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Better Outlook Reminders?

Slipstick Systems

› Outlook › Calendar › Better Outlook Reminders?

Last reviewed on May 14, 2016     7 Comments

Applies to: Outlook (classic)

A visitor to slipstick.com made this suggestion recently:

Windows Taskbar is ugly if you don't have it set to combine windows, but when you combine windows, it's really easy to miss the reminder dialog. There is an envelope in the System Tray when new email comes in. Why can't there be an indicator for a meeting that's about to occur?

While I'm not sure a meeting reminder in the tray will help that much (too many tray icons as it is and it won't show if the taskbar is on autohide), Outlook definitely needs a better reminder system.

An option for Exchange server or Outlook.com users is to set the account up in Windows Mail app, turning off sync for mail and contacts. Calendar reminders will use the Windows reminder system and display prominently in the corner of your screen, on top of any open programs. Unlike the orange flash on the Task Bar, it's hard to miss the Windows Calendar reminders.

windows calendar reminder

You can even dock the calendar on the side of the screen and use it if you don't want to keep Outlook open.

This won't work for POP3 and IMAP accounts as Outlook's calendar won't sync to the Windows Calendar App.

To add the account to the Windows apps:

  1. Open the Calendar, click the Gear icon then choose Accounts.
  2. Click Add account.
  3. After you add the account, change the mailbox sync settings, turning off mail and contact sync.
    change sync settings
Better Outlook Reminders? was last modified: May 14th, 2016 by Diane Poremsky

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About Diane Poremsky

A Microsoft Outlook Most Valuable Professional (MVP) since 1999, Diane is the author of several books, including Outlook 2013 Absolute Beginners Book. She also created video training CDs and online training classes for Microsoft Outlook. You can find her helping people online in Outlook Forums as well as in the Microsoft Answers and TechNet forums.

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Daniel
March 26, 2021 5:57 am

Good tip, plus the full screen monthly calendar view is waaaay better than Outlooks... which was another annoyance I was trying to find a solution to. Thanks.

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Arturo B
September 4, 2020 12:35 pm

Great hint! Thank you.

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weffwg
September 17, 2019 4:46 am

works perfectly... exactly what I needed. Thank you

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Wayne
January 25, 2019 10:42 am

I have set up an outlook meeting and have invited external guests. Is there a way to have a reminder pop up on the external guest's calendar?

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Diane Poremsky
Author
Reply to  Wayne
January 25, 2019 10:13 pm

You can set a reminder on the meeting, but the settings on their computer will determine if the reminder fires.

You can use the Send mail to attendees button to send email reminders prior to the meeting.

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len raphael
September 5, 2018 2:32 pm

Biggest problem i have with Outlook reminders is with calendar event notifications. One can only get notified once: either in advance or at time of the event. Apple Icloud Calendar (which can be installed local Outlook) provides two separate alerts: one before and one at time of event. Suppose one could use the built in advance alert and hit snooze, but if you miss the built in advance alert, you're scrooged.

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Diane Poremsky
Author
Reply to  len raphael
September 5, 2018 11:16 pm

Yeah, you either need to use snooze or create a second event for the early reminder. If you use Exchange, outlook on the web has an email notification option (per appt).

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