How to Create an Outlook Reminder for Appointments

If you use Outlook 2010 to create meetings and appointments, you can also set reminders to let you know beforehand what your itinerary is for the day. This is especially useful when you spend a lot of time in meetings. While this is a really simple task for most Outlook users, for those who are not too familiar with the application, here’s a quick rundown of how to create an Outlook reminder for appointments.

Remember, you can create a reminder in Outlook not only for appointments, but also for email messages, tasks and contacts.

Set an Outlook Reminder for Appointments in Outlook 2010

To create an Outlook reminder:

1. Open Outlook. Select the File tab and choose Options.

2. In the Outlook Options dialog box, select Calendar.

3. In the Calendar options section, in the default reminders checkbox and set the reminder time. The default time is 15 minutes. Then click OK.

This procedure works for both new meetings and appointments.

If you have an existing meeting or appointment, open up the meeting or appointment. If you have set up a recurring meeting, the Open Recurring Item dialog box will be displayed. Click Open this occurrence or Open the series, and then click OK.

On the Appointment tab, in the Options group, in the Reminder drop-down list, select the beforehand reminder time for the existing appointment or meeting.

One point to remember when setting up meetings that are planned for the entire day is that you cannot change the default reminder time (18 hours in advance) for all such events though you can change the reminder time for individual appointments.

How to Create Outlook Reminder for Email Messages

Just as you create a reminder for appointments and meetings, you can also create Outlook reminder for email messages, tasks, and contacts. To do this:

1. On the Home tab, in the Tags group, click Follow Up , and then click Add Reminder.

2. In the Custom dialog box, select the Reminder check box and enter the date and time when you want the reminder to appear. Click OK.

Alternatively, you can flag the email message in the Inbox and then set a reminder.  Right-click the Flag Status column in the message list.

Or if you have the message open, on the Message tab, in the Tags group, click Follow Up, and then click Add Reminder.

I hope that with the help of this tutorial, you are now confidently able to set reminders for appointments, meetings, tasks, or email messages in Outlook 2010.