How to Set Up and Manage Google Reminders

Wrangle your to-dos with Google Calendar Reminders

image showing Google Reminders on phone or laptop
by Jennifer Karner
Jen Karner is a freelance tech writer and expert on VR and Android phones. Her work has appeared on AndroidCentral, iMore, WindowsCentral and others.
Updated June 13, 2019

You may already be using Google Calendar to stay on top of a busy schedule filled with appointments. Google Reminders, part of the Calendar app, offers a way to ensure you don't forget the little things either. Reminders can be set for a specific date and time or for any time during the day, and the feature has plenty of autofill options to make it as easy as possible.

Reminders carry forward until you cancel them or mark them as done. When you create a reminder, Google uses what it knows to predict your reminders and keep entry quick. If you set a reminder to call your sister for her birthday, for example, Google pulls the phone number associated with her name.

How to Set a Google Reminder on the Mobile App

If you want to remember to pick up eggs from the store on your way home from work, you can add a reminder for today. However, if you don't mark a reminder as complete on the day you originally scheduled it, the reminder recurs the next day. It is, after all, a reminder.

Setting up reminders is a simple process when you follow these steps:

  1. Open the Google Calendar app on your phone.

  2. Tap the plus sign at the bottom of the screen.

  3. Tap Reminder.

  4. Type in a name for the reminder.

    Adding a Reminder in the Google Calendar app

  5. Choose a date for your reminder. It can be all day, or by tapping the toggle to turn off all-day, you can select a specific time.

  6. After you turn off the all-day option, select a day from the calendar that appears.

  7. Select a time using the scroll wheels.

  8. If you want the reminder to repeat, tap Does not repeat and select one of the options or customize your own repeat schedule.

    Adding date and time to a reminder in Google Calendar app

  9. Tap Save.

How to Edit a Google Reminder

Sometimes you need to change a reminder. Again, the process is easy.

  1. Open the Google Calendar app.

  2. Tap the reminder in your calendar to select it.

  3. Tap the pencil to edit the reminder.

  4. Change the name, date, time, or repeat of the reminder.

    Making changes to a Reminder

  5. Tap Done.

How to Cancel A Google Reminder

Canceling or editing a reminder is all done from inside the Google Calendar app. If you've completed the task covered in the reminder, open up the reminder and then tap Mark as Done, and it stops notifying you. You can delete a reminder using the following steps:

  1. Open the Google Calendar app.

  2. Tap the reminder in your calendar.

  3. Tap the More icon. (It looks like three horizontal dots.)

  4. Tap Delete and confirm the deletion by tapping Delete reminder.

    Deleting a reminder in Google reminders

Adding and Editing Reminders in Google Calendar on the Web

The reminders you add or change on your mobile device sync with your Google Calendar on the web and vice versa, as long as you have Reminders checked in the left panel of the Calendar interface. To add a Reminder to the web interface of Calendar:

  1. Open Google Calendar in a web browser.

  2. Click once in any time slot on the calendar.

  3. In the screen that opens, select Reminder.

  4. Enter the name, date, time (or select All day) and choose any repeats.

  5. Press Save.

    Adding Reminder in Google Calendar website

  6. To delete or change a reminder, click it once and select either the trash can to delete it or the pencil to edit it. The pencil opens the same screen you use when you enter a reminder. Make your changes and select Save.

    Deleting or changing a reminder