Get a reminder before every meeting in Calendar on your Mac

Why it happens

Calendar only adds an alert to a new event when the account has a default alert time. Many accounts start with none, so meetings sit on your calendar silently, or the alert is set later than you'd like. Each account, like iCloud or your work account, has its own setting.

How to fix it

1. Open Calendar, then choose Calendar > Settings… from the menu bar.

2. Click Alerts at the top of the window, then pick the account you use for meetings from the Account menu.

3. Choose how early you want reminding from the Events menu, for example 15 minutes before. Set All Day Events and Birthdays too if you like.

   Calendar›Settings…›Alerts›Events

4. Repeat for any other account you add meetings to, then close the window.

Still not fixed?

1. Alerts set but nothing pops up? Open System Settings > Notifications > Calendar and turn on Allow notifications. Choose Persistent if you want them to stay on screen until you close them.

   Notifications›Calendar›Allow notifications

2. Events you made earlier may keep the alert they already had. Open one and change its alert time to check.

3. If a Focus like Do Not Disturb or Work is on during meetings, it can hide Calendar alerts. Allow Calendar in that Focus, or turn the Focus off.

4. Your iPhone has its own default alert times in its Calendar settings, so set them there too if you use both. On the Mac, iCloud default alerts reach your other devices unless Use these default alerts on only this computer is ticked in Calendar > Settings… > Alerts.

5. If alerts are set and allowed but never appear, restart your Mac. If they still don't come, contact Apple Support.