How to Create Reminders and Automatic Reminders in Salesforce

To create a reminder in Salesforce, set the Reminder checkbox with a date and time on a Task or Event for a manual pop-up reminder, and use a Flow (scheduled-triggered or record-triggered with a scheduled path) to send automatic reminder emails or create follow-up tasks. Manual reminders nudge a single user about one activity; Flow-based reminders fire automatically across many records, so nothing slips through.

The important update for 2026: Salesforce automation has consolidated on Flow. Workflow Rules and Process Builder are being retired — you can no longer create new ones, and Salesforce ships a migration tool to move existing automations to Flow. So if you are building automatic reminders today, build them in Flow. Treat any older tutorial that tells you to "write a Workflow Rule" as legacy guidance.

Key takeaways

• Manual reminder: tick the Reminder checkbox on a Task or Event, set a date/time, and Salesforce shows a pop-up when due.
• Enable pop-ups first: turn on Activity Reminders under Personal Settings → Calendar & Reminders (and Activity Settings at the org level) or the pop-up never appears.
• Automatic reminders use Flow: a Scheduled-Triggered Flow or a Record-Triggered Flow with a scheduled path sends reminder emails or creates follow-up tasks X days before a due date.
• Workflow Rules and Process Builder are retiring — new ones can't be created and Salesforce provides a migration tool to Flow. Don't start new reminders there.
• Pick the mechanism by job: pop-ups for personal nudges, Flow emails for proactive outreach, Flow-created Tasks for an audit trail and follow-up.

What is a reminder in Salesforce?

A reminder is a notification tied to an activity — a Task or an Event. Reps juggle dozens of calls, emails, and meetings, and a reminder makes sure the right person is prompted at the right time instead of relying on memory.

Salesforce gives you two distinct families of reminders, and they solve different problems:

• Manual / activity reminders — a person sets a reminder on a single Task or Event and gets an in-app pop-up. Great for "call this lead back on Thursday at 2pm."
• Automatic reminders — declarative automation (today, Flow) watches records and sends an email or creates a follow-up Task without anyone clicking a checkbox. Great for "email the owner three days before any opportunity close date."

Most teams need both. Below, we cover the manual path first, then the modern automated path with Flow.

How do I enable activity reminders?

Before a pop-up can appear, reminders have to be switched on:

1. Org level (admin): go to Setup → Activity Settings and confirm activity reminders are enabled for the org.
2. User level: each user opens Personal Settings (Settings) → Calendar & Reminders → Activity Reminders, checks "Reminders set" options, and chooses a default reminder time and an optional reminder sound.

If a user reports that reminders never pop up, the cause is almost always that Activity Reminders is unchecked in their personal settings — not a problem with the Task itself.

How to create a manual reminder on a Task or Event

Reminders live on the activity record, so you create them while logging the Task or Event:

1. Open the related record (Lead, Contact, Account, Opportunity, or a custom object) and, in the Activity component, click New Task or New Event.
2. Set the Subject — pick a predefined value (Call, Email, Send Letter) or type your own — and fill in Due Date, Priority, Status, Name, and Related To.
3. Tick the Reminder checkbox, then set the reminder date and time for when you want to be prompted.
4. Save. When the reminder time arrives, a pop-up window lists the activity with its subject, type, and "due in" countdown.

From the reminder pop-up you can Dismiss one reminder, Dismiss All, or Snooze — snooze re-shows the reminder after a set interval, just like a phone alarm. Dismiss completed items so the window stays focused on what's still outstanding.

How do I create an automatic reminder in Salesforce?

Manual reminders depend on someone remembering to set them. Automatic reminders remove that dependency: automation evaluates records on its own and emails the owner or spins up a follow-up Task. In modern Salesforce, you build these with Flow.

There are two Flow patterns to know:

Scheduled-Triggered Flow (batch, runs on a schedule)

A Scheduled-Triggered Flow runs at a set time (for example, daily at 7am) over a defined set of records. Use it for "every morning, find Tasks due in the next 2 days and email each owner."

1. Setup → Flows → New Flow → Scheduled-Triggered Flow.
2. Set the schedule (start date, time, frequency: once / daily / weekly).
3. Set the object (e.g., Task) and filter conditions (e.g., Status not equal to Completed and ActivityDate within the next 2 days).
4. Add an Action → Send Email (or Email Alert) addressed to the record owner.

Record-Triggered Flow with a Scheduled Path (per-record, time-based)

A Record-Triggered Flow fires when a record is created or updated. Add a Scheduled Path to run logic at a time relative to a date field — perfect for "3 days before the Opportunity Close Date, remind the owner."

1. New Flow → Record-Triggered Flow, object = Opportunity, trigger = created and updated.
2. Add a Scheduled Path based on Close Date, offset 3 days before.
3. On that path, add Send Email to the owner, or a Create Records element to log a follow-up Task.

Both approaches are fully supported and are where Salesforce wants new automation built. For background on the older tooling these patterns replace, see our guide to Process Builder in Salesforce.

Record-Triggered Flow: "Remind owner 3 days before Opportunity Close Date"

Trigger object:      Opportunity
Trigger:             A record is created or updated
Entry conditions:    StageName  !=  Closed Won
                     StageName  !=  Closed Lost

Scheduled Path:
  Name:              Reminder_3_Days_Before_Close
  Time Source:       Opportunity: Close Date
  Offset:            3 Days Before

On the scheduled path:
  Decision:          Is StageName still open?  (re-check, record may have moved)
     -> Yes:
          Action: Send Email
            Recipient:  {!$Record.Owner.Email}
            Subject:    Opportunity "{!$Record.Name}" closes in 3 days
            Body:       Close Date {!$Record.CloseDate} - please review next steps.
          (optional) Create Records -> Task
            Subject:    Follow up: {!$Record.Name}
            OwnerId:    {!$Record.OwnerId}
            ActivityDate: {!$Record.CloseDate}
            ReminderDateTime + IsReminderSet = true  // sets a pop-up too

Which reminder mechanism should I use?

Match the tool to the job. Pop-ups are personal nudges; Flow handles proactive, hands-off reminders at scale.

Mechanism	What it does	Best for	Current best practice?
Activity reminder pop-up	In-app pop-up on a Task/Event at a set date/time	A user reminding themselves about one activity	Yes — built-in, no setup beyond enabling reminders
Flow — Send Email / Email Alert	Auto-sends a reminder email to the owner X days before a due date	Proactive outreach across many records	Yes — Flow is the supported automation tool
Flow — Create Task	Auto-creates a follow-up Task (optionally with its own reminder)	Audit trail, assigning follow-up work, queueing	Yes — Flow is the supported automation tool
Workflow Rule email alert	Sends an email when criteria are met	(Legacy) older orgs only	No — retiring; can't create new, migrate to Flow
Process Builder	Multi-step record automation incl. email actions	(Legacy) older orgs only	No — retiring; can't create new, migrate to Flow

If your org still runs reminders on Workflow Rules or Process Builder, plan a migration to Flow using Salesforce's migration tool. For the older field-update pattern many reminder workflows relied on, see Workflow Field Update Action in Salesforce.

Best practices for Salesforce reminders

• Re-check state on scheduled paths. A record can change between the trigger and the scheduled run. Add a Decision to confirm the activity is still open before emailing.
• Don't spam owners. Send one well-timed reminder (e.g., 3 days before) rather than daily nags; use entry conditions to scope tightly.
• Prefer Flow over legacy tools for anything new, and consolidate duplicate Workflow Rules / Process Builder logic as you migrate.
• Combine email + Task when you need both an alert and an accountability record — Flow can create a Task that itself carries a pop-up reminder.
• Test with a sandbox / a few records before turning a scheduled Flow loose on the whole org.

For broader guidance on keeping declarative automation clean and maintainable, read our Salesforce customization best practices. If you'd rather have an experienced team design and migrate your reminder automation, our Salesforce consulting services can help.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I create a reminder in Salesforce?

Open a Lead, Contact, or other record, create a New Task or New Event, tick the Reminder checkbox, and set the reminder date and time. When that time arrives, Salesforce shows a pop-up — provided Activity Reminders is enabled in your personal settings.

Why aren't my Salesforce reminders popping up?

The usual cause is that Activity Reminders is turned off for your user. Go to Personal Settings → Calendar & Reminders → Activity Reminders and enable it. Also confirm activity reminders are enabled at the org level under Setup → Activity Settings.

How do I send automatic reminder emails in Salesforce?

Build a Flow. Use a Scheduled-Triggered Flow to email owners about activities due soon on a daily schedule, or a Record-Triggered Flow with a scheduled path to email a reminder a set number of days before a date field (such as an Opportunity Close Date).

Can I still use Workflow Rules or Process Builder for reminders?

Existing ones keep running for now, but Salesforce has stopped letting you create new Workflow Rules and Process Builder processes and provides a migration tool to move them to Flow. For any new reminder automation, use Flow.

What's the difference between a manual reminder and an automatic reminder?

A manual reminder is a pop-up a user sets on one Task or Event for themselves. An automatic reminder is built with Flow and runs on its own across many records — sending emails or creating follow-up Tasks without anyone setting a checkbox.

Can a Flow create a follow-up Task instead of (or with) an email?

Yes. Add a Create Records element to your Flow to generate a Task assigned to the record owner, set its ActivityDate, and set IsReminderSet = true with a ReminderDateTime so the new Task also carries a pop-up reminder.