Stop reminding me!
November 5, 2014 6:12 PM Subscribe
My Google Calendar somehow defaulted to 'add reminder 10 minutes before' for entering events at some point a while ago that I did not notice. Lately, ALL THE EVENTS have been popping up reminders, and exploding my phone (and desktop). Is there a way to globally remove all the reminders everywhere on my calendar? I would love to avoid manually checking every event/appointment to reset it.
I'm pretty sure that's only for events created after you make the change.
For events you've already created. .. Hopefully you've mostly got recurring events. You can make changes to the whole series of events, including reminders. For one-off events, I'm afraid you probably do have to change them individually.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 7:26 PM on November 5, 2014
For events you've already created. .. Hopefully you've mostly got recurring events. You can make changes to the whole series of events, including reminders. For one-off events, I'm afraid you probably do have to change them individually.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 7:26 PM on November 5, 2014
^ No, what I described is definitely not only for events created after you make the change. Once you make the change, it starts reminding/not reminding you according to your calendar-wide preferences immediately. OP, you do not need to edit each event. That's not where you want to change the notification settings. You can make a calendar-wide change for notifications in your calendar's preferences.
posted by AppleTurnover at 7:56 PM on November 5, 2014
posted by AppleTurnover at 7:56 PM on November 5, 2014
I've just spent 5 minutes playing around with notifications and even when I uncheck notifications in Google Calendar on my phone, when I go into individual events my notifications are still set.
Notifications in settings on my desktop calendar do not even show that I have SMS notifications set in my individual events -- SMS is not selected in those settings, though I have them in about half of my events.
I don't disbelieve you, but it's not as straightforward as you make it sound, if it works the way you say. Maybe step by step instructions would be helpful.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:26 PM on November 5, 2014
Notifications in settings on my desktop calendar do not even show that I have SMS notifications set in my individual events -- SMS is not selected in those settings, though I have them in about half of my events.
I don't disbelieve you, but it's not as straightforward as you make it sound, if it works the way you say. Maybe step by step instructions would be helpful.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:26 PM on November 5, 2014
OK, this is straight from Google Help:
To turn off all notifications for Google Calendar, you can change your default settings for your calendar. Since notifications sync between your mobile device and your computer, you can change your settings from either the app or a computer.
Mobile directions
Open the Google Calendar app .
Go to the main menu in the top left .
Choose Settings at the bottom.
Choose one of your calendars, like Events.
Touch a notification and choose No notification. Repeat for each notification.
If you have multiple accounts or calendars, repeat these steps for each calendar.
Computer directions
Open Google Calendar.
Click the settings gear in the top right .
Select Settings.
Click the Calendars tab at the top.
Click Edit notifications next to your calendar's name.
Click remove next to each notification.
If you have multiple calendars, repeat these steps for each calendar.
This is basically what AppleTurnover said. It did not work for me, but hopefully I am just dumb and wrong on the Internet tonight, and it will work for you. :)
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:32 PM on November 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
To turn off all notifications for Google Calendar, you can change your default settings for your calendar. Since notifications sync between your mobile device and your computer, you can change your settings from either the app or a computer.
Mobile directions
Open the Google Calendar app .
Go to the main menu in the top left .
Choose Settings at the bottom.
Choose one of your calendars, like Events.
Touch a notification and choose No notification. Repeat for each notification.
If you have multiple accounts or calendars, repeat these steps for each calendar.
Computer directions
Open Google Calendar.
Click the settings gear in the top right .
Select Settings.
Click the Calendars tab at the top.
Click Edit notifications next to your calendar's name.
Click remove next to each notification.
If you have multiple calendars, repeat these steps for each calendar.
This is basically what AppleTurnover said. It did not work for me, but hopefully I am just dumb and wrong on the Internet tonight, and it will work for you. :)
posted by rabbitrabbit at 9:32 PM on November 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
That last point of the help instructions is something that's bothered me in the past - is the 10-minute reminder set through Google Calendar, or through a 3rd-party or local app (or all of the above)?
posted by cotton dress sock at 12:00 AM on November 6, 2014
posted by cotton dress sock at 12:00 AM on November 6, 2014
I am so happy this question was asked. I think I have finally figured out why my phone always defaults to a 30-minute reminder, and have disabled it thanks to rabbitrabbit's instructions above (on my computer). Previously, even though I had disabled the notifications on my phone, it would always default to a 30-minute reminder - while on my tablet, it wouldn't do that after I changed my tablet settings. I am guessing that my iPhone was checking my Google Calendar settings each time I created an event, while my Android tablet just looked at my app settings on the tablet itself. (Now, I'm not sure why the Google Calendar itself had this default setting... I have never accessed it from a computer until today, but apparently that's what was needed in order to change the setting - I have tried the instructions above for the mobile device before, and it never worked.) Anyway, for those who are still having trouble, I would recommend going through the computer to your Google Calendar and changing the settings there instead. It seems to make a difference.
posted by barnoley at 6:55 AM on November 6, 2014
posted by barnoley at 6:55 AM on November 6, 2014
Response by poster: I set my primary ('Dashy' as opposed to the birthday calendar or the MD appointments calendar) calendar's option to "no reminders" yesterday from a desktop (at home). My primary is the only one of my calendars that was doing this.
I verified this from my work desktop this morning.
Just now, I entered in a new event on the primary Calendar from my desktop at work, and then checked its options: reminder! 10 minutes before!
arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh. I am doomed to endless random popups forever and ever and ever. I can't wait until Google starts advertising with them!
posted by Dashy at 11:46 AM on November 6, 2014
I verified this from my work desktop this morning.
Just now, I entered in a new event on the primary Calendar from my desktop at work, and then checked its options: reminder! 10 minutes before!
arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh. I am doomed to endless random popups forever and ever and ever. I can't wait until Google starts advertising with them!
posted by Dashy at 11:46 AM on November 6, 2014
I really wish you could put screenshots in here!
There is a place where you can select "remove" that maybe you did not find.
Click Gear
Click Settings
Click Calendars
In the list of calendars there's a column for "edit notifications"
When you click edit notifications you see:
By default, notify me via SMS 10 minutes before each event (or whatever)
And there's a "remove" next to it.
Click remove and then hit save.
However, I still don't think this will change all the events that were previously set.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 12:06 PM on November 6, 2014
There is a place where you can select "remove" that maybe you did not find.
Click Gear
Click Settings
Click Calendars
In the list of calendars there's a column for "edit notifications"
When you click edit notifications you see:
By default, notify me via SMS 10 minutes before each event (or whatever)
And there's a "remove" next to it.
Click remove and then hit save.
However, I still don't think this will change all the events that were previously set.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 12:06 PM on November 6, 2014
There's one other wrinkle I just discovered:
Notifications only show -- and you can only edit global notifications -- in the account that owns the calendar.
So if you have, say, 3 calendars from 3 different Google accounts FAMILY, WORK, and PERSONAL, and you are in PERSONAL, you won't be able to see notifications or edit default notification preferences on the calendar owned by WORK. You have to log into the Google account WORK to edit your notifications in that account. Then if you have any notifications on events in the FAMILY calendar, you have to log into Google account FAMILY to see them and make global edits to default notifications.
I just noticed this by looking at my household calendar events while logged into my individual account -- I can't see the notifications although they're recurring events that ALWAYS have notifications. When I log into the household account, there they are. It's the same for default notification preferences -- you have to go into each account to make sure you remove them from each account's calendar.
Maybe you are still getting a default notification because it's set up in a different account?
posted by rabbitrabbit at 2:19 PM on November 6, 2014
Notifications only show -- and you can only edit global notifications -- in the account that owns the calendar.
So if you have, say, 3 calendars from 3 different Google accounts FAMILY, WORK, and PERSONAL, and you are in PERSONAL, you won't be able to see notifications or edit default notification preferences on the calendar owned by WORK. You have to log into the Google account WORK to edit your notifications in that account. Then if you have any notifications on events in the FAMILY calendar, you have to log into Google account FAMILY to see them and make global edits to default notifications.
I just noticed this by looking at my household calendar events while logged into my individual account -- I can't see the notifications although they're recurring events that ALWAYS have notifications. When I log into the household account, there they are. It's the same for default notification preferences -- you have to go into each account to make sure you remove them from each account's calendar.
Maybe you are still getting a default notification because it's set up in a different account?
posted by rabbitrabbit at 2:19 PM on November 6, 2014
a) Did you hit the save button? If you went on your desktop into your primary calendar's settings and changed the notification schedule, it should take effect calendar-wide immediately. But you do need to press "save." You might need to refresh the calendar to see it in the events.
b) The other relevant question is whether you were looking at your primary calendar from an account that subscribes to the calendar, but doesn't own it. You, as the owner of the primary calendar, can't change the settings for other people who are subscribed to the calendar. If you have two separate google accounts accessing the same calendar, one for work and one personal, you are going to need to change your calendar-wide settings within each user account. Turn off calendar reminders from both your personal Google account and your work one.
posted by AppleTurnover at 5:14 PM on November 6, 2014
b) The other relevant question is whether you were looking at your primary calendar from an account that subscribes to the calendar, but doesn't own it. You, as the owner of the primary calendar, can't change the settings for other people who are subscribed to the calendar. If you have two separate google accounts accessing the same calendar, one for work and one personal, you are going to need to change your calendar-wide settings within each user account. Turn off calendar reminders from both your personal Google account and your work one.
posted by AppleTurnover at 5:14 PM on November 6, 2014
Response by poster: I had previously set the calendar > settings > calendar > notifications column to off, but no luck. I have saved. I'm doing this from my primary account, and this is for my primary calendar. And still getting random notifications from that calendar - I got a reminder for a work dinner yesterday that, according to its options, had no notification set! O well.
posted by Dashy at 7:35 AM on November 7, 2014
posted by Dashy at 7:35 AM on November 7, 2014
I don't know what "notifications column to off" means. There is no on or off, which makes me think you are doing it wrong. This is the screen you make the change in. I actually tested it and it changed every event on my calendar, including recurring ones going back and forward through time.
Maybe if you have an iPhone, you need to change it on your phone too for the phone notifications. I have Android.
posted by AppleTurnover at 11:44 AM on November 7, 2014
Maybe if you have an iPhone, you need to change it on your phone too for the phone notifications. I have Android.
posted by AppleTurnover at 11:44 AM on November 7, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
For your computer, go into the settings. It will list every calendar you use + a button that says "edit notifications." Click that and you can remove pop-ups. You can also remove email reminders, if you want, or you can change when you are reminded (i.e. 60 minutes instead of 10 minutes). Every calendar you subscribe to has "edit notifications."
Honestly, if you just go into your settings, it's pretty self explanatory and the changes are calendar-wide.
posted by AppleTurnover at 6:33 PM on November 5, 2014 [2 favorites]