How do Microsoft Bookings reminder emails work (and fail)?

Set up a reminder on a shared booking page#

1. From Bookings home, open your page under Shared booking pages.
2. Select Services, then the service you want reminders for.
3. Go to the Notifications page of the service editor.
4. Under Email reminders, add a reminder:
   • choose when it's sent, relative to the start time
   • choose who receives it: customers, staff members, or both
   • add your own text, for example parking directions or what to bring
5. Add more reminders if you want more than one, for example 1 day and 1 hour before.
6. Save changes, then repeat for every other service.

Email follow-up sits on the same page and works the same way, but sends after the appointment. It's useful for feedback requests or prompting a rebooking.

For personal pages (Bookings with me), the steps are different: in the meeting type form, open Advanced settings, scroll to Email Reminders and select Add an email reminder. That Microsoft Learn article gives the timing range as 15 minutes to two weeks before the meeting. The shared-page docs don't restate a range, so check the choices your service offers.

Why reminders aren't being sent#

Work through these in order:

1. The booked service has no reminder. Reminders don't carry across services. A reminder on "Consultation" does nothing for "Follow-up call". Check the exact service on the booking.
2. The reminder goes to the wrong audience. A reminder set to staff only won't reach customers, and the other way round.
3. The customer has no usable email. Without a customer email on the booking, the Bookings FAQ says mail can't be delivered. A mistyped address fails the same way. See customers not receiving emails for the field and typo checks.
4. Reminders are delivered but junked. Reminders come from the same booking mailbox as confirmations. See emails going to junk.
5. The appointment was booked inside the reminder window. Microsoft doesn't document what happens if someone books 2 hours ahead and the reminder is set for 1 day before. Don't count on a catch-up email.
6. Mail flow. An Exchange admin can run a message trace for the customer's address. A Microsoft moderator suggested this in a 2026 thread where custom reminders reached the owner but not customers.

A 2021 thread asking why a 1-day reminder never arrived has 7 "same question" votes and no answer at all, so if none of the above applies, a message trace is the next step.

Edited the reminder, but customers get the old text#

People on Microsoft Q&A report that customers who booked before a reminder was edited still receive the old wording. Microsoft doesn't document whether reminders are fixed when the booking is created. If the change matters (a new address, for instance), email affected customers directly, or edit and save their bookings so they get an updated confirmation.

The 15-minute Outlook reminder on staff calendars#

Staff often ask how to remove the 15-minute pop-up reminder on Bookings appointments in Outlook. This isn't an email reminder: it's the reminder on the calendar event itself. The answers on a 2020 Q&A thread say there's no option to turn it off, and Microsoft doesn't document one as of September 2026. Staff can only dismiss it each time.

Limits to know about#

As of September 2026:

• No documented maximum number of reminders per service.
• Reminders are relative to the start time only.
• You can add your own message, but not change the layout or subject line.
• Text reminders need Teams Premium and a supported country. See SMS text reminders.

For a reminder schedule and message plan, see the guide to reducing no-shows.

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