OmniFocus Pro 4.9.1 — Mac version

Breaking large projects into tickable steps

• Breaking a large project into smaller steps you can tick off one at a time.
• People who already use a scheduling system and want deeper control over how tasks link together.
• Keeping file attachments tidy — the latest build makes sure file extensions are never dropped when you attach things via Shortcuts.
• Anyone who works across devices. You can pick up the same list on a Mac, iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch.

Requires macOS 14 to run version 4.9.1

• It needs macOS 14. Older machines stuck on earlier versions of the operating system won't run version 4.9.1.
• The power is in the Pro feature set. If you only tick off a daily shopping list, the extra tools sit idle.

Dumping every stray thought into the Inbox

One common one is dumping every stray thought straight into the Inbox and hoping it sorts itself out. The Inbox fills fast, and a long uncategorised list feels just as heavy as no list at all. Get into the habit of assigning a project and a context to a task the moment you add it. Even a rough guess keeps things moving.

Another slip is ignoring the Review feature. OmniFocus Pro works best when you sit down once a week and look through projects that have stalled. Without that check-in, tasks you added months ago sit there quietly, making the whole thing feel stale.

Newcomers also tend to over-build. Not every trip to the corner shop needs sub-projects, tags and a due date. If a task takes two minutes and has no knock-on effects, just do it instead of modelling it.

Last one: treating every task as equally urgent. Flag sparingly. If you flag twenty things before lunch, the red badges stop meaning anything and you end up ignoring the one that genuinely matters.

Switch on Defer until by default in Dates & Times

Head into Dates & Times settings. The 4.9.1 update tidied the layout here, so it's a good moment to check what's ticked. Switch on Defer until by default if you like to hide tasks until the day you can actually act on them. It keeps today's list short without losing anything.

Next, open Custom Perspectives and build a simple "Waiting For" view. Set it to show tasks tagged with a "waiting" tag and group them by project. When you need to chase someone up, everything sits in one place and you don't scroll past gym reminders and birthday cards to find it.

If you run OmniFocus Pro across devices, check the sync settings early. A clean sync setup stops duplication before it starts. People who skip this step sometimes end up with three copies of the same task after a weekend away from their desk.

Lastly, look at the Notifications pane and switch off anything that doesn't serve you straight away. The app can ping you at a precise location, which is clever, but for most people a simple time-based nudge is plenty while they settle in. You can always turn more on later once the rhythm feels natural.

• In-app Help has been refreshed.
• Open Folders Shortcuts action now shows a flat list of your existing folders.
• Files attached through the Add Actions Shortcuts action always keep their file extension now.
• Settings layout in Dates & Times has been tidied up.

• macOS 14 or later
• Intel and Apple Silicon Macs