This article covers changing the Next Start Date on an active schedule, which is one that has already created tasks on your work board.
Once a schedule has started creating tasks, its Start Date field is labelled Next Start Date. You can still change it, but changing it also moves the tasks that already exist.
💡 Setting up a new schedule that hasn't created any tasks yet?
👉 Read more here: How To: Add a Schedule
Where to find it
Open the template, click the schedule, and look under Schedule Settings. The field is labelled Next Start Date.
👉 Read more here: How To: Edit a Schedule
Why changing it affects tasks you already have
Further down the schedule is Create Tasks in the Future: "How far in the future do you want tasks to appear on your work board?" If that's set to 4 weeks, XBert has already created four weeks of tasks, and they're on your work board now.
Changing the Next Start Date moves every incomplete task this schedule has created by the same number of days. Completed tasks aren't touched.
The warning you'll see
When you change the date, XBert shows a warning before anything happens. It tells you the old date, the new date, and how many days the tasks will move.
Adjust [number] days applies the change.
Undo backs out with nothing changed.
The part that can catch you out: it moves by days
The change is a set number of days, applied to every incomplete task. It doesn't keep your tasks on the same weekday, or the same date each month.
Example
You have a weekly schedule called Weekly Wednesday, with Create Tasks in the Future set to 4 Weeks. Its Next Start Date is Wednesday 7 October 2026, so four weeks of Wednesday tasks already exist.
You move the Next Start Date back to Thursday 1 October 2026. That's a shift of -6 days:
Task start date before | After the -6 day adjustment |
Wednesday 7 October 2026 | Thursday 1 October 2026 |
Wednesday 14 October 2026 | Thursday 8 October 2026 |
Wednesday 21 October 2026 | Thursday 15 October 2026 |
Wednesday 28 October 2026 | Thursday 22 October 2026 |
Every task on your Weekly Wednesday schedule is now a Thursday task. The schedule keeps recurring weekly from its new date, so all future tasks are Thursdays too. The schedule's name no longer describes what it does, and it won't correct itself.
The same applies to monthly schedules. A shift of -30 days won't keep tasks on the 1st of the month, because months aren't all 30 days long.
Due dates are recalculated, not shifted. Once a task's start date moves, its due date is worked out again from the schedule's Due Date setting. So due dates may not move by the same number of days as the start dates.
💡 Before you change the date
Check what Create Tasks in the Future is set to, so you know how many tasks already exist.
Read the number of days in the warning, not just the new date. The number of days is what gets applied.
Check the new date lands on the weekday or date you want your recurring tasks on.
Remember it affects every client on the schedule, not just one.
The safer way to fix a schedule with the wrong dates
If a schedule's dates are already wrong, don't change the Next Start Date again to correct them. Every change moves all your incomplete tasks again, and the errors add up.
Copy the schedule instead:
Copy the schedule. Open it and click the Copy Schedule icon at the top right. Your original keeps running, so nothing is lost while you work.
Set the dates you want on the copy. The copy is a new schedule, so its field is labelled Start Date, and you can back-date it to when you want the correct tasks to start.
Check the copy before you touch anything else. Make sure the new tasks land on the right dates for the right clients. Don't go near the old schedule until you're sure the new one is right.
Then delete the old schedule. Click the bin icon next to it in the schedules list.
👉 Read more here: How To: Edit a Schedule
When you delete the old schedule, XBert asks Which tasks should be deleted? The template itself is never affected.
Option | What happens | When to use it |
All tasks that exist in the future | Deletes tasks that start after today and aren't completed | Often the cleanest choice after copying. Your team keeps working on the tasks in front of them, and only the wrongly dated ones further out are removed |
No tasks - only remove the schedule | Keeps every task where it is | When someone is part-way through work you can't afford to lose. You then complete the wrong tasks yourself |
All incomplete tasks | Deletes every task that isn't completed, whatever its date, and keeps completed ones | When you want every wrong task gone |
⚠️ "Incomplete" includes tasks your team has started
Check nobody is part-way through a task before you choose All incomplete tasks, or their work will be deleted too.
Need help?
If you have any questions, our support team is here to help!
Reach out via the chat widget on the bottom left of your XBert screen (Help), or email us at support@xbert.io