Reminders on the iPhone and iPad is a simple, no-nonsense task-management app. Sometimes, though, simplicity comes at a cost. One glaring example is the Reminders app doesn’t automatically delete old reminders. Fortunately, there’s a work-around!
The Reminders app allows you to hide completed reminders, and calls it a day. You can tap the Menu button in a List to toggle between the “Show Completed” or “Hide Completed” options. However, hiding a completed reminder isn’t the same as deleting it. They also still show up in iCloud and on other devices.
Thankfully, you can delete completed reminders via the Shortcuts app. Never heard of it?
Shortcuts is Apple’s built-in automation app for iPhone and iPad. You can use it to write simple scripts that perform complex actions. For example, you can write a script to resize photos or send a pre-composed message.
The Shortcuts app also has a few actions for the Reminders app. Using these, you can pull a list of all completed reminders, and then delete them all at once.
As this shortcut is quite simple, we recommend you create it yourself. We’ll walk you through the process below. Alternatively, you can download the Delete Completed pre-configured shortcut and install it in the Shortcuts app.
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Open the “Shortcuts” app on your iPhone or iPad and go to the “My Shortcuts” tab. Tap the plus sign (+) at the top right to create a new shortcut.
Tap “Add Action.”
Search for and select “Find Reminders.”
First, tap “Add Filter,” and then tap “List.”
Next, tap “Is Completed.”
To add the next action, tap the plus sign (+).
Here, tap “Remove Reminders.”
Now, you’ve successfully built a shortcut! Tap “Next” at the top right.
On this screen, give your shortcut a name (we went with “Clear Reminders”). You can also tap the icon to customize its glyph and color. When you’re finished, tap “Done” to save.
You can run your new shortcut by tapping it at the top of the “All Shortcuts” tab. To run ours, we tap “Clear Reminders.”
A popup will tell you how many completed reminders you have. Tap “Remove” to delete them all, but keep in mind, you can’t undo this action.
You can do this once a week or every month to clear all completed reminders.
Want to learn more about the Shortcuts app? Here’s how it works on an iPhone.
RELATED: What Are iPhone Shortcuts and How Do I Use Them?
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