How to Get Birthday Reminders From a Spreadsheet

A spreadsheet can't send you a reminder by itself. There are three ways around that: have the sheet show the next birthdays each time you open it (free, with one formula), add a script that emails you from the sheet (Google Sheets can do it with Apps Script; Excel needs Power Automate or a macro), or copy the list once into something that reminds you. Greetigo takes the sheet as it is, as a CSV file or copied cells, and emails you the day before each birthday, with a message ready.

Whatever you do next, a few plain columns make it easy:

• •Name, the way you'd write it in a message: Mom, Sam, Aunt May. One column for the full name, or First name and Last name.
• •Birthday, as a date. The year is optional: a reminder only needs the day and month.
• •Other dates, each in a column of its own, if you track them: a Start date for work anniversaries, an Anniversary or Wedding date.

One person per row, with a heading row on top. Keep each column to one date format, such as 10/27/1985 or 27/10/1985, so nobody has to guess which number is the month.

Add a column that counts the days to each person's next birthday, then sort by it. With the birthday in column B, this formula works in Excel and in Google Sheets (if Excel shows a date, format the column as a number):

=DATE(YEAR(TODAY()) + (DATE(YEAR(TODAY()), MONTH(B2), DAY(B2)) < TODAY()), MONTH(B2), DAY(B2)) - TODAY()

Then use conditional formatting (in the Format menu in Google Sheets, on the Home tab in Excel) to color the rows where that number is 14 or less. It costs nothing. The catch: it only helps on the days you open the file.

For the list to email you, it needs a little automation:

• •Google Sheets: Extensions > Apps Script lets you write a short script that checks the sheet once a day, on a timer, and emails you about any birthday coming up. Automation services such as Zapier can connect a sheet to email without code.
• •Excel: Power Automate or a macro can do the same, with more setting up. If you use Outlook, its Birthdays calendar is a simpler route: see birthday reminders in Outlook.

This keeps the sheet as your one list. You maintain it yourself, though: rename a column or move the file, and the script or the automation needs fixing.

If you'd rather not look after a script, Greetigo can take the sheet as it is:

1. 1.Save the sheet as a CSV file. In Google Sheets, choose File > Download > Comma Separated Values (.csv). In Excel, choose File > Save As and pick CSV as the file format.
2. 2.In Greetigo, choose Add many at once on your dashboard, then Choose a file. Or select the cells in the sheet, copy them, and paste them into the box.
3. 3.Check the list. Each row shows the date as Greetigo read it. Untick anyone you don't want, fix a line if you need to, then save.

Your own column names work. A column like Name, Employee or Full name (or First name and Last name) gives the name. Birthday, DOB or Date of birth gives birthdays; Start date, Hire date or Joined gives work anniversaries; Anniversary or Wedding gives anniversaries. So one row can bring in two dates, like a birthday and a work anniversary.

US dates like 10/27/1985 work, and so do 27/10/1985, 1985-10-27 and Oct 27. Greetigo looks at the whole column to tell month-first from day-first, and asks you once if every date in it could be either. It also says which columns it skipped and which rows had no date, so nothing disappears without a word.

From then on, Greetigo emails you the day before each date by default, or on the day, or 1, 3, 7 or 14 days before, with a message already written: a free template with their name, or on Plus and Premium the AI-written draft you saved for that date. You review it, then send it or copy it. Nothing is sent until you click Send.

• •It's a one-time copy. A change in the sheet doesn't reach Greetigo, so add new dates in Greetigo from then on. On greetigo.com you can export your list as a CSV file at any time.
• •Free holds up to 10 saved dates. Each date counts once, so a birthday and a work anniversary for the same person are two. If the sheet has more, the first ones that fit start ticked, birthdays first, and you choose which to keep. Premium has no limit, for a long list.
• •The year is optional. Leave it out and the reminder still comes every year; no age is shown for that date.
• •Reminders come by email, and as Mac notifications in the Mac app. There are no text-message reminders and no phone app.

Keeping a family list? See how to keep track of family birthdays. For every kind of date, see how to remember important dates.