The Reminders app can do more than hold a basic to-do list. Use it to schedule tasks, get alerts when you arrive somewhere or message someone, share chores with family, and keep grocery items organized. This guide covers the everyday tools in Reminders on iPhone and iPad, including the Apple Intelligence features available on supported devices.
Some advanced features require updated Reminders in iCloud. Apple Intelligence also depends on your device, language, and region, so you may not see every option described below.
Turn on iCloud sync
If you want the same reminders on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, sign in to the same Apple Account on each device and turn on Reminders in iCloud. Open Settings, tap your name > iCloud > See All, then turn on Reminders.
Open the Reminders app and look for your lists under the iCloud section. If you use another account, such as a work or school account, its reminders may appear separately and some iCloud features may not be available.
Create reminders on iPhone and iPad
The app is the best place to create a task when you already know which list it belongs in. You can add a short title and save it right away, or open the details screen to schedule it before you move on.
- Open Reminders and choose a list, such as Today or one under My Lists.
- Tap New Reminder.
- Type a short title. Add a note if the task needs context.
- Tap the details button to add a date, time, location, or other information.
- Tap Done to save the reminder.
To make a reminder while using another app, open the webpage, email, or note, tap Share, then choose Reminders. Select a list and save the link or selected text. On a supported Apple Intelligence device, Reminders may suggest action items from the text. Review each suggestion and tap Add beside the ones you want, or use Include All. The Share button and available options vary by app.
Calendar is useful when you want to choose a date from the calendar itself. Tap Add, choose Reminder, enter a title, then set a date and optional time. Choose a Reminders list if you do not want to use the default list, then tap Done. The item appears in Reminders too, and you can complete or edit it from either app.
Siri can add a task when your hands are busy. Say, “Remind me to pick up the parcel tomorrow at 4 p.m.” Siri adds it to your default list unless you name another list in the request. To change that default, go to Settings > Apps > Reminders > Default List.
You can also add the Reminders control to Control Center for quick capture from any screen. Open Control Center, tap Add a Control, find Reminders, and add it. On a supported iPhone, assign Reminders to the Action button in Settings > Action Button, then press and hold the button to create a task.
On an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone, you can type a natural-language request such as “Feed the cat every evening at 5” and let Reminders fill in the timing. Apple lists iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, and iPhone 16 models or later, as supported for Apple Intelligence in iOS 27. Feature availability varies by language and region, and usage limits may apply. If you are trying to remember to return a call, you can also set a callback reminder from the Phone app.
Add dates, locations, and details
Tap a reminder, then tap its Details or info button to edit it. You can add a note or URL, set a date and time, flag the task, choose a priority, and attach an image or scanned document. This is also where you can set a location, a message trigger, an early alert, or a repeat schedule.
Choose a due date and time when you need a precise alert. If you set an all-day reminder without a time, change its alert time in Settings > Apps > Reminders > Today Notification. This replaces the older fixed-time instructions you may see in outdated guides.
For an alert when you arrive at or leave a place, turn on Location, choose a suggested place, or search for another address. Reminders needs Location Services and Precise Location access for this to work. A location reminder is useful for a task like “Pick up the dry cleaning” when you reach the shop, rather than at a time when you may be somewhere else.
Turn on When Messaging, tap Choose Person, and select a contact to see the reminder the next time you message them. This works well for a question or item you want to bring up in a particular conversation.
Use Early Reminder when you want a heads-up before the due time. Pick one of the suggested intervals or set a custom lead time, then keep the main due date as the deadline.
To add a visual reference, tap Add Image and choose a photo or scan a document. For example, attach a picture of a product label to a shopping task or a scan of paperwork you need to submit.
To make a task recur, set its date first, tap Repeat, and choose a schedule such as daily, weekly, or monthly. Reminders create the next occurrence after you complete the current one, so you do not need to add the same task again.
Choose Priority to mark an item Low, Medium, or High. A flag is another way to mark an important task; flagged items also appear in the Flagged Smart List. For an alarm-style alert, turn on Urgent in the reminder details. The alarm can sound even when Silent mode or Focus is on, but Urgent requires iCloud Reminders, permission for Reminders to use alarms, and the device that Find My uses as your location. If you have not set a date or time, an Urgent reminder defaults to the next hour.
Break large tasks into subtasks
Subtasks keep a project or errand from becoming one long reminder. For a grocery run, for example, make “Shop for the week” the main task and add separate items for produce, pantry supplies, and household needs.
To create one, open a list and swipe right on a reminder, then tap Indent. You can also drag a reminder onto another reminder to make it a subtask. Swipe right and tap Outdent to move it back to the main list. Completing a parent reminder also completes its subtasks; moving or deleting the parent moves or deletes them too.
Organize lists and sections
Tap Add List to create a list. Give it a name, choose a color and symbol, select Standard as the list type, and tap Done. Make separate lists for work, home, travel, or any other set of tasks you want to keep apart.
To change a list’s name, icon, color, or type later, open it, tap More > Show List Info, make your changes, and tap Done. A Standard list can become a Groceries list here. Smart Lists use filters instead of storing a separate set of reminders.
Sections let you divide one list into smaller groups, such as “Before the trip” and “At the airport.” Open the list, tap More > New Section, and name it. Tap a section name to rename it, or drag a section to change its position. Swipe left on a section to remove it; deleting a section also deletes the reminders in it. To see sections side by side, tap More > View as Columns, then drag reminders between columns.
To group related lists on the Reminders home screen, tap More > Edit Lists > Add Group, enter a group name, select the lists to include, and tap Done. You can also drag one list onto another to create a group. To reorganize lists later, return to Edit Lists and drag them into a different order or group.
Move a reminder to another list by opening its details, tapping List, and choosing the destination. To move several at once, open a list’s More menu, choose Select Reminders, select the items, and tap the move control. You can also drag a reminder between lists when both lists are visible.
Keep frequently used lists near the top by touching and holding one, then tapping Pin. You can pin up to nine lists. Drag pinned lists into the order that works for you.
Use Smart Lists, tags, and grocery lists
Tags help you find related tasks even when they live in different lists. Add a tag such as Work or Shopping while creating or editing a reminder. A tag is one word, but you can use a hyphen or underscore to join words, and you can add more than one tag to a reminder.
Tap a tag in the Tag Browser at the bottom of the Reminders screen to see matching reminders. You can select more than one tag and choose whether the list should match any or all of them. If a tag is no longer used, it may not appear in the browser.
To tag several reminders together, open a list, tap More > Select Reminders, choose the items, and tap Add Tag. Select an existing tag or create one, then save.
To remove a tag from one reminder, edit that reminder and delete the tag. To rename or delete a tag across your lists, touch and hold the tag in the Tag Browser and choose Rename Tag or Delete Tag. Deleting a tag also removes it from Smart Lists that use it.
Smart Lists automatically collect reminders from your other lists. The built-in options include Today for overdue and due-today items, Scheduled for dated reminders, All for every list, Flagged, Completed, Assigned to Me, Groceries, and Siri Suggestions. Tap More > Edit Lists to show or hide the default Smart Lists. To make a custom one, tap Add List, choose Smart List under List Type, then set filters such as tags, dates, location, flag, or priority. Choose whether a reminder needs to match all or any of the filters.
For groceries, create a new list and choose Groceries as its type, or open an existing list’s Show List Info screen and change List Type to Groceries. As you add items, Reminders sorts many of them into categories such as Produce or Dairy. You can move an item to another category, and Reminders can remember the correction.
If you shop or enter items in another language, go to Settings > Apps > Reminders > Add Language under Grocery Categorization. Choose Set Automatically or select the languages you use. For a deeper walkthrough, see how to create and organize a grocery list in Reminders.
Share lists and assign reminders
Open a list and tap the Share button to invite people through Messages, Mail, or another option. Everyone needs to be signed in to an Apple Account and have Reminders turned on in iCloud. After they accept, collaborators can add or edit reminders and mark items complete; you can also control whether participants can invite others.
To assign a task, create or edit a reminder in the shared list and type @ followed by a person’s name, or tap the person button and choose someone. Use the Assigned to Me Smart List to see tasks assigned to you.
If the shared list becomes noisy, tap Collaborate > Manage Shared List to change activity notifications. You can choose to get alerts when someone adds or completes an item. You can stop sharing from the same management screen. If you want to reuse a packing list or routine, save a Reminders list as a template instead of sharing an editable list.
Complete, sort, and delete reminders
Tap the circle next to a reminder to mark it complete. You can also mark a reminder complete from its notification or from a Reminders widget. Completed items are hidden from the regular list. To review finished tasks, open the Completed Smart List or open a list’s More menu and choose Show Completed. You can undo a completion by tapping the checked circle again.
To change the order of a list, touch and hold a reminder and drag it. For an automatic order, tap More > Sort By and choose due date, creation date, priority, or title. Sorting is not available in every Smart List, and a shared list’s new order is visible to its collaborators.
If you added a task by mistake, swipe left on it and tap Delete. You can select several reminders from a list’s More menu and delete them together. Deleted reminders go to Recently Deleted, where you can recover them for 30 days.
To remove completed tasks, open the completed items, tap Clear, and choose which completed reminders to clear. This is different from marking a task complete: clearing removes it from the list.
To delete a whole list, open it, tap More > Delete List, or swipe left on it from the home screen. Review the confirmation first, since deleting a list also removes its reminders. Deleted lists can be recovered from Recently Deleted for 30 days.
Reuse templates and capture tasks quickly
If you repeat the same routine, open its list, tap More > Save as Template, name it, then choose whether to include completed reminders. When you need another copy, tap More > Templates, choose the template, name the new list, and tap Create. Editing a template does not change lists you already made from it. You can share a template link; people download their own copy. When you share a template, you can choose whether to include dates, tags, and locations, while attached images are removed.
A Reminders widget gives you a quick look at a chosen list on the Home Screen or Lock Screen. Touch and hold the Home Screen background, tap Edit > Add Widget, and choose Reminders. To change the list shown, touch and hold the widget, tap Edit Widget, and select a list. Tap an item in the widget to complete it without opening the app.
For one-off tasks, Siri, the Share Sheet, and the Control Center Reminders button are faster than opening the app. Apple Intelligence can also suggest reminders from selected text in apps such as Safari, Notes, or Mail on supported devices. For medication schedules, use Health > Browse > Medications. Health can notify you when it is time to log a dose; those alerts are separate from Reminders lists. See our guide to setting medication reminders on iPhone and Apple Watch.
If the Reminders app badge does not show tasks due today, open Settings > Apps > Reminders and turn on Include Due Today. The badge then counts overdue items and reminders due today.
