Updating and finishing tasks

When you create a task, or open a new workflow with existing tasks, the status of the task or tasks is Pending. As project members work on tasks, they update the status to indicate the current progress.

To place a task into any status, ensure the workflow is in edit mode, and click the Status column of the task, then choose the appropriate status from the drop-down list

Status	Description
Pending	Indicates a task has not yet started. When you create a task, it defaults to the pending state. The pending state is symbolized by a blank status field.
Active	Indicates a task is in progress. Symbolized by the icon. You can also type A to place a task in the active state
Skipped	Indicates a task has been skipped. Symbolized by the icon. Skipped tasks are tasks for which members no longer do work. Any dependencies of this task are also disregarded. You can also type S to place a task in the skipped state.
Finished	Indicates a task has been completed. Symbolized by the icon. You can also type F to place a task in the finished state.

Note the following behavior.

If you enter 100 in the % Complete column for a task, the status is updated to Finished.

If you enter 0 in the % Complete column for a task (if it was previously finished), the status is updated to Pending.

If you enter any number from 1 to 99 in the % Complete column for a task (if it was previously finished), the status is updated to Active.

If you mark the status for a task as Skipped, all of the dates for the task are cleared. Until you hit Save (or Save and Finish), you can retrieve the dates by canceling out of the editing session. However, once you save the spreadsheet with the dates cleared, you cannot retrieve them.