Tasks, Calls and Logged Activity in HubSpot

Step 1

Know which record action you need

A task is future work: it has an owner and a due date, and it disappears from your list when the work is done. A logged activity is history: it records something that already happened, such as a call you made or a conversation you had.

A note captures information for whoever reads the record next. It has no due date and nobody to chase. If you also need follow-up, create the follow-up task from the note editor instead of writing “call back Thursday” into a note.

• Task: work to complete, with an assignee and a due date.
• Note: information worth keeping on the record.
• Logged call or email: a record of a conversation that already took place.

If it still needs doing, it is a task. If it already happened, log it.

Step 2

Create a task from the task list

Go to More → CRM → Tasks, then click Create task and fill in the panel on the right. If More is not shown in your navigation, go directly to CRM → Tasks. Click Create when you are finished, or Create and add another when you are working through a list.

Use the documented field labels so the task is findable later: Title for what the work is, Type for the kind of work, Due date for the date and time, Assigned to for who does it, and the association control for the records it belongs to. Priority (low, medium or high) and Notes are available where shown.

The standard Type choices are Call, Email and To-do. Including the word “call” or “email” in the title selects that type for you. Meetings and postal mail are separate record activities rather than task types.

Step 3

Create a task from the buyer's record

Open the contact, company or deal, then click Task in the left panel of the record. Enter the details and click Create. This is the fastest route when the work belongs to one specific buyer, because the task starts out associated with that record.

A task can exist without related records, but it will not appear on that record's timeline. Check the association before you close the panel.

Step 4

Set reminders and sensible defaults

On an individual task, open Reminder and choose an option such as At task due time, 1 hour before, or Custom Date, then save. Reminder emails go to the task owner, so the person listed in Assigned to is the person who gets nudged. Choose No reminder when a nudge is not needed.

To avoid setting this every time, open your account name in the top right → Profile & Preferences → Tasks → Defaults, set Due date, Due time and Reminder, then Save. Defaults apply to tasks you create from the task list or a record, and you can still change them on any single task.

A daily digest of your tasks is available under the Settings icon → Notifications → Tasks → Task daily digest → Save. It requires at least three tasks completed in the past seventeen days, is prepared by 6 AM and sent at 8 AM in your preference time zone on weekdays, and is skipped when nothing is due.

Step 5

Complete, reschedule, reassign or delete

To finish a task, go to CRM → Tasks and click the complete task icon to the left of it, or select several tasks and choose Mark as completed. Do this as soon as the work is actually done so your list reflects reality.

To move a task, hover over it, click the preview task icon, change the Due date, time or Assigned to, then Save. For several tasks at once, select them and use Edit (or More → Edit), pick the property to update, set the new value and Save.

To remove one, select the task and choose Delete (or More → Delete) and confirm. Deleting and editing tasks needs task edit permission, and bulk deletion needs bulk delete access, so ask your CRM administrator if the option is missing.

The Overdue view shows tasks assigned to you that are still open past their due date, using your account's time zone. HubSpot does not automatically complete or reschedule ordinary overdue tasks — you decide whether the work still needs doing.

Step 6

Log a call you already made

Open the record, click Log call, enter the details and click Log activity. This records a call that already happened — including one you made from your mobile phone — and it does not place a call.

Available details include the date and time, what was said, the records to associate, Contacts called, Call outcome, Call direction (Outbound or Inbound) and Call type where shown. The default outcomes are Busy, Connected, Left live message, Left voicemail, No answer and Wrong number; custom outcomes and call types need Sales Hub or Service Hub Professional or Enterprise.

Placing a call from inside HubSpot is different: click the call icon on a contact to open the calling tool, which needs configured calling and a paid seat — an assigned Sales or Service seat on Professional or Enterprise, or a Core seat in Starter. When you cannot call from HubSpot, log the call manually instead of skipping the record.

Log call records a conversation that already happened. The call icon places a new one.

Step 7

Add a note and schedule the follow-up at once

Open the record, click the Note icon, write what happened or what you learned, adjust the associated records and click Save note. It appears on that record's timeline.

If the conversation needs a next step, tick Create a To-do at the bottom of the note editor before saving. Click To-do to switch the new task to Call or Email and set its due date. Saving the note then creates the follow-up task for you.

Step 8

Check the record's activity timeline

Open the record and use the Activities tab in the middle column. Choose Notes, Emails, Calls, Tasks or Meetings to see one category, or use Filters for category-specific filters such as Call outcome. On All activities, the Activity dropdown and its checkboxes control which types are shown; Activity assigned to, All time and Search activities narrow things further.

These choices are yours personally and carry across records of that type, so a filter you left on yesterday can hide history today. Reset them before concluding that nothing was logged.

Accounts using free tools that were created on or after February 4, 2025 generally show only the last thirty days of activity on record timelines, with notes, tasks, pinned activity and direct links among the exceptions. Older activity is still available from the activity index pages.

Step 9

Keep the record honest before moving on

Log the conversation while it is fresh, on the record it belongs to. A call logged against the wrong buyer is worse than no call logged, because the next person to read it will act on it.

Do not create a second task because you are unsure the first one saved — check the task list or the timeline instead. Do not log an activity you did not take part in without saying who did.