How to Get Birthday Reminders on Your PC
If you spend your day at a Windows computer, that is where a birthday reminder should reach you. You don't need to download an app you don't know: free apps from Microsoft can do it, and so can your browser. Here is how, and what to check when no reminder pops up.
The short answer
On a Windows PC, the free Outlook app can do it: turn on its Birthdays calendar, and the birthdays saved on your contacts show up every year; open one to check or set its reminder. Microsoft To Do can also remind you, with a task for each birthday that repeats every year. If you'd rather get the reminder by email with a message ready, Greetigo works in any browser on your PC, free for up to 10 saved dates.
In Outlook: the Birthdays calendar
Microsoft ended support for the old Mail and Calendar apps on December 31, 2024, and recommends the new Outlook for Windows, which it says comes with Windows for free. Its Birthdays calendar shows the birthdays saved on your contacts as all-day events that repeat every year:
- 1.In Outlook, select Calendar.
- 2.Select Add calendar, then Birthdays.
- 3.Choose the account, and check Turn on the birthday calendar.
Then add birthdays to your contacts, open one to check its reminder, and make sure Outlook may notify you. Every step, and the fixes for reminders that don't show: birthday reminders in Outlook.
In Microsoft To Do: a task that repeats every year
Microsoft To Do is a free to-do app from Microsoft, and it can repeat a task every year, which suits a birthday:
- 1.Add a task with the person's name, like "Sam's birthday: send a message".
- 2.Select the task to open its details.
- 3.Select Add due date and pick the date of their next birthday.
- 4.Select Remind me and pick a date and time, such as the morning of the day before.
- 5.Select Repeat and choose yearly.
Microsoft's help page doesn't say what happens to the reminder when you complete the task, so after the first birthday, open the task and check that next year's reminder is there.
In Google Calendar, in your browser
If you keep birthdays as events in Google Calendar, you can manage it in Edge or Chrome: open the event, choose Edit event, and under notifications choose a notification or an email, then save. Google says its desktop notifications only pop up while Google Calendar is open in your browser, so on a PC an email is the safer choice. How to get the birthdays in there first: birthday reminders in Google Calendar.
Open it like an app, without a download
Any of these can sit in your taskbar like an app. In Microsoft Edge, open the site, select Settings and more (the three dots), then Apps, then Install this site as an app. To pin it, go to edge://apps, select Details on its card, then Pin to taskbar. That works for Outlook on the web, Google Calendar or greetigo.com.
If no reminder pops up
- Outlook may notify you. In new Outlook, go to Settings > General > Notifications and set Calendar to On.
- Do not disturb is off. Microsoft says Windows Notifications, Focus Assist or Do not disturb, and a Teams status of Do not disturb, can stop Outlook's notifications.
- The app is open. A reminder from Google Calendar in a browser pops up only while Google Calendar is open.
Even when it all works, a pop-up is easy to close on a busy morning. If that keeps happening, a reminder that waits in your inbox may suit you better.
Or get the reminder by email, with the message ready
Greetigo is one option. It runs in Edge, Chrome or any other browser on your PC, so there's nothing to install. Save a birthday once and it repeats every year. Greetigo emails you in the morning, your time: the day before by default, or on the day, or 1, 3, 7 or 14 days before, and you can pick more than one. The email lands in Outlook, Gmail or whichever email you use, and stays in your inbox until you deal with it.
Each reminder comes 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 from Greetigo or copy it into an email, a chat or a card. Nothing is sent until you click Send.
It's free for up to 10 saved dates. You can add dates by hand, paste a list of names and dates, or import a calendar (.ics) file, which Outlook can save, or a CSV file from a spreadsheet (see birthday reminders from a spreadsheet). It's a one-time copy, not a sync.
What Greetigo doesn't do on a PC
- There's no Windows app. Greetigo works in any browser, with the same account on every device.
- No Windows or browser notifications, and no text messages. Reminders come by email.
- On a Mac, there's a Mac app by direct download, with Mac notifications.
- On your phone, greetigo.com works in the browser too. For the reminders built into your phone, see on iPhone or on Android.