Set Up Reminders

Setting up the Reminders app involves specifying just where your lists will be stored and creating any additional lists that you need, plus telling Reminders which list to add items to by default.

Specify Where Your Lists Will Live

You can store reminders locally (just on your Mac) or connect them to an account on a cloud service—say, iCloud.

If you keep reminders on your Mac, they remain private, but you can access them only there. Use a cloud service, on the other hand, and you can access reminders from any iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch that uses that account. (If you’re using iCloud, you can also see your reminders on iCloud.com.) Edits and notifications show up everywhere, so you’re always in the know.

To use a cloud service for Reminders on your Mac:

1. Choose Reminders > Add Account.
2. Select the account type. Your choices are iCloud, Exchange, Yahoo!, AOL, and Other CalDAV Account.
3. Click Continue and then sign in to the account at the prompts.

Each account you add appears separately as a header in the sidebar.

To stop using an account for reminders on your Mac, choose Reminders > Accounts, and in the list on the left, select the account you want to remove and then deselect the Reminders checkbox.

Create Different Lists for Different Things

If you use Reminders primarily to remind yourself of miscellaneous tasks, you might not need additional lists. The default one, Reminders, will probably do. However, lovers of to-do lists are likely to want to organize theirs by topic—Books to Read, Story Ideas, Groceries, Places I Want to Visit. In that case, you’ll need to create new lists.

In the Reminders app, click the Add List button at the bottom of the sidebar. If you’ve set up more than one location for your lists (described earlier in this chapter), in the drop-down menu that appears, choose where the list will live, such as On My Mac or on iCloud. Finally, Click the New List entry that appears in the sidebar, type in a name for your list, and then press Return.

Change Your Default Reminder List

By default, your new reminders appear in the list named…well, Reminders. (If you’re using iCloud, this is the Reminders list under the iCloud header; it’s available to all your devices using iCloud.) To change the default list, choose it from the Reminders > Default List submenu (Figure 51).

From now on, all new reminders will be appended to your default list, unless you choose another one (or specify it by voice with Siri).

Manage Your Lists

Projects come and go, and so do the lists you make to track them. It’s easy to Rearrange Lists, Rename Lists, or Delete Lists after the fact, with only one exception, the Scheduled list. You can also Color-code Lists and Share Lists with Others.

Rearrange Lists

You’ll find a lot of advice online about how to organize to-do lists, such as this Lifehacker article. If you decide you want to organize yours manually, you can. For example, you might want to arrange them in alphabetical order, or by time involved or priority (see Set Other Options). (Sorry, Reminders can’t arrange lists automatically, at least not for now.)

To change a list’s place in the sidebar, drag it and drop it where you want it (Figure 53). Note that you can’t drag a list out of its category (say, iCloud or On My Mac) and into another.

Rename Lists

Groceries list or Grocery list? If you change your mind about a list’s name, give it a new one. Control-click (right-click) a list in the sidebar and choose Rename. Type in the new name.

Delete Lists

When you’re done with a list, there’s no need for it to clutter up the place. But proceed with caution: when you delete a list, it’s gone…usually. (See What if I accidentally delete all my reminders?)

Here’s how to zap a list:

• Mac: Select the list in the Reminders sidebar, and then press Delete. Or, Control-click (right-click) a list name in the Reminders sidebar and choose Delete from the contextual menu.
• Mac with trackpad or Magic Mouse: If you have a trackpad, use two fingers to swipe left over the list’s name and then click Delete or swipe all the way left until the list vanishes. The technique is the same with the Magic Mouse, except you use only one finger to swipe.

When you use any of these methods, under most circumstances, you’ll see a warning that asks if you’re really, really sure you want to delete the list (Figure 54). Click Delete if you are. Click Cancel if you aren’t.

Color-code Lists

Each list’s title appears in a bright color within the list itself. This can be handy if you have a lot of lists, giving you a quick visual cue that you’re in the right one. Once you’ve assigned a list a color, it uses that hue across all your iCloud devices.

Your Mac automatically assigns a color to a list when you make one. To change it, Control-click (right-click) the list’s name in the sidebar and click the dot with the color you want.

Share Lists with Others

If you’re using iCloud with Reminders, it’s easy to share a list with other iCloud users. Share a groceries list with your spouse so that whoever gets to the store first knows what to buy. Share a household chores list with your roommates (or children) and you can all check off chores as you take care of them. Likewise, share a project or call list with a co-worker and you’ll both know what tasks you need to tackle next.

Everyone who shares a list can view and edit it, as well as check off items as they’re completed. Note that notifications aren’t shared, so the alarms you set will ping only you.

You can access shared reminder lists using Reminders on a Mac, iOS device, or an Apple Watch, as well as in Microsoft Outlook on a Windows computer. You can also access shared reminders by signing in to your account on iCloud.com.

To set up a shared list, hover over the space to the right of the list’s name in the sidebar to reveal the Share List button. Click this. Now, type the iCloud email address of a person you want to share the list with. By “iCloud email address,” I mean not necessarily an email address that ends with @icloud.com, but instead an email address is associated with that person’s iCloud account. Your Mac suggests matches from the Contacts app. Click one to choose it.

You can invite as many people as you’d like to fill out the group by typing in one or more email addresses and then pressing Return. Finally, click Done.

Everyone you’ve invited will receive an invitation via email. They must accept in order to gain access to the list.

If you think of someone else you’d like to invite later, click the Share List button and then click next to the last invitee’s name. A new Share With field appears. Type in the next person’s name. Add additional people by clicking the button and typing in the address. When you’re satisfied, click Done (Figure 55).

If your team members change or a family member moves away (or falls out of your favor), it takes just a few steps to stop sharing a Reminders list with them: click the Share List button next to the list’s name, select their name, and click Delete.