How to never forget a birthday: 6 ways that work

1. Google Calendar birthday reminders

Google Calendar shows birthdays from your Google Contacts in a calendar called Birthdays.

1. Open the person in Google Contacts and add their birthday (with the year, if you know it).
2. In Google Calendar, make sure the Birthdays calendar is switched on under My calendars.
3. Open the settings for the Birthdays calendar and add a notification, for example one week before.

Good for: people who live in Google Calendar. Watch out: it only knows about people saved as contacts with a birthday.

2. iPhone and iPad

1. Add the birthday to the person’s card in Contacts.
2. The Calendar app then shows it in its Birthdays calendar.
3. Set the alert under Settings → Calendar → Default Alert Times → Birthdays (in newer iOS: Settings → Apps → Calendar). Choose one day or one week before.

Good for: a reliable nudge on your own phone. Less good for: sharing with a partner or the kids.

3. A shared family calendar app

Shared calendars (Google, Apple or apps made for families) let everyone see the same dates. Add birthdays as yearly events with a reminder. It works well if everyone actually opens the app; in many families only one person does.

4. A birthday calendar on the wall

Paper wins on one thing: you see it without looking for it. A wall calendar in the kitchen shows the whole month at once, so a birthday next Thursday is visible today, and everyone in the house sees it, not just the person with the phone.

The best version has the birthdays printed in already, with how old each person turns, so it can’t be forgotten when the new calendar goes up in January.

5. In your weekly planner

If you plan your week on paper, put birthdays where you plan: on the right day of the week, with the age. You see them when you plan the week, which is exactly when you have time to buy a card or a gift.

6. A monthly five-minute check

Whatever you use, spend five minutes on the first of each month looking at who has a birthday that month. Order gifts and write cards for the whole month in one go. This single habit catches most of what reminders miss.

Which one should you choose?

• Just you, and you live on your phone: Google Calendar or iPhone reminders.
• A household where more than one person needs to know: a wall calendar in the kitchen.
• You plan your weeks on paper: birthdays printed in your planner.
• Most people: a phone reminder one week before, plus one place on paper where the whole year is visible.