanban board answers that question at a glance.

Create a Kanban board in ClickUp

Each Space, Folder, and List in ClickUp already has a Board view by default. To add a new one:

1. Open the location where you want the board.
2. In the Views Bar at the top, click + View.
3. Select Board. The view is created.
   • Optional: Rename or customize the view in the right sidebar. You can configure card size, visible fields, and more.

Customize your Kanban columns

Columns represent your task Statuses by default, so each status in the Space, Folder, or List becomes its own column.

To add or edit statuses, open the status menu for that location and create the stages that match your workflow. A common setup would include Backlog, In Progress, In Review, and Done.

To group columns by something other than Status:

1. In the upper-left corner, click Status.
2. Click Group, and select a different field. Your options include:
   • Assignee to see each person's tasks as a column
   • Priority to organize by urgency
   • Tags to organize by the tags you've created
   • Due date to organize by due date
   • Task Type to organize by your custom task types
   • Custom Fields such as a client name dropdown or project type label

Customize and organize your board

There are three primary ways to control how tasks are displayed on your board:

• Subgroups
• Card layout
• Subtask display

These can be configured in the settings menu.

Create subgroups

Subgroups add horizontal rows alongside your vertical columns, turning the board into a grid. Columns by Status and rows by Assignee, for example, let you see each person's work across every stage at once.

To enable a subgroup:

1. In the upper-right corner, click the settings icon.
2. Click Group and select Add subgroup.
3. Select a field.

Edit card layouts

Control what displays on each task card without opening the task.

To edit card layout:

1. In the upper-right corner, click the settings icon.
2. Click Fields.
3. Enable the fields you want to display.

Keep cards focused. Showing every available field slows scanning.

Show subtasks

To show subtasks as individual cards:

1. In the upper-right corner, click the settings icon.
2. Select Subtasks.
3. Select Separate.
4. Each subtask will display in a column, independently of its parent task.

Automate your Kanban workflow

Automations reduce the manual steps that slow work down. ClickUp Automations have three elements:

• A trigger that starts the Automation
• Optional Conditions
• One or more Actions

Learn how to create an Automation. Feature availability and limits vary by plan and user role.

Below are some Automations that we recommend for Kanban boards:

If you don't have a ClickUp account, you can get started for free. Board view is available on every plan, including Free Forever.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about Kanban boards.

What is the difference between a Kanban board and a Scrum board?

A Kanban board manages continuous flows with no fixed time periods. A Scrum board operates within a sprint, a fixed time box where a set of tasks must be completed before the board resets. ClickUp's Board view supports both patterns. The Sprints feature adds the time-box structure Scrum requires.

Can I use a Kanban board for personal task management?

Yes. Board view works at any level of your Workspace, including a single personal List. A two or three-column setup with basic statuses is enough for individual tracking. To keep the view private to you, check the Private view box when creating it.

How many columns should a Kanban board have?

Start with three to five. Most teams use To Do, In Progress, and Done statuses, then add additional columns when the workflow requires them. It is a best practice to only add stages when a real handoff or wait state exists in your process.