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Definition
💡Follow-up reminder: A note you set on an email, sent or received, that brings it back to your attention at a specific time. Usually because you're waiting on a reply, or you owe someone one yourself.
Why "I'll remember to follow up" rarely works
If you're managing multiple accounts and dozens of moving threads a day, you most likely won’t. The proposal you sent Tuesday is already three screens deep by Wednesday afternoon.
A client who never hears back assumes you dropped the ball, even if you were just waiting for their answer. But a deal going cold because nobody circled back at the right moment is exactly the kind of small failure that adds up to real damage over a quarter, not just an inbox annoyance.
A follow-up reminder solves a narrow problem well: it removes the need to hold "did I hear back on this" in your head at all.
Reminders on emails you send vs. emails you receive
There are two directions this works, and they solve different problems.
On something you sent: you're waiting for someone else's answer. Set the reminder when you hit send, and if they don't reply in time, the email resurfaces so you can nudge them.
On something you received: you owe someone a reply but can't do it justice right now. The reminder brings it back at a better moment rather than leaving it buried under everything that comes after it.
Don't confuse this with a snooze. Snoozing just hides a message until later, no condition attached. That's a different job. A follow-up reminder is usually conditional (remind me only if nobody replies) or scheduled for a specific reason tied to that thread.
Some people try to use a read receipt instead, on the theory that "they opened it" tells you whether to follow up. It doesn't, not reliably. Opening an email isn't the same as intending to reply, and plenty of people read on their phone and forget by the time they're at a desk. A reminder tied to a real deadline works better than guessing from an open receipt.
How to set a follow-up reminder
In Gmail: Gmail's version is Nudges, and it's automatic rather than something you configure per email. Gmail flags sent messages it thinks need a follow-up and emails you forgot to answer, right at the top of your inbox. To turn Nudges on or off, go to Settings > See all settings > General, and look for the Nudges section.
In Outlook:
- Open or select the message.
- Go to Home (or Message) > Follow Up > Add Reminder.
- Choose a date and time, then select OK.
A bell icon appears on the message, and it lands in your To-Do list too. You can flag a message you're sending to a recipient the same way from the Message tab.
In Spark:
- While writing or replying to an email, tap the reminder icon at the bottom of the composer.
- Choose a preset time, or select Pick Date for something custom (up to two months out).
- Send.
To set one on an email you've already sent, open the Sent folder, select the message, and choose Remind Me from the actions menu. All your active reminders live in the Reminders folder on the sidebar, where you can adjust or clear them.
If Outlook's menu names don't match what you see, Microsoft's follow-up reminder guide covers the current version.
Getting follow-up reminders to actually change your day
A reminder only helps if you act on it, so a few things make the difference.
Set realistic windows. Three days for an internal question, a week or two for anything that needs a client's own approvals. Setting every reminder for tomorrow just means tomorrow gets crowded.
Clear reminders the moment they're resolved. A stale reminder for a thread that's already closed is just clutter with extra steps.
And use the sent-side reminder more than you probably do. Most people only think to set reminders on incoming mail, but the emails you're waiting on a reply to are the ones most likely to quietly die if nobody nudges them.