Appointment Reminders: Complete Guide to Email Reminders, Time Zones, and Preparation Notes

Until now, Appointment Adder got your appointments into your calendar and left the reminding to whichever calendar app you used. That works until it doesn't: the calendar had no alert set, the alert went to a phone that was on silent, or the appointment belongs to a parent whose calendar you don't see.

Appointment Adder can now email you before an appointment. This guide walks through setting reminders up, choosing how much each email says, and making sure they arrive at the right time.

What You'll Learn

• What you need before reminders can be sent
• How to turn reminders on for a whole collection at once
• How to set, change, or switch off reminders for a single appointment
• How to choose how much detail a reminder email includes
• Why every appointment now has its own time zone, and how to set it
• Where to put preparation instructions so they show up in the reminder
• How to see what's scheduled and what was sent
• How email reminders relate to the alert in calendar files you export

Before You Start

Reminders are sent by email to the address on your account, so two things need to be true:

1. You're signed in with an email address. Temporary (guest) sessions have no address to send to. If you're using the app without an account, create one first - your appointments come with you.
2. Your email address is verified. If you signed in with Google, it already is. If you created an account with an email and password, open the verification email we sent when you signed up.

Each appointment also needs a confirmed time zone. For new appointments that happens automatically; for appointments you saved before this update, see Part 5.

Part 1: How Reminders Work

Reminders are set in two places:

• Your collection holds the default. Turn reminders on for "Mom's Appointments" and every appointment in that collection gets them, including ones you add later.
• Each appointment decides whether to follow that default. In the appointment form, the Reminders section offers three choices:
  • Use the collection default - do whatever the collection says. This is the starting choice for every appointment.
  • No reminders - never remind me about this one, even if the collection has reminders on.
  • Set them for this appointment - use reminder settings specific to this visit.

This means you make one decision for most appointments and only touch the exceptions. Reminders are off until you turn them on - nothing is emailed unless you ask for it.

Part 2: Turn On Reminders for a Whole Collection

This is the fastest way to cover a whole group of appointments at once - for example, everything for one family member.

Step-by-Step

1. Open the account menu (the person icon at the top right) and choose Manage Collections
2. Choose the edit button on the collection you want - for example, My Appointments or Dad
3. In the Reminders section, check Send reminders for appointments in this collection
4. Under Send, choose 24 hours before, 2 hours before, or both
5. Under How much to include, choose the level of detail (see Part 4)
6. Save the collection

Every appointment in that collection that's set to Use the collection default now gets reminders. When you edit an appointment in that collection, the Reminders section tells you what the collection will do - for example, "This collection reminds you 24 hours before."

Tip: If you manage appointments for several people, give each person their own collection. Then you can choose reminders per person - perhaps both 24-hour and 2-hour reminders for a parent who needs a ride, and nothing for your own routine checkups.

Part 3: Set Reminders for One Appointment

Step-by-Step

1. Add a new appointment, or choose the edit (pencil) button on an existing one in your appointment log
2. Find the Reminders section in the right-hand column of the form (below the other fields on a phone)
3. Choose one of the three options:
   • Use the collection default to follow the collection
   • No reminders to switch reminders off for this appointment only
   • Set them for this appointment to choose the timing and detail for this visit
4. If you chose Set them for this appointment, pick when to send (24 hours before, 2 hours before, or both) and how much to include
5. Choose Save Appointment or Update Appointment

When to Use "No reminders"

Some appointments you'd rather not have announced in your inbox - a visit you're keeping private, or one on a shared family account. Choosing No reminders keeps that appointment quiet even when the rest of its collection sends reminders.

Recurring Appointments

When you create a recurring series, every visit in the series gets the reminder settings you chose. Each visit is still its own appointment, so you can later switch reminders off for one visit without affecting the rest.

Part 4: Choose How Much a Reminder Says

Email isn't always private. Reminders can land on a shared family computer, a work phone, or a lock screen that shows message previews. So you choose how much each reminder reveals:

Option	What the email includes
Date and time only	When the appointment is. The subject line says only "Appointment reminder" and the date and time.
Add the provider and location	The date and time, plus the doctor or organization and the address.
Add preparation and notes	Everything above, plus your preparation instructions and notes.

A few guidelines:

• Date and time only is the choice for appointments you'd rather keep private. Someone glancing at the subject line learns only that you have an appointment.
• Add the provider and location is useful when you're driving someone and need the address at hand.
• Add preparation and notes is best when the preparation matters - fasting before bloodwork, stopping a medication, bringing paperwork. The reminder puts those instructions in front of you the day before, when you can still act on them.

Part 5: Time Zones

Why Appointments Have Their Own Time Zone

A reminder has to fire at a real moment, so Appointment Adder needs to know where the appointment happens. If you live in Raleigh and manage your father's appointments in Phoenix, his 9:00 AM appointment is 9:00 AM in Phoenix - and that's what you'll see, what your calendar export says, and when the reminder arrives.

Choosing a Time Zone

New appointments start with your device's time zone, which is right most of the time. To change it:

1. Choose the Time Zone field in the appointment form, just below Time
2. The most common U.S. time zones are listed first - Eastern, Central, Mountain, Arizona, Pacific, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico
3. For anywhere else, start typing. You can search by city ("Chicago", "London"), by name ("Pacific", "Central European"), by abbreviation ("PST", "EDT"), or by offset ("GMT-5")
4. Use the arrow keys and Enter, or click, to choose

Appointments Saved Before This Update

Appointments created before time zones existed don't have one yet. When you edit one, the form fills in your device's time zone and shows a note: "This appointment was saved before time zones were tracked." Check the time zone is right and choose Update Appointment. Until you do, that appointment can't have reminders - Appointment Adder won't guess the time zone and risk emailing you at the wrong hour.

Daylight Saving Time

If you pick a time that doesn't exist on the day the clocks spring forward (for example, 2:30 AM), the form tells you and explains which time will be saved instead. If you pick a time that happens twice when the clocks fall back, the first occurrence is used. You'll rarely see either message, but they're there so a reminder never lands an hour off without warning.

Part 6: Preparation Instructions

The appointment form now has a Preparation field, next to Notes. Use it for what you need to do before the visit:

• "Nothing to eat or drink after midnight"
• "Bring the medication list and insurance card"
• "Stop blood thinner three days before - confirm with Dr. Patel"
• "Arrive 20 minutes early for paperwork"

Preparation instructions appear above your general notes when you view the appointment, at the top of the description in calendar files you export, and in reminders set to Add preparation and notes. Keeping them separate from general notes means they don't get lost in a paragraph about parking.

Part 7: Checking What's Scheduled

To see every reminder and what happened to it, open the account menu and choose Manage Reminders. That item appears for a signed-in account when email reminders are available to it. Each entry shows which appointment it's for, when it's scheduled or was sent, and its status:

Status	What it means
Scheduled	Waiting to be sent at the time shown
Sent	Sent to your email address
Delivered	Accepted by your email provider
Cancelled	The appointment was changed or deleted, so this reminder was replaced or dropped
Not sent	The send time had already passed when the reminder was set up, or there was no verified address to send to
Failed / Delivery failed	Something went wrong sending it

Not sent is common and usually expected. Appointment Adder records a reminder instead of sending it late only when that reminder's scheduled time is already in the past. A morning appointment added the evening before misses its 24-hour reminder; the same appointment added with more than 24 hours still to go does not. The 2-hour reminder, if you chose one, still goes out when its time is still ahead.

If reminders you expected show Not sent, check that you're signed in with a verified email address (see Before You Start).

When Plans Change

• You edit an appointment: any reminders not yet sent are cancelled and new ones are scheduled for the new date, time, or time zone. The same happens if you change its collection or its reminder settings.
• You delete an appointment: its unsent reminders are cancelled.
• You change a collection's reminder settings: appointments that follow the collection default pick up the new settings.

Email Reminders and Calendar Alerts

When you export appointments to your calendar, you'll see a checkbox labelled Add a 24-hour alert to the exported calendar file beside the export button. This is separate from email reminders:

• Email reminders come from Appointment Adder and are set in the appointment form or the collection.
• The export checkbox adds an alert inside the calendar file itself, so your calendar app (Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, Outlook) pops up its own alert 24 hours before. Appointment Adder doesn't send anything for it.

The checkbox is on by default, and your choice is remembered on each device. If you use email reminders and don't want a second alert at the same time, uncheck it before exporting. If you'd rather rely on your calendar app alone, leave it checked and keep email reminders off.

Calendar subscriptions (a premium feature) never add their own alerts - your calendar app's settings decide those.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do reminders cost anything? No. Email reminders are included for every signed-in account.

Who receives the reminder - me, or the person the appointment is for? Reminders go to the email address on the account that owns the appointment. People you've shared a collection with don't receive them.

Can I get a text message or phone notification instead of an email? Not yet. Reminders are email-only for now.

Can I choose a different time, like 3 days before? Right now the choices are 24 hours and 2 hours before. Many people choose both.

Why didn't I get a reminder? Open Manage Reminders and look at the reminder's status. The most common reasons are that the send time had already passed when the appointment was added, the appointment is set to No reminders, its collection has reminders off, or your email address isn't verified. Also check your spam folder, and consider adding the sender to your contacts.

I travel a lot. Will my reminders follow me? Reminders follow the appointment, not you. An appointment in Chicago at 10:00 AM is reminded 24 hours before 10:00 AM Chicago time, wherever you happen to be.

Can I reply to a reminder? No - replies aren't monitored. To change a reminder, use the Manage your reminders link in the email, or edit the appointment in the app.

Related Articles

• New: Email Reminders, Time Zones, and Preparation Notes
• Never Miss a Medical Appointment Again: A Practical System
• Organizing Family Appointments: Complete Guide to Collections, Organizations, and Locations
• Healthcare Appointment Preparation Checklist
• Recurring Appointments and the Calendar View: Complete Guide