Microsoft Planner Reviews

by Sayvilleguy

Don’t bother to download. The Planner on desktop within O365 and Teams works but this mobile version utterly useless.
Very unstable.
Once you’ve looked at Plans and Tasks, next time you open it only shows “recents” but clicking on them just refreshes the page. You can no longer actually open them. You can add to your favorites but then you still can’t see your favorites.
Totally broken useless app.
Again the desktop version works fine albeit convoluted approaches. But this iPhone app is a mess. Iphone 11Pro with all iodates (incl 13.5) so it’s not a glitch with ios. Just a really bad app.

by DHSwims

Could be useful but some of the functionality is lacking:
1) tasks are not automatically placed in due-date order but instead in order of entry, so a task with a Sept 1 deadline might be listed before a task with an Aug 1 deadline, unless you move it manually to the right position. Illogical.
2) Screen freezes at times when entering a new task; the “add” button doesn’t work. This happens when the icon for “buckets” appears with the calendar icon.
3) Can’t move the order of the buckets once they are created.

by Not Dependent

Planner is a well executed Trello-like kanban board. Unfortunately you must have an enterprise Office 365 account to use it and then you can’t collaborate with people outside your company.

There is also no way to print a board or list.

Sharing within your single company is better executed than in Microsoft To Do. With planner, you select the members that can be added and deleted. To Do uses lame sharing like OneDrive that is link based. Wunderlist list solved the sharing problem many years ago. With Wunderlist you can share to any email but the add/remove process works like the membership in Planner.

by CS Eng

My supervisors insist on using the buckets as the means to separate different projects. This is fine, if you could use filters to sort out the different items that late, due today, or due yesterday. However, with the iPad app, you cannot use filters, so when you’re viewing what you have to do in the my tasks, you cannot see what project (bucket) that task is associated with, until you click on each individual task. Overall, I find myself pulling my hair out trying to have a simple way of organizing my tasks for several projects. When I point this out to my supervisors, they just tell me to not use my iPad for this tool, but just use the desktop version. Two stars for MicrosoftPlanner because if poor implementation.

by Iceberg7474

I love MicrosoftPlanner, and it offers some great functionality (especially with the ability to link to work plans inside Teams). However, it has been almost useless for about 3 weeks now due to an error that won’t go away. When I update a task with a new item, I keep getting an error saying “planner traffic is unusually high right now”, and it then won’t save any of my updates (others in my group aren’t getting the same error). A bit frustrating, and it has rendered MicrosoftPlanner almost useless for my primary use with my work team... look forward to this bug being fixed.

by Scudey

As a stand-alone app, it works for very simplified task-oriented project management. I wish it had more color labels instead of being limited. Regardless, it works good enough. I’m mostly disappointed in the way it is difficult to work with from inside MS Teams. Mainly, it is currently impossible to build a “template” Planner to use in a repetitive process situation for other groups or Teams. That is the one thing keeping me from rating this better. Otherwise, it works good enough.

by Boston Cleantech

Overall this is a pretty good app and a pretty good task planning tool.

As a primarily business user, outlook has been home base for long time and it is intuitive. I get that different users like different UIs. But for me I wish that Planner and Teams (and other Office 365 apps) were seamlessly integrated with Outlook. Calendar is integrated with the Outlook iPhone app but why not Planner and Teams? All of these systems seem like they want to connect with each other seamlessly but then they don’t and you end up stuck in silos. The breakthrough for the Office 365 suite will be when MS makes the dynamic work platform of Office available in a unified user interface. For me that ideal interface would be Outlook with all others hanging therefrom. Outlook email groups, Teams channels, Planner threads all tend to get siloed from each other (there is a wonky method for connecting some of these but it is not easy and doesn’t work fully). Yet these are essentially the same workflow data, just with different UI interaction points.

by Rasuel

The biggest problem is not being able to update multiple items together. I'd like to select all and apply the same value. Also, filter is an OR.. not an AND. Meaning, I can't filter by multiple buckets at the same time. It's only one or the other. Also, when in the desktop I can't export nor import. So it's alot of manual effort to set up. Also no ability to include dependencies

Otherwise you can sort by different methods. The chart and visual aspects are useful. Assignment is cool too. I like the flags. Checklist is a nice feature to keep track of subtasks. With the buckets, I was able to build a Kanban board for a scrum project!! This also likes well to other areas of Microsoft like SharePoint

by Gkldert

I very much like how good Planner is at keeping tasks assigned to different team members and especially how it interfaces with Outlook’s calendar - this was very critical for me, so I could not only set deadlines for me and my team, but also plan the workload.
A couple of things that I wish it did better: (1) It would be great to be able to archive buckets that are no longer relevant (the only option not to see them any more is to delete them, but that deletes all the information included). (2) It would be great to be able to set a general deadline for the bucket and include notes at the bucket level too. (3) The IPad App does not allow to move buckets around (you can only do it in the web-based version). (4) The IPad app does not allow the user to view projects in a “schedule” view.

by Xhjrffggfdgjkitffg

It’s a nice app but I can’t delete any of the plans that I’ve made on mobile. There’s no option to do so on mobile even after clicking “Plan Settings” you’re only given the option to edit it. There’s also a lack of features in MicrosoftPlanner. I can’t move the plans above or under where it appears so that they can be in accordance with my schedule. You also can’t choose what colors they display on the planner hub.

by Rgwus

Overall MicrosoftPlanner is more responsive than the desktop app integration with Teams. If there is a search feature I haven’t found it on the mobile app. It makes it challenging to search through 100s of cards. I also wish you could edit your own comment because a few times I hit send too soon or saw mistakes after sending. Only other thing is I wish there was a toggle for the search feature to look through the comments.

by Donald Tynes II

I have used this software for about six months now. Although the application has collaboration functionality, for my single-member LLC, all that I need is to keep track of a set of tasks, describe them, estimate the time to complete them, create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), assign a date and time (with the help of Calendar) to complete each time, which shows on my schedule as 'Busy' - which is exactly what I want, then finally record the actual time the task took. There are a few features that I would like it to have, like automatic integration with my Calendar product on iOS. But, except for a few features that I would love it to have, the software application is a great solution for my task needs.

by Killjoi

I’m a heavy Planner user. I began getting the error in the title of this review months ago whenever I add or edit an existing item. I’ve tried reinstalling, different phones, no clue as to what the issue could be. “Please try again in a few minutes,” the error concludes. I’ve tried using MicrosoftPlanner at random times throughout. Would give this 4 stars if it worked for me. As is, hard to recommend to others without a resolution.

by Meme JAnn

Have been researching lots of task-organization software. The more I looked and tried apps, the more I felt like Goldilocks. Being a Microsoft user, I am surprised I missed Planner. It is “Just Right”! Our first project got rave reviews from our team. Very intuitive and genius organization. We hit the ground running within 24 hours of building our first plan.

by Rpee

I really like MicrosoftPlanner. It's the right blend of simplicity and power. Feels a lot like how I tried to make Wunderlist work for business years ago but it never really did. This feels cleaner and less friction overall than Trello. Keep up the great work.

I don't use Teams though. I'd love to get this hooked up to Slack.

One thing I'd change: after clicking into a task from the 'My Tasks' section, the name of the Plan is in the upper left, next to the Bucket Name. Clicking the Plan name should take me to the Plan, not to change the bucket, like makes sense would happen when you click on the bucket name. I can't seem to get back to the Plan unless I go to the Planner Hub. Just a few extra clicks that mightn't be needed...

by Averagejohn

I've been using Wunderlist for years now, and it's a nice app but it's not what one would call "business class," Microsoft Planner however is wonderful! It's polished, powerful, simple, a true joy to use. My only gripe is, this isn't available for everyone with a standard Live account. I think I speak for the majority of people when I say I would gladly pay for the privilege to use MicrosoftPlanner as a standalone product. It's THAT good!

by RykustheWaterNinja

Began creating a group for the Small Business I work with. I find that being able to communicate as a team as well as view, create and assign task is very helpful for a business. This in turn also provides a sense of organization as well as good workmanship. The only thing that would be great is to have this available as a desktop app and not just available on webpage. It just makes things more convenient and less like to lose you place if the internet or web browser crashes. Other than that, this is a great addition and has plenty of potential. Thank you.

by Slade671

I've looked at MC Planner and it looks good, but when I download it, it says I need to use a work / school email. I was really disappointed because I really wanted to use this but it doesn't work. I'm giving it a 5 start so that I don't discourage others, but can you please change it to make it a personal planner using a personal email? Thank you!

by Most Unhappy User

Through the years I have used many different pieces of software and tried to develop many different practices, to schedule my life both at work and at home. Planner is simple quick and efficient. I would like to see a little bit more customization allowed, so that it works a little bit more streamlined. There is a large crevasse between Microsoft planner and Microsoft project finding something close to the middle would be optimal for the users of Microsoft.

But I was trying to run with the premise do not let perfection get in the way of progress - CLewis

by Hansonco

Our company has been using planner for core operational PM and task related events. It is flexible, intuitive and clean. Flows work great to tie to other apps within MS world and outside.

MS must invest in the enhancement of Planner to take it to the next level:
+ create more pre-established Flows
+ simple integration with email/calendar and perhaps Tasks or ToDo (this would increase adoption enormously....too many competitive tools with email support)
+ company internal branding, simple images for plans...add a little sizzle to make more main stream
+ drag and drop, drag and drop, etc

If MS wants companies to stay within the MS umbrella for certain apps, then make them work together. The MS apps are great, may not have all the F&F of competition, though the MS apps serve a greater purpose: not all companies need robust PP, CRMs, etc. The core MS apps nicely fill so many gaps needed, without the time and $ burn.

by Arealscreenplay

It would be nice if Microsoft could get it together. Every time they come out with an app, it doesn’t work as intended. If you click a link to a document embedded in a task it reports error 912. This renders MicrosoftPlanner useless as it will not open docs in the OneDrive app or in OneDrive online. It works “somewhat as intended” on the IPhone: It wont open in OneDrive, but after 3 clicks on the request to open in browser, it finally will open the document. Really, Are you doing any QA testing before you release. This product should be somewhat mature and not have Mickey Mouse issues at this point. No insult intended to Mickey!

by Bnire

Really need to be able to search for cards and navigate on mobile easier. On a board with lots of cards it’s way too cumbersome to have to search through everything to find a card. Search and zooming out would be helpful for that. Also other features that would be very helpful and allow me to recommend MicrosoftPlanner as verses Trello is the ability to assign checklist task items to people and have more than 1 checklist on a card.

by JacobFlowers

MicrosoftPlanner needs a lot of work. Falls behind Trello Asana, and Monday. No list view options. Cannot add sub-tasks. Cannot link tasks on other boards. Disappointing considering Microsoft resources. Also, integration with Sharepoint, OneDrive is a complete nightmare. This has a lot of potential, but It is clear that product groups are not working well together. The whole suite is bloated, unintuitive, and buggy. Not recommended, unless you are strapped for cash, and can’t invest in a better PM tool, since planner comes wrapped in a 365 subscription.

by Jeff Crocker

A plan gets full fairly quickly and slows down very badly.

It’s Hard or impossible to migrate task to a different plan. This makes delegating more difficult because it requires retyping. It would be great to be able to move a task to a different plan in the same way we can move a task to a different bucket. Maybe it’s doable already and I just don’t know how.

It seems my daughter was able to do this but in my mental memory it took several steps and was not simple. Also I don’t remember if it was a complete task migration with all the notes and lists and attachments and comments etc.

We want to be able to share or export an entire a task or a bucket to a person who may not be added as a user to the plan.

by Jwagnerm

There needs to be an option where you can assign view only option for added members. Relying on others to accurately update may not always be useful to track progress as there is not necessarily and associated double check on task execution. With view only there would need to be updates to the project leader/ debriefs

by Lcsturdi

We have been very pleased with Planner. Its provides task assignment and tracking from an easy to use dashboard. Its not so complex that you need to take a a month off to learn it. It’s bundled in Office365. The solution I needed was hiding right under my nose.

When they roll out parent/child events with cascading deadlines, I’ll probably have to take up chess or origami with all the time I’ll have on my hands.

by Omg.omg.omg.

Our company has been using planner for core operational PM and task related events. It is flexible, intuitive and clean. Flows work great to tie to other apps within MS world and outside.

MS must invest in the enhancement of Planner to take it to the next level:
+ create more pre-established Flows
+ simple integration with email/calendar and perhaps Tasks or ToDo (this would increase adoption enormously....too many competitive tools with email support)
+ company internal branding, simple images for plans...add a little sizzle to make more main stream
+ drag and drop, drag and drop, etc

If MS wants companies to stay within the MS umbrella for certain apps, then make them work together. The MS apps are great, may not have all the F&F of competition, though the MS apps serve a greater purpose: not all companies need robust PP, CRMs, etc. The core MS apps nicely fill so many gaps needed, without the time and $ burn.

by Love2climb

I thought I was going to have to spend a lot of time studying MicrosoftPlanner out before begin using it. It only took me a few minutes and I started our team on the path of more focused planning!
Thanks you guys at Microsoft.