Creating a Task is the most-done action in Salesforce sales motion. Reps create dozens of Tasks per day, mostly through the Lightning composer on a related record or through email-integration plugins.
- Open the record the Task belongs to
Most Tasks are easier to create from the related record (Contact, Account, Opportunity, Case) than from the global Tasks tab, because starting from the related record auto-populates WhoId or WhatId.
- Click New Task on the Activity composer
The composer sits at the top of any record page. The Task tab is one of several (Task, Event, Log a Call, Email); pick Task for an async to-do.
- Set the Subject
Write the Subject as a summary, not as an email greeting. "Follow up on pricing question from May 12" reads better than "Follow up" or "Call back."
- Set the Due Date and Reminder
ActivityDate is the due date. The Reminder field schedules a notification at a chosen time before the due date, so the Task does not get forgotten.
- Set Priority and Status
Priority defaults to Normal; bump to High only when the Task genuinely needs faster attention. Status defaults to Not Started.
- Confirm WhoId and WhatId
Both fields auto-populate from the source record. Verify they are correct, especially when logging a Task that touched multiple records at the same Account.
- Save
Click Save. The Task attaches to the parent records and shows up in their Activity Timeline.
Required. The summary that shows up in every Task list view and report.
Required. The due date that drives Open vs Overdue calculations.
- Task triggers fire on every Status update, not just on creation. Bulkify triggers and compare Trigger.old to Trigger.new on Status before running status-change logic.
- Recurring Tasks have a limited recurrence model compared to calendar apps. Build a Flow if you need complex cadences (every second Tuesday, end after N occurrences).
- Custom Task statuses need their IsClosed mapping set explicitly. Without the mapping, reports filtering on IsClosed treat custom statuses as Open by default.
- Field history tracking is off by default on Task. Turn it on explicitly if you need to audit OwnerId reassignments or Status transitions over time.