Google Calendar is a great way to manage your schedule — but what if you want to send automated reminders, not just to yourself, but also to attendees?
While Google Calendar supports built-in pop-up and email reminders, it has important limitations, especially across devices. In this post, we’ll show how reminders work across Google Calendar on the web, Android, and iOS, what the limitations are, and how Timelier.com can help you send more flexible reminders automatically.
The reminders you set on an event in Google only apply to you. If you send an invite to someone, that person’s reminders – and not yours – will be applied.
Google Calendar gives you control over event notifications — including the ability to configure default reminders and customize individual events.
On the web, you can define default reminders that automatically apply to all new events you create.
Steps:
Open Google Calendar.
Click the gear icon → Settings.
Under “Settings for my calendars”, choose your calendar.
Scroll to the Event notifications section.
Set default reminders for timed events (e.g., 10 minutes before).
Scroll further to the All-day event notifications section.
Set different reminders for all-day events (e.g., 1 day before at 9:00 AM).
You can override default reminders when creating or editing an event.
Open Google Calendar.
Click the event, then click Edit event.
Next to Notifications:
To edit a notification: Choose whether to receive a notification or email, and set how far in advance you want the alert.
To add a new notification: Click Add notification.
To remove a notification: Click Remove.
At the top of the page, click Save.
Open the Google Calendar app.
Open the event.
Tap Edit.
In the Notifications section:
Tap a notification to change or remove it.
Or tap Add another notification to include a new one.
Tap Save in the top right.
Even with its flexibility, Google Calendar has limitations:
No built-in SMS or phone reminders.
No conditions or rules (e.g., if you only want reminders for events that meet certain criteria).
No automated guest emails — reminder emails to guests have be sent manually.
Yes — Google Calendar allows you to send a manual reminder email to event guests from both the web and the mobile app.
Steps (Web and Mobile):
Open the event.
Near the guest list, tap or click the envelope icon.
Compose your message and send it.
⚠️ Important: This is a manual step — Google Calendar does not allow you to schedule reminder emails to guests automatically before an event. You must remember to send it yourself.
Timelier.com gives you full control over event reminders — allowing you to send emails, texts, or app-based notifications automatically based on custom rules.
Connects securely to your Google Calendar.
Lets you define rules based on title, guests, time, or content.
Sends reminders via:
SMS
Teams
| Feature | Google Calendar | Timelier.com |
|---|---|---|
| Email reminders | ✅ (to you only) | ✅ (to you and others) |
| SMS | ❌ | ✅ |
| Multiple reminders | ✅ | ✅ |
| Remind guests automatically | ❌ | ✅ |
| Conditional reminder logic | ❌ | ✅ |
Google Calendar is great for managing your own reminders, but lacks the ability to reliably notify attendees or use advanced channels like SMS or notifications in other apps, such as Microsoft Teams.
Timelier.com bridges that gap by letting you set up flexible, rule-based reminders that reach the right people at the right time.
Connect Google Calendar to Timelier.com and automate your reminders →
No. Email reminders are sent only to the calendar owner (you), not to guests.
No. Google does not support SMS or phone call reminders. You’d need a third-party tool like Timelier.com.
Not with Google Calendar alone. You can manually email guests, but automatic reminders require an external tool.
Yes -- but only for yourself, not for your guests. Sending reminder emails to guests has to be done manually or automated with a third-party tool such as Timelier.com.
The best way is to use a service like Timelier.com. It connects directly to your Google calendar and sends automated reminders via email, SMS, and more — based on rules you set, without needing manual emails or complicated workflows.
