Forum Discussion
To-do Task Reminders Not Always Working
I love using Microsoft To-Do to set up tasks and routines, but often the reminders do not always work. Example: I have a routine set to remind me to give my puppies their morning snack everyday at 6:45. Some mornings, I get the reminder right on time, some mornings I get the reminder 5 or 10 minutes late, and other mornings I do not get a reminder at all, even though I can look at the task set up in To-Do and clearly see the reminder turned on. This happens with other tasks as well. Is there some way to correct this so that I get my reminders when I am supposed to?
37 Replies
I am having this issue on MacOS with the To-Do always open. Reminders are non-existent but they are set up correctly.
Check if Cortana is active - when I opened Cortana and kept it open, reminders were showing properly
- I tried and that trick dô‑n’t function,
I start to think that Microsoft sabot some peoples only, because of government instruction,
since it happen to only some and not all.
- I've returned to To Do this week to discover the same reminder issue. What kind of company has a task management platform with non functional reminders? It is beyond comprehension that after more than 6 months and more this is still an unresolved issue. I've been kicking the tires on todoist for a few weeks. that is my go to now after today. I wont be back. Cheers microsoft!
- I'm having the same issue, only on a new Android phone I purchased. I went through every single Android setting I can think of related to battery, background/background data, notifications themselves etc etc. It never happened until I switched to this new Android phone. If I add a task with a reminder, in Outlook on my PC, the reminder will go off in Outlook there, but not in Microsoft To Do on my new Android phone. The fix I've found so far? It's adding the tasks to Microsoft To Do directly, and on the Android phone itself. This seems to fire off reminders correctly on the phone, and Outlook reminders in Outlook on the PC as well. But I have to add the tasks in To Do *on the phone*. Adding them to To Do on the PC, or in the Office365 web site, doesn't help. Weird.
- I've tried creating my reminders in To Do, directly on the iPhone / iOS. Again, completely unpredictable and mixed results. Sometimes I get reminder... sometimes not. Definitely less chance to get the subsequent reminders if it is a repeating To Do (e.g. daily or weekly). I've tried to completely delete the task(s) and recreate them in To Do, but still mixed results. What good are mixed results if you are trying to remind yourself to, for example, take your medicine at specific times each day? I've now had to abort and completely switch to a competing product. I'm seriously considering canceling my 365 subscription. The other "big" options out there have a bit less in features, but are essentially free and actually work.
JFranz88 I understand, completely. Can I ask you what you ended up considering and what you used? I don't think the fix I listed works; I am getting random notifications on my new Android phone. I think it must be related to Android, as on my old Android phone it worked perfectly. But then again, you said you're having this issue on your iPhone, so maybe that's not correct either. Just so incredibly frustrating. To Do is part of the Office365 suite, and yet it doesn't work. It seems Microsoft just abandoned task management development, several years ago. It's awful.
- I’ve had issues with Microsoft reminders since the days of Outlook on Windows 7 and prior. One reason is their handling of “dismiss”. Once you dismiss, I would never get a reminder again for any future (e.g. daily or weekly) reoccurrence. The fact that this type issue is still going on many many years later is beyond words. I’ve missed so many reminders on my iPhone by using the To Do app, that I had to switch to Google tasks. Why can Google and Apple apps handle reoccurring reminders and iPhone notifications so cleanly and reliably, but Microsoft struggles with this basic functionality? What a shame to be paying for 365 and I can’t use certain basic features.
I have exactly the same trouble prom long time now,
that I reported in support, 2019 November 30, with a response prom Bhanujirao V,
and since that day nothing have changed...
I rewritten again to support, the 2020 February 20, with response prom Shashank89 Gandhi, that the issue is not corrected yet !!!
- https://wp.me/p6FX3v-gozIl also reported the problem in FeedBack Hub,
- https://aka.ms/AA8iru3 (more than one year ago.)
- https://aka.ms/AAcwpn4 (one week ago.)
And still same problem on Android & P.C.,
first Alarm function,
but others, next days, do not appear on Android & Windows 10,
even if Repeat is set on.
I really do not know when this will be corrected,
because he troubles my projects and help to achieve easily my tasks.
Patience, thank pro you report now I know that other have the same trouble.
Jood bye & take care.
Have a long & happy life.
Melkizadech leo1_loco RollSeven RDriver123 ShahidIqbal I think I've stumbled on a fix for this. Log out of all instances of To-Do on all devices, then log in again. Since doing that it seems I am getting all the expected reminders, including for reoccurring tasks, on all devices. Hope this helps for others.
tbh I would not call this a fix, sounds more like a nuisance - but thnx for sharing this workaround for the current situation; gonna give it a shot
I use my Mac and a Samsung. I´m having some issues to get reminders sync across the devices. And´the MAC notifications are no working.
Any help?
Thanks
Similar problem here -- I've been having this problem for more than a year now, but since no other app does what I need, I'm stuck with Microsoft To-Do.
I use reminders to remind me of recurrent tasks. But sometimes, the reminder of the task just gets disabled (the bell icon is crossed), randomly, and I don't get notifications for that task anymore. I have to go into the task, and reset my reminder.
I have the exact same issue. I stopped using Microsoft To Do, and have switched to Samsung Reminders. Google Keep and Samsung make it so easy to set a daily reminder, yet Microsoft can't seem to do it. It's such an important feature for so many people. It's enough to make you not use the app, and scratch your head.
Melkizadech I have the same issue. Really needs to get solved.
RDriver123 Melkizadech ShahidIqbal One potential workaround that I've been testing is to delete and recreate the task. I've done this a few times and in my limited testing it seems the reminders for the newly recreated task are triggering as expected. Makes it seem as if a bug was introduced at some point and tasks with reminders created prior to the bug no longer function reliably. Certainly not an ideal workaround.
