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?
- I was having the same very annoying problem for many months. Today I just figured out what was going wrong for me. The iOS Reminders app works with Microsoft To Do. I went into the settings of my iPhone iOS Reminders app and changed the Default List to Reminders. I then did the same thing on my iPad. I also made sure the iOS Reminders app notification settings were turned on on both devices. I then created half a dozen reminders in To Do and they all went off at the right time on my iPhone, iPad, and on my Windows 11 laptop. It seems as though you have to have all the settings exactly the same on all devices you have To Do installed on and in the Reminders iOS app on all your devices.
Melkizadech I struggled not with late, but with missing reminders for recurring daily tasks, until I came across this message (link below).
In short, create or edit your recurring task set the due date for the next occurrence, set the repeat frequency, and finally the important non-intuitive part, at least for me, is to check the task completed before the day is out. Once completed, expect the next occurrence of the task to be auto created.
- I believe I have found a temporary fix. I made the Microsoft To-Do notifications Top priority in the windows notifications setting and that seems to have fix my problem as of right now.
I have found a solution.
If you're using "To Do" from two devices(laptop, mobile). If you press complete when you're reminded on your laptop, next time you'll be reminded only on your laptop. If you press complete on your mobile you won't be reminded on your laptop the next time. To resolve this I signed in with a different account on my laptop. Of course syncing is an issue but it is better than missing reminders.
Abinash_Dash “Of course syncing is an issue but it is better than missing reminders.”
this is a joke, right? Eliminating the single most important feature of a task manager renders the app just as useless. The whole point is to set it once and forget it. To have every device perform the same function without having to rebuild every task list for every single device I own. For those of us who use several devices throughout our days your method of dealing with missed reminders is no solution at all. 🙄
It is 2023, and this app still has these notification issues. The app whose single most important job is to remind can't remind you reliably. By Microsoft. Shame on you.
Make sure you are signed in (you will see an indicator next to your profile picture). You might have signed out, or you might have changed your account password so that the credentials in ToDo are incorrect. If you're not signed in then ToDo keeps going, but things don't get updated correctly and you get strange behaviours.
- This app has had this issue forever. I've tried using on all sorts of devices and notifications has ALWAYS been it's most serious flaw. They have NEVER worked properly on ANY device. Notifications that do not work properly render organizational apps completely useless. This is horse hockey.
Melkizadech I had the same issue. It seems that the ToDo app is not syncing on iOS when it is not active. After opening the app all changes will be synchronized and the reminders are working properly. At least on my devices. 🙂
- It seems like the ToDo app on Android does not synchronize when the phone is running too much in the background. The notifications seem to be fully local. I.e., Microsoft will never send a push notification for reminders. This means that if the app is not able to run and sync in the background, it will not find out about the To Do item prior to the set reminder time.
For me, I charge my phone at my desk while working and leave it unplugged at night. Some reminders which were configured during the night were never displayed. But if the reminders are set while my phone is charging or while I am actively using it, then To Do can sync to catch up.
Many mainstream apps which people rely on use a hybrid approach to notifications: when an event occurs, the server sends a push notification to the app. If the app is running and actively able to sync data, it will display the notification on the phone locally and suppress the push notification. But if the app is not running, then the push notification is not suppressed and displays directly, even if it does not show all of the data (e.g., if it requires the app to run to decrypt data). It seems like To Do is trying to run without push notifications. That lets MS use less infrastructure and reduces the chance of information leaking, but results in this experience where reminders get skipped.- So, my workaround I am trying for now is to make sure that I set reminders that are at least 12 hours out in the future. I am bound to unlock and actively use my phone within every 12 hour period. And even when the phone is not charging, it is likely to allow accounts to sync during some time in a 12 hours period. Hopefully this results in To Do noticing the tasks prior to the reminder time, allowing it to schedule the app to wake up and display the notifications when they occur.
- An old post, but the issue is still present. Basically as my experience is that Microsoft was never able to implement working notification and syncing solutions in any of their software. Outlook, ToDo, Onenote, Windows, OneDrive. All have issues with notifications and syncing stuff. Some more and some less. But for me ToDo and Outlook on Android have never properly worked as a reminder solution. I have tried a lot of different fixes. Even if you get it working at some point it will break soon enough. For important reminders you should use third party software. Not Microsoft.
Same here. It doesn't only happen on my Android phone, but also on my Win10 desktop pc. So it doesn't seem Android related to me. It only happens with (daily) recurring tasks. It's very worrying that such a (seemingly) simple fix hasn't been solved by MS after so many months. I'm going to try G Tasks as well. Thanks for the tip.
- I have the same problem. I recently came across this post which suggests linking your To Do reminders to the iOS Reminders app. Then your reminders will come up in the Reminders app. I’m still observing if clicking done on a task in Reminders will sync eventually to To Do. Unfortunately task groups in To Do do not sync, only Task Lists. It’s a bummer if one has to organize task groups in To Do but manage task completion in Reminders. Still testing if it works for me.
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-to-do-blog/six-tips-to-get-the-most-out-of-microsoft-to-do-in-ios/ba-p/2256864
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5. View your Microsoft To Do lists in Apple’s Reminders app
Microsoft To Do is integrated with Apple’s Reminders app so you can view your To Do lists in Reminders if you use iOS 12 or later. Here’s how to link your Microsoft To Do account with Apple’s Reminders app:
Open your device’s settings and select Reminders > Add Account.
Add the email address associated with your Microsoft To Do account. When you open Apple’s Reminders app, you should be able to see your Microsoft To Do lists.
Note: currently shared lists and smart lists like My Day, Planned, Assigned to you, Important, and Flagged email won’t show up in Apple’s Reminders app.
