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4 Ways to Fix Calendar Alerts Not Working on iPhone

Quick Tips
  • Verify that Calendar app alerts are not disabled or silenced in the Settings app.
  • Ensure calendar sync is enabled in the iCloud menu, and your iPhone is set to the correct date and time.
  • Enabling a Focus profile can prevent Calendar alerts from appearing, so ensure they are turned off.

Try Basic Fixes

  • Disable Focus mode: When Focus mode is active, your iPhone pauses notifications for all apps, including Calendar. This may lead you to believe the Calendar app alerts are not working on your iPhone. To avoid any confusion, disable Focus mode on your iPhone.
  • Install iOS updates: A buggy iOS update could prevent the Calendar app from working correctly on your iPhone. Consider installing pending software updates on your iPhone and see if that helps.

Fix 1: Configure Calendar App Notification Settings

On iOS, enable or disable notifications for each app individually. If you have inadvertently disabled Calendar app alerts, you won’t receive any alerts for events or reminders on your iPhone.

Step 1: Open the Settings app > tap on Notifications.

Step 2: Scroll down to locate and tap on Calendar.

Step 3: Enable the toggles for Allow Notifications and Time-Sensitive Notifications.

Step 4: Scroll down to tap on Customize Notifications and enable all toggles.

Step 5: Return to the previous menu > tap Sounds > select your preferred alert tone from the following menu.

Fix 2: Enable Calendar Sync

The Calendar app on your iPhone needs to connect to iCloud to sync events and reminders from other devices using the same Apple ID. If you have turned off Calendar sync on your iPhone, the app won’t alert you for events and reminders synced to your iCloud account.

Step 1: Open the Settings app on your iPhone and tap on your name at the top.

Step 2: Go to iCloud. Under Apps Using iCloud, tap the Show All option.

Step 3: Enable the toggle for Calendars.

Fix 3: Enable Automatic Date and Time

Having your iPhone set to the wrong date or time could prevent the Calendar app from syncing reminders and displaying alerts. To avoid such issues, enable the automatic date and time feature on your iPhone.

Step 1: Launch the Settings app > go to General > Date & Time.

Step 2: Toggle on Set Automatically.

Fix 4: Disable Time Zone Override

Enabling the Time Zone Override feature allows you to configure the Calendar app to display dates and times in a specific time zone. However, if you move away from that time zone, this feature could cause your calendar alerts to arrive late. This may happen after your recent trip to a different country or region. Hence, disable the time zone override.

Step 1: Open the Settings app > scroll down to tap on Calendar.

Step 2: Tap on Time Zone Override and toggle off Time Zone Override.

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Last updated on 07 August, 2024

3 Comments

  1. The steps were thorough and I double checked each one to make sure I’d already done them. I made sure the volume was turned up in the Sounds Haptic app. But unfortunately I am still not receiving the alert sound (only vibrate & the banner) for Calendar but I am getting the same sound for Reminder. I decided to use the same one for Reminder, thinking it might have been that the previous sound was defective. I do get the alert sound for Calendar on my iPad. Any other ideas what could be wrong?

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