Is it possible to automatically set reminders for accepted meeting requests?

Question

I know this question was asked back in 2022, but I'm hoping the Outlook developers will add the ability to automatically set reminders for accepted meeting requests even if the sender did not include a reminder and/or if the request came from an external sender.

Sometimes a sender doesn't think about adding the reminder to the meeting notice, so it would be good if Outlook could automatically override the reminder and set it for what the receiver prefers.

Thank you for your consideration!

Answer 1

Hi @Walters David (DWalte10), 

Good day, and I appreciate how clearly you outlined your concern. In Outlook, the reminder value is stored within each meeting item, so the reminder you see is typically determined by what the organizer included in the invitation. When an invitation arrives without a reminder value, which can happen with some external meeting sources, Outlook may not be able to apply your personal preference automatically. At this time, Outlook does not provide a built in option to force an automatic override for all accepted invitations regardless of the sender, so submitting this as product feedback remains the best path for the feature request.  

Please follow the solutions below, as each option fits a different meeting invite workflow. 

1/ Set a default reminder in new Outlook for Windows or Outlook on the web 

• Open Outlook, then open Settings.  
• Select Calendar, then select Events and invitations.  
• Under Events you create, select Default reminder, then choose the reminder time you prefer, and save the change if prompted.  
• When a specific meeting still arrives without a reminder, open it from Calendar, then use the Reminder dropdown to select your preferred reminder time, and save the update.  

2/ Set default reminders in classic Outlook for Windows, then standardize meetings that do not carry reminders 

• In classic Outlook, select File, then select Options, then select Calendar.  
• Under Calendar options, enable Default reminders and set the time you want for new calendar ite 
• nFor meetings that arrive with no reminder, open the meeting from Calendar, select the Reminder dropdown, choose your preferred time, then save and close.  
• For recurring meetings, apply the reminder to the entire series when prompted, so you do not need to repeat the change for each occurrence.  
• Reference: Add or delete notifications or reminders in Outlook - Microsoft Support 

3/ Advanced option for internet calendar based invitations, enable reminder creation for webcal items 

• Close Outlook and other Office apps, then open Registry Editor on Windows.  
• Go to the Outlook webcal options location for your Outlook version, then create a new DWORD value named AllowReminderCreation.  
• Set AllowReminderCreation value data to 1, then close Registry Editor.  
• Restart Outlook and test again with an invitation that comes through an internet calendar subscription to confirm whether reminders can now be created for that invitation type. 
• Reference: Reminders aren't created after you import webcal calendars to Outlook - Microsoft Support 

I hope this information is helpful.  Should you have any further questions or need additional assistance for you and your IT admin, please feel free to reach out.         

Thank you for your patience and your understanding. I look forward to continuing the conversation.  

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Answer 2

Outlook does not provide a setting to automatically add or override reminders on incoming/accepted meeting requests based on the recipient’s personal preference.

Behavior related to reminders is largely controlled either by the meeting organizer’s settings or by server-side behavior in Exchange. For example, in some Exchange Server versions a reminder may be added even when the organizer set None, and this behavior is controlled on the server (for example, via the AlwaysSetReminderOnAppointment setting and Set-CalendarProcessing parameters), not by a per-recipient Outlook client option.

There is no documented Outlook or Exchange feature in the provided material that allows configuring a rule such as “whenever a meeting is accepted, set my reminder to X minutes if none was specified or if it came from external senders.” Any change of this kind would require product changes beyond what is currently described.

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References:

• A meeting reminder is set unexpectedly when you send an email message to an Exchange Server user
• Basic tasks in Outlook