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Add or delete notifications or reminders in Outlook

Outlook reminders will pop up over your email or calendar to let you know a scheduled event is about to start.

Note: This feature is not supported in Outlook 2019.

Note: If the steps under this New Outlook tab aren't working for you, you may not be using new Outlook for Windows yet. Select Classic Outlook and follow those steps instead.

In this section:

Snooze or dismiss an event or task
Turn notifications window on or off
Add reminders for all or some events
Add or remove a task reminder
Notifications aren't working

Snooze or dismiss an event or task

With the new reminders window, you can select to snooze calendar events and tasks, join a Teams meeting, or dismiss events and tasks.

Set reminders in Outlook screenshot eight

You can choose to turn this reminder window on or off. 

Turn the notifications window on or off for Calendar events

You can choose to set up Outlook to display your calendar and To Do (or Task) reminders in a separate window that opens on top of other programs you’re working in. 

  1. Go to   Settings > General > Notifications.

  2. Under Notify me about, go to the Calendar section and set the toggle to Off if you don't want to see these notifications.

    To turn notifications on, set the toggle to On and expand the Calendar section. Select how you want to view your reminders, for example, do you want to get a popup reminder, and whether or not you want a notification sound.

  3. To dismiss reminders for past events (for example, you've been away and you don't want to come back to reminders for events that took place while you were gone), select the Automatically dismiss reminders for past events toggle. (Note: this toggle is only available if you set the Notification style to Reminder.)

    Screenshot of Calendar event reminder settings

Add or remove reminders for all or only some calendar events

Set a default reminder for all calendar events

This setting applies to existing meetings and any new meetings you create.

  1. Go to  Settings > Calendar > Events and invitations.

  2. Under Events you create, select the Default reminder dropdown and then select the default amount of time that you want to be reminded of upcoming events. Select Save if prompted.

    Screenshot of how to set a default reminder for new events

Set a reminder for a single meeting or series

You can override the default reminder setting for a single meeting or a meeting series.

  1. Select Calendar   from the Navigation pane.

  2. In the Calendar window, select and open the meeting you want to change.

  3. If you're changing a meeting series, first select  View series. If you're changing a single event (or an event series if you selected View series), in the Options group select the Reminder dropdown, and then select an amount for the new reminder time. If you don't want a reminder for the event or series, select Don’t remind me.

Add or remove a task reminder 

  1. Select To Do from the Navigation pane.

  2. Select a task you want to add a reminder to, and from the task pane, select Remind me.

    To remove the reminder, select the task and then hover over the reminder until it's highlighted and the cancel icon appears. Select it to dismiss the reminder.

    Screenshot showing cancel icon to remove a task reminder

Outlook notifications aren't working

Other apps or specific settings in Windows occasionally interferes with the delivery of Outlook notifications. For example, your status in Teams might be set to Do not disturb, or Windows setting such as Notifications, Focus Assist, or Do not disturb might be turned on.

See Troubleshoot Outlook notifications.

Show reminders over other programs or apps

You can set up Outlook to display your reminder window on top of other programs you're working in.

Note: This feature is only available to Microsoft 365 subscribers on Version 1804 (Build 9226.2114) or higher. It's not available for Outlook 2021 or older.

  1. Select File > Options > Advanced.

  2. In the Reminders section, check the box marked Show reminders on top of other windows.
    You can show reminders on top of other windows.

  3. Click OK.

Add or remove reminders for meetings

This applies to all the existing appointments and meetings in the calendar. Save this setting for future appointments and meetings.

  1. Click File > Options > Calendar.

  2. Under Calendar options, select or clear Default reminders.

  3. Set the default amount of time at which you want to receive reminders before new calendar items (for example, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, etc.).

    Set the Default reminders

This only applies to the selected meeting in the calendar.  

  1. At the bottom of the screen, click Calendar.

    Outlook 2016 Calendar Navigation

  2. Open the meeting. If the Open Recurring Item dialog box appears, do one of the following:

    • To set the reminder for just one appointment or meeting in a series, select Just this one.

    • To set the reminder for all the appointments or meetings in a series, select The entire series.

  3. On the Meeting tab (for a recurring meeting it's the Meeting Series tab, click the Reminder dropdown and select how long before the appointment or meeting you want to get a reminder. To turn a reminder off, select None.

    Reminder Options

Automatically dismiss reminders for past events

If you don't want to see reminders for events in the past, you can tell Outlook to automatically dismiss reminders for past events. For example, if you're out of the office for three days, you might not want to come back and see reminders for the meetings that took place while you were gone.

  1. Select File > Options > Advanced.

  2. In the Reminders section, select Automatically dismiss reminders for past events.

Set reminders for email messages

  1. At the bottom of the screen click Mail.

    Outlook 2016 Navigation Mail

  2. Select an email message.

  3. Click Home > Follow Up > Add Reminder.

     

  4. In the Custom dialog box, check or uncheck Reminder.

Set reminders for tasks

  1. At the bottom of the screen, click Tasks.

    Outlook 2016 Navigation Tasks

  2. To view the tasks, click Home >To-Do List.

    Click To-Do List

  3. Click a task in the list.

  4. Do one of the following:

    • To add a task reminder to your Tasks list, select the task and then in the Follow-up group, choose a time frame to meet your deadline.

    • To remove a task reminder from your Tasks list/To-Do list, in the Manage Task group, click Remove from List.

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