Using the Reminders app on my Mac and iPhone has been sluggish lately. I assumed it was a brief glitch and ignored it for a few days but when the problem persisted, I decided to investigate.
Uninstall & Reinstall
With a background in IT my first troubleshooting approach was to delete the list and add a new list. A reboot for the reminders list. Before deleting I decided to look at when the list was first created. That’s when I noticed there were over 5,700 reminders in this list and the first reminder was created over 5 years ago.
The easiest way to find how many completed reminders you have is by opening the Reminders app on a Mac and pulling down the list of reminders. When you first open a reminders list this number is hidden. There probably is a way to find the number of reminders in a list but this is the only way I know.
It’s possible to delete reminders one at a time but the easy option is to delete the entire list and begin with a fresh list. You can first copy uncompleted reminders to the new list to ensure you don’t forget anything important.
Why My Reminders List Grew
The primary reason my reminders list grew so quickly is because I have 5 recurring reminders. A few of them are daily. I don’t use my reminders list for everything. I use a combination of Google Calendar for schedule, the Ultimate Weekly Planner for daily work and project notes, and the Reminders app for short-term and location based reminders.
How many reminders are in your list? When was your first reminder? Comment below.
