When you assign a task to someone it means you want the user to start working on it. The assigned user can be changed anytime, but it is always one person at the time.
The assigned user is responsible for the task.
There are smart subtasks, which can be also assigned to users. It allows you to divide the activities for more users and tick off the subtasks step by step.
Once the user is assigned to a task then automatically receives notifications. For example when someone else comments the task, changes a deadline or likes your comment. E-mail notifications are optional and you can set them up as you like in your profile Settings.
There are few ways to assign a task. So let’s have a look at them.
How to assign a user
When creating a new task
When creating a new task, go to the section Assigned to and select the user. The task can only be assigned to one user only. Click Save.
![How to assign a new task to someone.](https://help.freelo.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/freelo-how-to-assign-a-task.gif)
When adding a comment
The most common activity over every task is adding comments in the discussions. You can add comments and change the assigned users at once. Type your comment and in the section Task is assigned to… change the user. Confirm via Save button.
![Change the assignee when adding a comment.](https://help.freelo.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/freelo-changing-the-assignee.gif)
Via keyboard shortcut
Thanks to keyboard shortcuts you can quickly assign a task or subtask to yourself. Place the mouse over the sub/task and press M. Use the same shortcut in case you want to remove yourself as an assignee.
![Quickly assign tasks to yourself via the "M" keyboard shortcut.](https://help.freelo.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/freelo-keyboard-shortcut-to-assign-a-task-to-oneselft.gif)
Use can also use keyboard shortcut to quickly assign a task to certain user. Place the mouse over the sub/task or go to task detail and press A. Then you can chose an assignee.
![Quickly assign tasks to someone via the "A" keyboard shortcut.](https://help.freelo.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Aug-21-2024-08-43-17.gif)
On project detail
Go to the project or To-Do list in detail. Place the mouse over the task and click Assign/Due… and select the assignee or due date directly.
![How to assign a task on project detail.](https://help.freelo.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/freelo-quickly-assigning-tasks-to-users.gif)
Kanban view
In case you prefer a kanban board/column view for projects, then set up the assigned user via person icon.
![How to assign a user in kanban.](https://help.freelo.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/freelo-assigning-a-task-to-a-user.png)
Set up an assignee for tasks in bulk
In particular To-Do list you can set up an assignee for all the tasks at once. Place the mouse over the To-Do list and click the pencil icon.
In editing form, you can rename the To-Do list, set up deadlines for all tasks at once or assign a user for all existing tasks.
![Assign all tasks in the To-Do list to one assignee at once.](https://help.freelo.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/freelo-easily-change-the-assignee-to-all-tasks-at-once.gif)
Default task assignee in the To-Do list
In case the task assignee in the To-Do list is the same person, you can set the user as a default assignee of those tasks. The user is assigned automatically to all new tasks. It is a great feature when creating tasks from email.
On the left from To-Do list name is three-dot menu > Set up followers and assignee…
![Set up the default assignee of the tasks in the To-Do list.](https://help.freelo.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/freelo-set-the-followers-and-solvers.png)
In the following form select section Default task assignee and choose the user, who is working on all the tasks in To-Do list. Confirm via Save.
![How to set up a default assignee for all tasks in the To-Do list.](https://help.freelo.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/freelo-set-the-followers-and-solvers-example.png)