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title Customize a sprint taskboard in Azure Boards
titleSuffix Azure Boards
description Learn how to customize cards on a sprint taskboard in Azure Boards or Azure DevOps.
ms.custom boards-kanban
ms.service azure-devops-boards
ms.assetid 951A73EA-7411-4A2A-B3F0-ACBBC7EFC68F
ms.author chcomley
author chcomley
ms.topic how-to
monikerRange <= azure-devops
ms.date 03/24/2026
ai-usage ai-assisted

Customize cards on a sprint taskboard in Azure Boards

[!INCLUDE version-lt-eq-azure-devops]

Sprint taskboards display work items as cards rather than lists. You can customize the cards, add or rename columns, and apply style rules to highlight cards by criteria. For a comparison of taskboards and boards, see What is Azure Boards?

Note

This article covers sprint taskboard customization. To customize a board, see Manage and configure team tools.

Prerequisites

Category Requirements
Taskboard A sprint taskboard. When you add a team, the system creates a taskboard for every sprint you select for that team. For more information, see About teams and Agile tools.
Permissions Team Administrator role or member of the Project Administrators group.

Taskboard customization options

To add or remove columns, select Column Options. Configure all other options through the Settings dialog.

[!INCLUDE temp]

Option Description
Show bugs Manage bugs on the Taskboard similar to tasks.
Customize columns Add or remove columns shown on the Taskboard.
Fields Add or remove fields from cards, including the Parent field.
Styles Add styling rules to change card color and title style based on field criteria.

Note

Each team customizes its own Taskboard columns and cards. Teams don't inherit Taskboard settings from other teams, even if they share area paths.

Understand the Taskboard customization sequence

Complete these tasks before you configure your Taskboard to avoid revisiting your configuration.

Process Administrator:

  1. Add custom work item types that you want to appear on your Taskboard. For more information, see Add and manage work item types.
  2. Customize your iteration backlog to include all work item types that should appear on Taskboards. For more information, see Customize backlogs & boards.
  3. Customize each work item type to include any custom fields you want to show. For more information, see Customize a workflow.

Note

Customizing a work item type (adding fields, changing the workflow, adding custom rules) is different from customizing the card displayed on the Taskboard. You can also add custom work item types and custom backlog levels. For more information, see Customize an inheritance process.

Team Administrator:

  1. Determine with your team how to manage bugs - as requirements or tasks.
  2. Add tags to work items that you want to use for styling rules.

Show bugs on your Taskboard

To show bugs on your Taskboard, change your team settings. For more information, see Show bugs on backlogs and boards.

Add columns

You can add or rename columns on your Taskboard. The column titles and choices depend on the process used to create your project and whether your team treats bugs as requirements or tasks. Changes apply to all sprint Taskboards for the selected team.

Note

Columns you add to a Taskboard don't have corresponding fields, unlike board columns which map to the Board Column field.

  1. Open your team's sprint Taskboard as described in Update and monitor your Taskboard. Only team or project administrators can customize the Taskboard.

  2. Select Column Options.

    [!div class="mx-imgBorder"] Screenshot of Column Options button on Taskboard.

  3. In the Customize Columns dialog, select the column you want to rename, or select Add Column.

    The following example adds a column named Review and sets the Task state to In Progress.

    [!div class="mx-imgBorder"] Screenshot of Customize Columns dialog.

    Each column must map to a category state: Proposed, Committed, In Progress, or Completed. At least one column must map to Proposed and one to Completed. For more information, see Workflow states and state categories.

  4. To reorder columns, hover over a column and drag the :::image type="icon" source="../media/icons/grabber.png" border="false"::: grabber icon up or down in the list.

    [!div class="mx-imgBorder"] Screenshot of reordering a Taskboard column.

  5. To delete a column, first move any work items to another column. Then hover over the column and select the :::image type="icon" source="../media/icons/trash-can.png" border="false"::: delete icon.

    [!div class="mx-imgBorder"] Screenshot of deleting a Taskboard column.

Add fields to cards on a sprint taskboard

Customize the fields that appear on taskboard cards to provide at-a-glance information for your team. You can also update fields directly from the card without opening the work item, and apply style rules to highlight cards by criteria.

[!INCLUDE temp]

The following example shows a task card with these customizations:

  • Core fields: ID, Assigned To, Remaining Work, Tags
  • Additional field: Priority
  • Style rule: tasks with Priority=1 display as green

Screenshot of a card customized to show additional fields, tags, and a style rule.

Show fields based on what your team frequently references or updates on the taskboard. You can also add fields that support board filtering. If you're new to these tools, see Sprint planning.

Add or remove fields from cards on the Taskboard

Change how cards appear on the Taskboard in the same way you change card appearance on boards, but start from the Taskboard.

  1. Open the Taskboard for the sprint you want to customize. Only team or project administrators can customize the Taskboard.

  2. Select the :::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/blue-gear.png" border="false"::: gear icon to open the Settings dialog.

    [!div class="mx-imgBorder"]
    Screenshot of Taskboard Settings dialog.

  3. Select Fields and then select a work item type to see available settings.

  4. Select the checkbox for each field you want to show on the card.

    [!div class="mx-imgBorder"]
    Screenshot of Settings dialog, Fields tab for Task work item type.

    Repeat for each work item type. Options vary by type. For example, Show Remaining Work applies to tasks and bugs but not to user stories or product backlog items.

  5. To add a field, select the :::image type="icon" source="../media/icons/green_plus_icon.png" border="false"::: plus icon and enter the field name.

  6. To remove a field, select the :::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/delete-icon.png" border="false"::: delete icon next to the field.

  7. Select Save.

Update fields from cards

You can update most fields shown on a card without opening the work item. Drag cards between columns to update status, or drag cards up and down within a column to change stack ranking.

For example, moving a card from In Progress to Done updates the State field from Doing to Done.

Screenshot of Taskboard showing a work item moved to the Done column.

You can also update fields directly on the card. The following example reassigns a task.

Screenshot of reassigning a work item from the Taskboard card.

To change the title, select the :::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/actions-icon.png" border="false"::: actions icon, and then select Edit title.

[!div class="mx-imgBorder"] Screenshot of the Edit title option on a Taskboard card.

To add tags, double-click the work item to open it. You can't change work item IDs from the card or the form.

Define style rules to highlight cards

Style rules change card color when work items meet criteria you set. The following example highlights Priority 1 tasks in green.

Screenshot of a styling rule applied to tasks with Priority equals 1.

Example styling rules

[!div class="mx-tdCol2BreakAll"]

Work items Criteria
High priority items Priority = 1
High effort items Remaining Work>=12
Stale items unchanged in the last 5 days Changed Date @Today-5
Title contains a key word Title Contains Yes
Severity 1 bugs Severity = 1 - Critical AND Work Item Type = Bug
High value business items Business Value 50
Items assigned to specific feature area Area Path Under Fabrikam Fiber\Phone
Contains specific tag Tags Contain RTM
Blocked tasks (Scrum process only) Blocked = Yes

Add or remove a style rule

  1. Open the Taskboard that you want to customize.

  2. Select the :::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/blue-gear.png" border="false"::: gear icon to open the Settings dialog.

  3. Select Styles, and then select the :::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/green_plus_icon.png" border="false"::: plus icon to add a style. Choose the color and define the criteria for the rule.

    [!div class="mx-imgBorder"]
    Screenshot of Settings dialog, Styles tab with a priority rule.

    Follow these rules when creating style rules:

    • Criteria works similarly to constructing a query.

    • All clauses are AND clauses - grouping isn't supported.

    • Rules apply to all work items that meet the criteria.

    • Color applies in the order rules are listed. Place higher-priority rules first by dragging them into position.

    • You can enable and disable rules without deleting them.

      The following example highlights tasks that haven't changed in the last five days.

      Screenshot of a stale tasks style rule in the Styles dialog.

  4. To copy or delete a style rule, select the :::image type="icon" source="../../media/icons/actions-icon.png" border="false"::: actions icon and select Clone or Delete.

    [!div class="mx-imgBorder"] Screenshot of Clone and Delete menu options for a style rule.

  5. Select Save.

Automatic Taskboard updates

Your Taskboard automatically refreshes when changes occur in the background. As other team members move or reorder cards, the Taskboard updates without requiring a page refresh.

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