“I always forget to send out my weekly report every Monday morning...” “I want to have daily report reminders automatically fly out every day”—If you use Slack, you can solve this problem with recurring reminders. Slack's reminder feature is great because once you set it up, it automatically sends you daily, weekly, and monthly notifications. In this article, we will explain How to set up recurring reminders in Slack in an easy-to-understand manner using both command input and GUI.

Basic commands for Slack reminders

Slack reminders can be set by simply typing the /remind command in the message input field. The basic way to write it is like this.

/remind [who] [what] [when]

For example, if you want to remind yourself to "write a daily report" at 5pm every day:

/remind me "Write a daily report" every day at 5pm

That's all! With just one line, Slackbot will notify you to "write a daily report" every day at 5pm. Slack official help (reminder settings) also has detailed explanations.

The key is to enclose the message part in double quotes. Messages containing spaces may not be recognized correctly unless they are enclosed.

Setting examples for each repetition pattern

Daily reminder

/remind me "Prepare for morning meeting" every day at 9:30am

For daily repetition, use every day. Specify the time as 9:30am. If you want to use 24-hour notation, just write at 17:00.

Reminder only on weekdays (excluding Saturdays and Sundays)

/remind me "Submit daily report" every weekday at 5:30pm

Use every weekday to receive reminders only from Monday to Friday. It doesn't arrive on Saturdays and Sundays, so you don't have to worry about getting notifications on holidays. This is extremely convenient.

Remind me on a specific day of the week

/remind me "Write weekly report" every Monday at 10am

Specifying a day of the week, such as every Monday, will remind you on that day every week. If you want to specify multiple days of the week, unfortunately you have to split the command into two.

/remind me "progress report" every Tuesday at 10am
/remind me "progress report" every Thursday at 10am

Monthly reminder

/remind me "expense reimbursement deadline" every month on the 25th at 10am

If you specify a date, such as every month on the 25th, you will receive a reminder on that day every month. If you want it to be at the end of the month, you can also write on the last day.

Remind your channel or others

You can send reminders not only to yourself, but also to the entire channel or specific members.

Remind channel

/remind #general "Let's decide who will be on lunch duty this week" every Monday at 10am

If you specify #channel name, the reminder will be sent to the entire channel. However, you must be in a channel to set a reminder for that channel.

Remind a specific person

/remind @tanaka "Please check the minutes" every Friday at 3pm

You can send it to a specific person using @username. However, if you use it too much, people may get annoyed, so make sure to get a consensus from your team before using it.

How to set reminders from GUI

If you are not good at commands, you can also set it from the GUI.

Method 1: Set a reminder from a message

Place the cursor on any message and click the "..." (Other) menu → select "Remind". If you specify a time, a reminder will be set with the content of the message. However, this method does not allowrecurrence settings. Only one-time reminders.

Method 2: Use Slack's "Later" feature

You can also manage your reminders from "Later" (bookmark icon) in the left sidebar of Slack. Here you can check the list of reminders you have set and delete them.

Method 3: Use Workflow Builder (paid plan)

You can create more complex periodic reminders using Slack Workflow Builder. For example, it is possible to ``post a message to the channel every Friday at 16:00 and ask each member for an answer in a thread''. However, a paid plan (Pro or higher) is required.

Check, delete, and manage reminders

See list of set reminders

/remind list

This command displays a list of reminders you have set. You can see everything, including repeated reminders, so if you're wondering, "Is the one I set before still working?", check it out.

Delete reminder

You can delete unnecessary reminders by clicking the "Delete" button that appears in the results of /remind list. Deleting a recurring reminder will stop all future notifications.

What if I don't receive the reminder?

If you don't receive a reminder, please check the following: Slack's notification settings are not turned off, Do Not Disturb is enabled, and your time zone settings are correct. Be especially careful about time zone. Check if your time zone is set to Japan (Asia/Tokyo) in Slack settings.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Can I use recurring reminders on the free plan?

Yes, repeating reminders using the /remind command is available on the free plan. Workflow Builder is limited to paid plans, but basic reminder functions can be used without restrictions.

Can I change the reminder time?

Unfortunately, there is no ability to edit reminders that have already been set. If you want to change it, you will need to delete the existing reminder and set a new one. Delete it with /remind list and then set it again.

Is it okay to write commands in Japanese?

Japanese is OK for the reminder message part. However, the time and repetition specifications (such as every day at 9am) must be written in English. Please note that even if you write "every day", it will not be recognized.

Is there a maximum number of reminders?

Although Slack's official documentation does not specify a clear upper limit, it is unlikely that the limit will be reached under normal use. However, setting too many reminders can be difficult to manage, so limit it to only the ones you really need.

References