I want to create a recurring eminder for the last day of the month.

Question

I reviewed a prior 2024 thread with a person wanting to set a reminder for the first day of the month. By the end it appeared nothing had changed, the much preferable options from the prior Outlook are still not available.

Over the decades I have noted that with every update to a Microsoft software the most useful options are no longer available and the new options are a pain in the proverbial, requiring obnoxious workarounds if that's even possible. Don't the MS programmers USE the software they work on?

Answer 1

Hi Sherilyn Dunklau,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. 

To guide you correctly in new Outlook, please confirm briefly:

• In Repeat > Monthly/Custom, do you see ‘Last day of the month’ ?
• Do you have access to classic Outlook on the same account?

If new Outlook doesn’t offer ‘Last day’, the usual workaround is to create the series in classic Outlook and it will sync and appear in new Outlook.

After I receive the two details above, I will review and share the appropriate next steps.

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Answer 2

In new Outlook for Windows, a recurring reminder for “the last day of every month” can be created by setting up a recurring calendar event that uses a monthly pattern and then assigning a reminder to that event.

In new Outlook, the steps are:

1. Open Calendar from the Navigation pane.
2. Create a new event on any date that is the last day of a month (for example, 31 January).
3. In the event details, set it to repeat monthly and choose the option that corresponds to the same “day of month” pattern (the last day). New Outlook’s detailed recurrence UI is more limited than classic Outlook, so if the exact “last day of month” rule is not exposed, use classic Outlook to define the recurrence pattern (see below), then the series will still appear in new Outlook.
4. Set the reminder for the series:
   • With the meeting or event open, select the Reminder dropdown and choose how long before the event the reminder should appear, or choose Don’t remind me to turn it off. This overrides the default reminder.

If classic Outlook is available on the same profile, it provides the full recurrence options described in the documentation (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly with flexible patterns such as “last Monday of every three months”). In classic Outlook:

1. Create a new appointment on the last day of a month.
2. Select Recurrence on the Ribbon.
3. Choose Monthly and configure the pattern so it recurs on the last day of every month.
4. Save and close the series.
5. To adjust the reminder for the whole series later:
   • Open the series from Calendar (choose The entire series if prompted).
   • On the Recurring Event tab, use the Reminder dropdown to set the reminder time.

Once the series is created (especially if defined in classic Outlook), it will appear in new Outlook, and the reminder will fire according to the recurrence and reminder settings.

To ensure reminders are enabled for all events in new Outlook:

1. Go to Settings > Calendar > Events and invitations.
2. Under Events you create, set a Default reminder time so all new events (including recurring ones) get a reminder automatically.
3. For individual series, open the event, choose View series, and adjust the Reminder dropdown as needed.

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References:

• Get started with the Outlook Calendar
• Add or delete notifications or reminders in Outlook