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You are here: Home / iPhone / How to “really” delete completed reminders on iPhone and Mac forever

How to “really” delete completed reminders on iPhone and Mac forever

By Andrew Palmer 3 comments Last updated December 29, 2022

Okay folks, most of us at one point or another have bashed our head into the wall trying to get reminders to disappear after they’ve been completed. Marking a reminder complete doesn’t delete it from the list automatically.

Also, if you’re brand new to Apple products, it can be tempting to think it’s more complicated than it actually is, but it’s really quite simple.

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Lists and reminders

In the Reminders app, you can create lists to organize your reminders. When you’re having a busy day with several tasks ahead, you can mark a task as complete to help you keep track of where you are with your day.

Completing a reminder and deleting a reminder

It’s important to note that while marking a reminder complete removes it from your list, it doesn’t delete the reminder. When you select Show Completed at the bottom, there it is again.

This looks different depending on if you’re using the Reminders app on the iPhone or Mac.

To delete a reminder on the iPhone:

First select Show Completed.

Show completed in reminders on iPhone.
Select show completed at the bottom.

Then select Edit in the top right.

Edit in reminders on the iPhone.
Select Edit in the top right.

Then swipe left from the far right of the list item.

Delete key in reminders on iPhone.
Swiping left reveals the Delete button.

Select the red delete button to delete the item and that permanently deletes the item from the list.

To delete the list on the iPhone:

First select the list.

Select a list in reminders on iPhone.
Select a list to delete.

Second select Edit on the top right.

Select edit in reminders on the iPhone.
Select Edit in the top right.

At the bottom, are the red words Delete List.

Delete List in reminders on iPhone.
Select Delete List at the bottom.

When you select Delete List a window pops up.

Verify delete in reminders on iPhone.
Select Delete to finalize the deletion.

Select Delete to complete the deletion.

On the Mac

On an Apple desktop or laptop, Reminders is a much tamer beast.

To delete a Reminder, you simply highlight the completed reminder you want deleted.

Highlight reminder in reminders on Mac.
Highlight the completed reminder.

Then you simply hit the delete key on your keyboard and voila, it’s gone.

Deleted reminder in reminders on Mac.
Now the reminder is gone.

Same thing with deleting a list.

Just highlight the list.

Highlight ist in reminders on mac.
The list will be highlighted in blue.

Hit the delete key on your keyboard and bam, you’re done.

Empty list in reminders on Mac.
The list is gone.

Keep in mind, there must always be at least one list in Reminders.

Across multiple devices

If you’re signed in with your Apple ID across an iPhone, iPad and a Mac, deleting a reminder will be deleted across all of them, which is handy if it’s just a few reminders.

If you have a lot of completed reminders, it’s tedious and time consuming to delete them all individually. The easiest and most convenient way at that point is to delete the completed reminders from your Mac or PC.

After you log into iCloud.com with your Apple ID, click on Reminders.

Reminders on iCloud.com on mac or pc.
Reminders is here in the top right.

Select a list to see a completed tab.

Select completed under lists in reminders on iCloud
Click the arrow next to completed.

Once you select it, your completed tasks appear.

To delete all your completed tasks, select Clear Completed.

Select clear completed under lists under reminders in iCloud
Click on clear completed.

A window then pops up to verify what you’re doing and warns you that this action cannot be undone.

Hit clear completed in pop up window in reminders on iCloud.
Select clear completed in pop up window to verify deletion.

Select clear completed again and away they go.

Remember

It’s an easy trap to fall into if you don’t know the difference between a completed task and a deleted task, but just know that completed tasks remain on your device until they’re deleted.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing though. Some people may want to keep track of their completed tasks to use as a reference point later on. It’s all up to you though.

Andrew Palmer
Andrew Palmer

Andy is a former Apple employee with a deep knowledge of Apple products. He currently covers writing tips and tutorials for different Apple products.

Andy is also an avid video producer with superb video editing skills and loves editing using his MacBookPro.

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Reader Interactions

Write a Comment Cancel reply

Show 3 Comments

  1. Nancy Lewert says

    June 7, 2021 at 12:38 PM

    I have restrictions activated for my iCloud account. Reminders App is a back door to my iCloud account. No restrictions. Changes to my iCloud account can be made through the reminders app. In the latest IOS, I can’t delete my iCloud account from reminders. I tried deleting the Reminders app through the App Store by downloading it. Still connected to my account. Deleted reminders app from iCloud account. Crossed off reminders in restrictions. Still there. Design flaw.

    Reply
  2. Dave says

    March 28, 2020 at 4:13 AM

    on a android cell phone how do you delete completed reminders

    Reply
    • Elizabeth Jones says

      March 28, 2020 at 8:51 AM

      HI Dave,

      On your Android device, use the Google app
      Tap the More button
      Choose Reminders
      Tap a reminder
      Choose Delete and then OK.

      Reply

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