Manage ClickUp's default task statuses. Or create custom task statuses to match your workflow.
Whether you handle creative asset approvals or user stories from ideation to completion, statuses keep work organized and progress transparent.
What you'll need
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Owners, members, and admins can create, edit, and delete statuses by default.
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Business Plus and Enterprise Plans can use advanced permissions to control if members and guests can create, edit, and delete statuses.
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You'll need both the Delete Items and Edit Statuses advanced permissions to delete statuses.
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Statuses
You can create statuses at the Space, Folder, and List levels. Or reuse statuses by creating status templates.
Task status groups
There are three default task status groups.
Not Started is a fourth status group that is enabled through a ClickApp.
The three default status groups are:
- Active: Tasks that are currently being worked on.
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Done: Tasks that are done, but need to remain open. For example, all engineering is complete on a sprint task but marketing and technical writing teams still need access to it.
- Tasks in this status group are not considered overdue.
- Any Dependencies are cleared when this status is applied.
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Closed: Tasks that are totally completed.
- Complete is the default Closed status. You can rename it, but you can't change the color.
- You can't create custom Closed statuses.
Closed tasks in List view are hidden by default. You can unhide them by doing the following:
- Click the Show closed button, located at the top of List view. When the button is enabled it's highlighted and a dropdown displays.
- From the dropdown, you can select Subtasks.
- You can also click the x in the upper-right corner of the Show closed button to quickly hide tasks.
- Closed tasks display in your List.
- Click the Show closed button to hide these tasks again.
To ensure consistency across your Workspace, To do and Complete statuses are provided to mark the beginning and end of your workflows, and the color of Complete can't be changed.
Create custom task statuses
When you create Spaces, you'll be asked to set statuses for the tasks added there.
You can practice how to Create Your Statuses in ClickUp University.
Custom statuses will not appear at the Everything level. The Everything level only shows statuses that exist in all of the hierarchy levels.
Folders and Lists can also each have different statuses for their tasks. By default, their tasks follow the status Hierarchy:
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Folders and Lists created in a Space inherit their Space's statuses.
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Lists inherit their Folder's statuses.
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Lists that don’t belong to Folders inherit their Space's statuses.
You can create custom statuses for any status type except Closed.
Status colors are consistent with the location they were created. If you move a task to another List with different status colors, it will retain the color from the original List.
To create custom statuses when you create a Space:
- When you create and name a Space, open the Task statuses tab.
- From the Status template dropdown, select Custom.
- Under each status group, click Add status to create new statuses. Use the drag handle to the left of statuses to move them up or down.
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Name the new status.
Reorder statuses by dragging them up or down using the drag handles to the left.
- You can use the color picker to change the default color. You can click the dropper icon for more colors.
- Click Save.
To create custom statuses when you create a Folder:
- When you create a Folder, the Create Folder modal opens. From the modal, open the Statuses tab, then select Use custom statuses.
- Follow the same process as setting statuses for a Space.
You can also create custom workflows for individual Folders when you create a List.
Edit or delete task statuses from Sidebar, List view, and Board view
You can rename, change color, or delete all default, custom, and status templates.
You can rename the status, but you can't change the color of the default Closed status.
When deleting a status from a Space, Folder, or List, you'll be prompted to update any tasks and Automations that currently use that status.
To edit or delete statuses from the Sidebar:
- In the Sidebar to the right of the Space, Folder, or List, click the ellipsis ... icon.
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Select Space, Folder, or List Settings.
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Click List statuses or Task statuses.
- From the Edit statues modal's Status type section, select Use custom statuses.
- To the right of the status click the ellipsis ... icon.
- Select Rename, Change Color, or Delete Status.
- In the lower-right, click Apply changes.
To edit or delete statuses from List view:
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In List view to the right of the status name, click the ellipsis ... icon.
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From the Group options menu, select Edit statuses.
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From the Edit statuses modal, select Use custom statuses.
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To the right of a status, click the ellipsis ... icon.
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Select Rename, Change Color, or Delete Status.
Following are the other selections in the Group options menu:
- Rename: Rename the status group.
- New status: Opens a modal where you can add a new status. If you’re adding a new status to a List that inherits statuses from a Folder, you'll also have the option to add the status to that Folder.
- Collapse group: Collapses the group that shares the same status.
- Hide status: Hides that status in List view.
- Select All: Select all tasks in the List that share the same status. Opens the Bulk Action Toolbar where you can make bulk changes to those tasks.
- Collapse all groups: Collapses all status groups.
- Automate status: Click this option to create an Automation.
To edit or delete statuses from Board view:
- Under the Views Bar, click Group and select Status.
- In the upper-right of a status column, click the ellipsis ... icon.
- From the dropdown menu, choose from these status options:
- Collapse group: Collapses the status group column and pins it to the side of the view.
- Archive all in this group: Archiving a task removes it from view but allows you to restore it at any time. All tasks are preserved and are still searchable.
- Automate status: Click this option to create an Automation.
- Select all: Select all tasks in the List that share the same status. Opens the Bulk Action Toolbar where you can make bulk changes to those tasks.
- Rename status: Change the status name. This option is only available when you’re viewing a board where tasks have all the same statuses.
- Edit statuses: Make changes to the statuses of the List you’re viewing. Only available when you’re viewing a board where tasks have all the same statuses.
See all Space statuses
Owners and admins can see all Space statuses in their settings.
To view all Space statuses:
- In the upper-left corner, click your Workspace avatar.
- Select Settings, then click Spaces.
Reorder statuses
To adjust the order of your statuses:
- In the expanded Sidebar to the right of the Space, Folder, or List, click the ellipsis ... icon.
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Select Space, Folder, or List Settings.
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Click List statuses or Task statuses.
- From the statuses modal, click the drag handle to the left of the status to move it.