How to Use Apple Reminders on iPhone: Complete Beginner’s Guide

Apple Reminders is one of those iPhone apps that looks simple at first but becomes much more useful once you start exploring its features.

You can use it for basic to-do lists, but it also supports scheduled notifications, recurring tasks, subtasks, notes, attachments, tags, priorities, Smart Lists, widgets, location-based reminders, and integration with Apple Calendar.

In this guide, we’ll walk through the main features of Apple Reminders and look at where it works well — and where it has limitations.

What Is Apple Reminders?

Apple Reminders is Apple’s built-in task and reminder app for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and other Apple devices.

The app is free and doesn’t require a separate subscription.

Your reminders can synchronize through iCloud when you’re signed in to the same Apple Account on your devices.

When you first open the app, you’ll normally see several built-in sections such as:

• Today
• Scheduled
• All
• Flagged
• Completed

Below these are the lists you create yourself.

You might create separate lists for work, personal tasks, shopping, travel, or individual projects.

How to Create a List in Apple Reminders

Lists help keep different types of reminders separated.

To create one:

1. Open Reminders.
2. Tap Add List.
3. Enter a name for the list.
4. Choose a color and icon.
5. Tap Done.

For example, you could create a list called Work for tasks related to your job.

You can create additional lists later whenever you need a different category.

How to Create a Reminder

Creating a basic task is straightforward.

Open a list and tap New Reminder.

Enter the task name and save it.

For example:

Prepare monthly report

You can leave the reminder as a simple task, but opening its details gives you many more options.

Add a Date, Time, and Notification

A reminder can have both a date and a specific time.

This is useful when you want Apple Reminders to actively notify you instead of simply storing something on a list.

Open the reminder details and enable Date.

Choose the day when the task is due.

You can then enable Time and choose when you want the notification to appear.

For example, you could schedule your monthly report for 9:00 AM.

Apple Reminders can also provide an early reminder before the actual due date.

This gives you extra warning for tasks that require preparation.

Create Recurring Reminders

Apple Reminders supports repeating tasks.

This is useful for things you do regularly, such as:

• Monthly reports
• Weekly cleaning
• Paying bills
• Maintenance
• Exercise routines

Open the reminder and select Repeat.

You can choose common schedules such as daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly.

Custom repeat options are also available when you need something more specific.

Use Subtasks for Larger Tasks

Some tasks involve several smaller steps.

Instead of creating unrelated reminders, Apple Reminders lets you add subtasks underneath a main task.

For example, a reminder called Prepare monthly report might contain:

• Download sales report
• Reconcile balances
• Review variances

Each subtask can be completed individually while remaining grouped with the parent reminder.

This makes Reminders useful for simple projects without requiring a full project-management app.

Add Notes to a Reminder

A reminder can also contain a Notes field.

This is helpful when the task name alone isn’t enough.

For example:

Submit final report to Finance after review.

Notes are useful for instructions, reference information, or other details that you don’t want to place in the task title.

Add Photos and Scanned Documents

Apple Reminders also supports attachments.

Depending on the available options on your device, you can add a photo, take a new picture, or scan a document.

This can be useful for tasks involving receipts, documents, products, reference images, or other visual information.

The attachment stays connected to the reminder, so you don’t have to search for it somewhere else later.

Set Priority Levels

Apple Reminders lets you assign priorities to tasks.

The available levels include:

• Low
• Medium
• High

Priority levels are useful when some tasks deserve more attention than others.

You can also flag a reminder.

Flagged reminders automatically appear inside the Flagged Smart List, regardless of which regular list they belong to.

Organize Tasks With Tags

Tags give you another way to organize reminders.

For example, a work task might have the tag:

#finance

You can then select that tag to see matching reminders together.

This becomes particularly useful when related tasks are spread across several different lists.

One reminder can also contain multiple tags.

Create Smart Lists

Smart Lists are one of the more powerful organization features in Apple Reminders.

Instead of manually placing reminders into a list, a Smart List automatically displays tasks that match selected conditions.

Filters can include things such as:

• Tags
• Dates
• Priority
• Flags
• Locations

For example, you could create a Smart List called Important Finance that shows reminders tagged Finance and marked as High Priority.

Once the filters are configured, qualifying reminders appear automatically.

Search Your Reminders

If you have a large number of tasks, the built-in search function can save time.

Open Search and enter part of the reminder name.

For example, searching for report can quickly find your monthly report task without requiring you to open every list.

Apple Reminders and Apple Calendar

Apple Reminders works closely with Apple Calendar.

Scheduled reminders can appear alongside your calendar events.

This is useful because it lets you see tasks and appointments together instead of checking two completely separate schedules.

A reminder with a date can appear on the corresponding day, while reminders with specific times can fit into your daily schedule.

You can also interact with scheduled reminders from the Calendar app.

For people who already use Apple Calendar, this is one of Reminders’ strongest features.

Use Reminders Widgets on the Home Screen

Apple Reminders includes Home Screen widgets.

A widget can display tasks from a selected list without requiring you to open the full app.

Depending on the widget and iOS version, you can also interact with reminders directly from the Home Screen, including marking tasks as completed.

Widgets are particularly useful for lists you want to check frequently.

Make the Text Larger

Apple Reminders follows the iPhone’s system text-size and accessibility settings.

If the default text is too small, you can increase the text size through iOS.

Additional accessibility options such as Bold Text and larger accessibility sizes are also available.

This makes Reminders adaptable for users who prefer larger interface text.

Sync Apple Reminders Across Devices

Apple Reminders uses iCloud for synchronization.

When Reminders is enabled in iCloud, your tasks can stay synchronized between supported devices using the same Apple Account.

This can include:

• iPhone
• iPad
• Mac
• Apple Watch

You can also access your reminders through iCloud on the web.

The main limitation is that Apple Reminders is primarily designed for the Apple ecosystem.

There isn’t a native Apple Reminders app for Android, so users who frequently switch between Apple and Android devices may prefer a cross-platform task manager.

Can You Export Apple Reminders?

Data export is one of the weaker areas of Apple Reminders, particularly on iPhone.

You can print a reminder list, which can be useful if you need a physical or printable copy.

However, the iPhone app doesn’t provide a simple built-in option for exporting your reminder database into a structured format such as CSV.

For users who frequently move task data between different services, this limitation may be important.

Can You Delete an Apple Reminders Account?

Apple Reminders doesn’t have its own separate account system.

It uses your Apple Account and iCloud.

You can delete individual reminders and lists, disable Reminders synchronization in iCloud, or manage the Apple Account itself.

But there is no standalone “Apple Reminders account” to delete.

Does Apple Reminders Work Offline?

Reminders already stored on your iPhone can still be accessed when you temporarily lose internet access.

You can also make changes while offline.

However, internet access is required for those changes to synchronize with iCloud and your other devices.

So Apple Reminders can function locally during temporary connectivity loss, but its cross-device synchronization naturally depends on an internet connection.

Location-Based Reminders

Apple Reminders can also remind you based on location rather than only a date or time.

For example, you could create a reminder that appears when you arrive somewhere or when you leave a particular place.

This is useful for tasks such as:

• Remembering something when you arrive at work
• Buying an item when you’re near a store
• Completing a task when you get home

Location-based reminders can make notifications more relevant to what you’re actually doing.

Grocery Lists

Apple Reminders also includes features specifically designed for grocery shopping.

When you create an appropriate Grocery list and add items, Reminders can organize those items into categories.

For example, items such as apples, milk, and bread may be grouped into relevant grocery sections.

This can make longer shopping lists easier to navigate while you’re inside a store.

Apple Reminders Feature Summary

Is Apple Reminders Worth Using?

For iPhone users, Apple Reminders is surprisingly capable.

It’s free, already installed on many Apple devices, and includes most of the features an everyday task-management app needs.

Its biggest advantages are its integration with iOS, iCloud, Apple Calendar, widgets, and the wider Apple ecosystem.

For someone who primarily uses Apple devices, it may be all the task manager they need.

The biggest limitations become more noticeable if you need strong cross-platform support or easy structured data export.

If you regularly use Android, Windows-centric workflows, or multiple productivity platforms, alternatives such as Microsoft To Do, Google Tasks, or other third-party task managers may fit your workflow better.

But for users who already live inside the Apple ecosystem, Reminders is worth trying before paying for another task-management app.

Watch the Apple Reminders Tutorial

Prefer to see the features in action?

Watch our full Apple Reminders tutorial on the Screenlumen YouTube channel for a step-by-step walkthrough of creating reminders, recurring tasks, subtasks, tags, Smart Lists, widgets, Calendar integration, and more.