How to Fix iPhone Reminders Not Working in 2022

Reminders by Apple is a mobile application developed for iPhone and Mac users. It plays a vital role in helping us manage our day-to-day tasks effectively. It allows users to store important events, dates, meetings, and more on iPhone. You can even assign a reminder to someone if you have a shared list with this app. In addition, you can even print it from iPhone or Mac. You can keep all your reminders in sync across all your Apple devices with iCloud support. With the Reminders app, you will not miss any important schedule at any time. In the rarest cases, the Reminders app may not work, and the cause of this issue differs. If you don’t want to miss any appointments or meetings, you should know how to fix iPhone Reminders not working on iPhone issue.

Why Don’t Reminders work on iPhone: Possible Causes

If iPhone doesn’t bring in Reminders, it may be due to the following reasons.

• You might have set an incorrect reminder notification.
• Sometimes, the reminder alert would have been set to mute.
• iCloud glitches that fail to sync reminders across the device.
• At times, it may be due to the System files being corrupted on iPhone.

How to Fix Reminders Not Working on iPhone

Here we have listed a few best solutions to fix the iPhone Reminders alerts not working.

1. Check Reminders App Settings
2. Check Notification Settings for Reminders
3. Enable Location Service for Reminders
4. Reboot your iPhone
5. Turn off Reminders from iCloud and Turn on
6. Update iOS
7. Remove Reminders App Widgets
8. Check for Focus Modes
9. Uninstall & Reinstall Reminders App
10. Reset iPhone Settings
11. Restore iPhone

1. Check Reminders App Settings

At first, you should check whether you have set an alert tone for the Reminders on your iPhone. If not, it may be the reason for iPhone Reminders not working issue. Follow these steps to check Reminders alerts.

[1] Go to Settings >> Sounds >> Reminder Alerts.

[2] Now, ensure that the Alert tone has been set for the Reminder app.

[3] If the Alert Tone is none, you need to select your sound to remind Alerts.

2. Check Notification Settings for Reminders

You can also check whether you have turned off the notification settings for the Reminders app. In such a scenario, your iPhone notification will not work.

[1] Go to Settings and tap Notification.

[2] Click on Reminders and ensure that Allow Notification is enabled, and also check under Alerts everything is ticked.

[3] Click on Sound and check if any sound has been assigned for the Reminders app.

Now, you may find if iPhone Reminders not alerting issue has been resolved. Else, you shall proceed with the below fixes.

3. Enable Location Service for Reminders

The Reminders app supports setting up location-based reminders. So, whenever your device reaches that location, you will get a reminder. If you haven’t enabled the location on your device, then the Reminders app will not work and bring in reminder alerts. To take advantage of this limitation, you should enable the location services for the Reminders app. With this, the iPhone location reminders not working issue gets resolved.

[1] Navigate to the apps section on your iOS device to select the Settings app.

[2] Scroll down to choose the Privacy option.

[3] Now, select Location Services from the top of the page.

[4] Choose Reminders from the list to proceed.

[5] Select the While Using the App under the Allow Location Access section.

With this, iPhone location reminders that you have set will start working.

4. Reboot your iPhone

The same issues continue even after turning on the notification for the Reminders app. Now, you can restart your iPhone device. In many cases, restarting your device will help to fix temporary errors.

• To restart, you can use the Power and Volume buttons to turn off and turn on.
• Else go to Settings app >> General >> Shut Down

Sometimes, you may get iPhone Keeps Restarting Loop issue due to hardware or software glitch. It is indeed vital to fix up this issue to use iPhone without any limitations.

5. Turn Off Reminders from iCloud and Turn On

On all your iOS devices, the Reminders app is synchronized through iCloud. Sometimes Apple iCloud service may become a problem and might be the cause for the iPhone Reminders not working. To resolve it, you can turn it off and then turn it on from iCloud.

[1] Open the Settings app and click on your Apple ID name.

[2] Click on iCloud and turn off the toggle for Reminders.

[3] Click Delete from iPhone option on the confirmation pop-up.

[4] After a few seconds, turn the toggle back to the ON position and allow iCloud to sync all again.

6. Update iOS

Ensure that you’re using the latest version of iOS because, in some cases, updating iOS will fix many problems. Follow these steps to update your iPhone.

[1] Go to the Settings app and click General.

[2] Click Software Updates. If an update is pending, click on Download and install.

Note: Users reported that they have come across iPhone reminders not working with iOS 14. In that case, you shall update the device with the latest version.

7. Enable Today Notification

Reminders on iPhone may not work if you haven’t added a time. It will be the cause if you have used Siri to set a reminder. When you haven’t specified a time, iPhone notifies you of the reminder at 9 AM local time on the day of the reminder. So, you shall need to enable the Today Notification.

[1] Go to the Settings app to select Reminders.

[2] Tap on the Today Notification slider to enable it.

[3] Set a time for the reminder to pop up on your iPhone.

8. Remove Reminders App Widgets

Removing Reminders app widgets from the home screen also helps a few users to fix the Reminders on iPhone not working problem. Follow these steps to remove Reminders from widgets.

[1] Locate the Widgets screen by swiping right on the home screen of your iPhone.

[2] Scroll down and click the Edit option on the Widgets screen.

[3] Click on the red icon next to Reminders and then click the Remove option.

[4] Finally, tap on Done and restart your iPhone.

Now, you shall check if you are able to get Reminders alerts on your iPhone. If not, proceed with the other fixes of iPhone Reminders not working.

9. Check Focus Modes

If you have updated your iPhone or iPad with iOS 15 or iPadOS 15, then Reminders may not work with the Focus Mode enabled. In other words, you might have forgotten to turn off the Focus mode and thus end up missing getting the reminders. You can turn off this feature from the Control Center of the iOS device to fix iPhone Reminders not popping-up issue.

Besides this, you shall even add the Reminders app to Focus Mode to never miss out on getting the updates. To allow Reminders notification from popping up on iPhone, you shall need to carry out the below steps.

[1] Open the iPhone Settings app.

[2] Click on the Focus option.

[3] Choose any of the Focus mode from the listed options.

[4] Select Apps under the Allowed Notifications.

[5] Click on the Add App button.

[6] Now, select Reminders and hit the Done button.

[7] Finally, press the back arrow available at the top-left to save the changes.

With this, you will get Reminders alerts even if you have enabled the Focus mode.

10. Uninstall & Reinstall Reminders App

When any of the above fixes worked for you to resolve Reminders not working, you shall uninstall the app and reinstall it.

[1] To uninstall the Reminders app, press and hold the app icon from the Apps section.

[2] Now, choose the Delete App option.

[3] Click on Delete to uninstall it on your iOS device.

[4] To reinstall, launch App Store and search for Reminders.

[5] Select it from the search result and click Get to install it back.

11. Reset iPhone Settings

If nothing worked in fixing iPhone Reminders not working issue, try resetting your iPhone settings. This method will not remove any data from your iPhone. But it will erase your WiFi password, Privacy settings, and more. So ensure that you have the necessary data back up. Follow the steps below to reset all settings on your iPhone.

[1] Open Settings and click General.

[2] Click Reset and tap on Reset All Settings option.

[3] On the next screen, enter the iPhone lock screen and click Reset All Settings to confirm.

12. Restore iPhone

Finally, as the last option, you can try erasing your iPhone’s content and settings to restore it using an iCloud backup. First, make sure that you have a recent backup available to restore your iPhone to proceed with restoring iPhone. If so, backup your data and start restoring your iPhone.

Hopefully, your iPhone Reminders will work again using these solutions. The troubleshooting tips listed are of no particular order, and you can choose the fixes as per your preference. Besides all these fixes, you shall reset Reminders on iPhone and add a new reminder to fix the issue.

FAQ