How to set a due date in Reminders

Question

Level 1

11 points

How to set a due date in Reminders

Hey guys this had been bugging me for a while so I decided I'd share my findings. This is a pseudo-fix but I think it works for my purposes.

First, the solution:

Open Automator (go into Spotlight and search "Automator")

Create a new service

Under the "Service Receives" dropdown select "none" and make sure it's "every application"

Then in the search bar to the left find "Run AppleScript"

Drag and drop the "Run AppleScript" to the right.

Paste the following code in the "Run AppleScript":

tell application "System Events" to set FrontAppName to name of first process where frontmost is true

if FrontAppName is "Reminders" then

tell application "Reminders"

set newReminder to makenewreminder

set name of newReminder to "new reminder"

set due date of newReminder to current date

end tell

else

display dialog "failed to make new reminder!"

end if

Save the service as whatever you'd like, I named mine "new-reminder-with-due-date"

Now close Automator, go to "System Preferences" -> "Keyboard" -> "Shortcuts"

Go to the bottom where it says "Shortcuts..." Add an entry, in the Application say "Reminders"

Then paste the name of the service name you chose earlier (again mine was "new-reminder-with-due-date")

Choose a shortcut to make a new reminder with a due date, For me I chose CMD + SHIFT + n

Close the System Preferences

Now when you use your shortcut in the Reminders app it will create a new Reminder with the due date set as "now"

Change the due date to whatever you want and there you go

Now the explanation. I used references from:

http://www.macstories.net/tutorials/enhancing-reminders-with-applescript-and-mac ros/

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7570855/where-to-find-what-commands-propertie s-are-available-for-applescript-in-microsof

Basically Reminders happens to have the "due date" property as a scriptable feature. So with AppleScript you can make a new reminder with a due date. I set the date to "Current Date" because I just needed the due date there. You can set the default due date to something else if you'd like but this is at least a solution you can use.

I'm now going to explore how to add a due date to an existing reminder using AppleScript. Hope this helps everyone in the future.

Finder-OTHER, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Mar 3, 2014 3:37 PM

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Answer 1

May 20, 2017 7:43 PM in response to p0wwww

Perhaps an easier way to do things - straight from Applescript:

(*

THIS SCRIPT CAN BE USED "AS IS" AND CALLED FROM OTHER APPLICATIONS OR DULPICATED AND SAVED AS AN APPLICAITION FOR THE DESKTOP

*)

set theReminderDialog to display dialog "The format is Remnder + ON date + AT Time

e.g Book Flight on 5th November at 6pm

or

Order Meal on 24/05/2017 at 10am" default answer "" with title "Reminder"

set theReminder to (text returned of theReminderDialog)

set the clipboard totheReminder

tell application "Reminders"

activate

(*

UNCOMMENT THE FOLLOWING LINE IF YOU WANT TO RESIZE THE REMINDERS WINDOW

*)

--tell application "Reminders" to set the bounds of the front window to {700, 0, 1450, 1024}

(*

THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF ALL YOUR INDIVIDUSL REMINDER LISTS - E.G. "TO DO", "REGULAR" ETC

CHANGE THEM IN THE "choose from list" LINE AND IN THE "if" STATEMENTS TO MATCH YOUR LISTS

*)

set thechoice to choose from list {"TO DO", "MONEY", "REGULAR", "ANNUAL"} with title "LIST" with prompt "Select LIST" default items {"TO DO"}

set UserChoice to item 1 of thechoice

set mylist to ""

if UserChoice is "TO DO" then

set mylist to list "TO DO"

end if

if UserChoice is "MONEY" then

set mylist to list "MONEY"

end if

if UserChoice is "REGULAR" then

set mylist to list "REGULAR"

end if

if UserChoice is "ANNUAL" then

set mylist to list "ANNUAL"

end if

mylistshow

tell application "Reminders"

tell application "System Events"

keystroke "n" using {command down}

keystroke "v" using {command down}

keystrokereturn

end tell

display dialog "Reminder Set: " & " in list: " & UserChoice & " .... " & (the clipboard) with icon file "Applications:01_My_Menu:Reminders.icns"

end tell

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Answer 2

dbuchter

Level 1

8 points

May 31, 2017 12:19 PM in response to p0wwww

This option is easy and it seems like it would be a solution, but for me, the Due Date is not editable in the Info box - it is locked to the date forward you put in the AppleScript (which can be anything). I need it to be editable, so I can change due dates on the fly.

Is there just a way to <Display> the Due Date fields by default without affecting their operation?

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Answer 3

May 31, 2017 11:58 PM in response to dbuchter

The first box to appear asks for the details of the reminder e.g. "Order Meal on 24/05/2017 at 10am"

If you were to make this reminder on 24/05/2017 AFTER 10am, the reminder would show up as being on the 25TH

If you make the reminder BEFORE 10am the reminder will show up as being on the 24TH

In other words if you make a reminder today for a time BEFORE RIGHT NOW then the reminder will show up for tomorrow whereas if you make a reminder today for a time AFTER RIGHT NOW then the reminder will show up for today.

Obviously, making a reminder for a day in the future will show up as being on that date at the designated time.

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Answer 4

Jul 2, 2017 2:44 PM in response to Harry2047

The input box should look like this:

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Answer 5

p0wwww Author

Level 1

11 points

Mar 3, 2014 8:18 PM in response to p0wwww

There's a correction to the code. For whatever reason doing it that way still sets it as a "remind me when" parameter. Use the following code instead:

tell application "System Events" to set FrontAppName to name of first process where frontmost is true

if FrontAppName is "Reminders" then

tell application "Reminders"

set duedate to (current date) + (2 * days)

makenewreminderwith properties {name:"New Reminder", due date:duedate}

end tell

else

display dialog "failed to make new reminder!"

end if

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Answer 6

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,986 points

Mar 3, 2014 8:22 PM in response to p0wwww

See this thread on about page 3: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4142949?start=30&tstart=0

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Answer 7

p0wwww Author

Level 1

11 points

Mar 4, 2014 4:09 AM in response to Barney-15E

I've seen this. I just didn't want to have manage multiple apps at once. I may be able to use this to set due dates on already established reminders though (still through AppleScript).

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Answer 8

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,986 points

Mar 4, 2014 4:16 AM in response to p0wwww

p0wwww wrote:

I've seen this. I just didn't want to have manage multiple apps at once. I may be able to use this to set due dates on already established reminders though (still through AppleScript).

Not sure which part you got that from, but there is an automator service that creates a new reminder with a due date. The Services is a "Single app" with the ability to grab text from anywhere to use as the title.

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Answer 9

p0wwww Author

Level 1

11 points

Mar 5, 2014 3:01 PM in response to Barney-15E

Oh. Yeah the only issue with that is it's locked to a particular list. You'd have to make an automator service for every single list and then have a shortcut or some way of running that particular service to make the new reminder with a due date. Right now I'm trying to make a "general" solution that will work no matter what list you're on, and also allows you to add a due date to an existing reminder.

Then it's just a couple shortcuts and you're done.

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Answer 10

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,986 points

Mar 5, 2014 3:08 PM in response to p0wwww

p0wwww wrote:

Oh. Yeah the only issue with that is it's locked to a particular list.

No, you just set the options to show the action when the workflow runs. You get this:

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Answer 11

pepita

Level 2

405 points

Jul 16, 2015 4:27 AM in response to p0wwww

None of these solutions worked for me, but I found a practical alternative - so for anyone who like me stumbles on this thread while looking for a workaround to add "due dates" (as separate from "remind me on" date) in Reminders, here you go, the simplest solution is available as a small app on the Mac App Store, it's called "Remind Me" and it's FREE.

It does just that, add a reminder, showing you all the fields you can edit, including due date, and it can be set with a shortcut in keyboard preferences so it's really handy.

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