How to Remember Birthdays Without Facebook
Facebook shows the birthdays your friends choose to share with you, and only for people on Facebook. Here's how to move the ones that matter somewhere you control, whatever tool you use.
Open your Birthdays list on Facebook
From your Facebook Feed, select Friends in the left menu, then Birthdays. Facebook shows today's, recent and upcoming birthdays there.
Each friend chooses who can see their birthday, so some friends may not be on the list.
Pick the birthdays you want to remember
Note the names and dates of the people you don't want to miss, such as family, close friends and coworkers.
The free plan holds up to 10 saved dates. Premium has no limit.
Move them somewhere you control
Put each one in your phone's calendar as a yearly event with an alert, or add them to Greetigo: on your dashboard, choose "Add many at once" and type one person per line, the way you would say it, like "Maria June 4" or "Tom 7/4/1990". The year is optional. Greetigo shows you each line as it read it, and nothing is saved until you check the list and choose Save.
Facebook may not show the year. The reminder only needs the day and month, but Greetigo shows an age from the year you enter, so check the year if you can.
Fill the gaps
Some of the birthdays that matter most were never on Facebook: parents, grandparents, a partner's family. Ask a sibling or a parent for the family list; it usually takes one message.
Birthdays already saved in your phone's contacts can come into Greetigo in one go: save your contacts as a vCard (.vcf) file, then choose it in "Add many at once".
Choose when to be reminded, and keep it up
Greetigo emails you the day before each birthday by default, with a message already written. You can also pick the day itself, or 3, 7 or 14 days before. When you hear a new birthday, add it that day.
Keep the birthdays that matter in one place
Greetigo emails you before each birthday you save, with a message already written. Free for up to 10 saved dates; Plus and Premium add AI-written drafts.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I find my friends' birthdays on Facebook?
From your Facebook Feed, select Friends in the left menu, then Birthdays. The list shows today's, recent and upcoming birthdays.
Does Facebook tell me about every friend's birthday?
No. Facebook only tells you about a friend's upcoming birthday if that friend shares the day and month of it. Saving the birthdays that matter in Greetigo means you get an email before each one.
Can I export Facebook birthdays to a calendar?
Facebook's help pages don't describe a way to export your friends' birthdays. The steps above copy the ones that matter from your Birthdays list.
Can Greetigo import birthdays straight from Facebook?
No. Greetigo doesn't connect to your Facebook account. Add people one at a time, or use "Add many at once": type or paste a list, one person per line, or choose a spreadsheet (.csv), contacts (.vcf) or calendar (.ics) file. You check every line before anything is saved.