Force Meeting Reminders

To modify reminders for existing appointments in Microsoft Outlook from a user workstation, there is no native Outlook feature that allows bulk changes directly.

However, this can be achieved using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), which allows you to create scripts capable of manipulating Outlook items, including calendar appointments.

Below is an example VBA script that can be used to change reminders for all existing appointments in Outlook. This script goes through all calendar items and sets each reminder to 15 minutes.

Steps to Use the VBA Script in Outlook

Open Outlook.
Press ALT + F11 to open the VBA editor.
In the VBA editor, go to Insert > Module to create a new module.
Copy and paste the following script into the module.

Script to Copy/Paste

Sub ChangeRemindersOnExistingAppointments()
   Dim objOL As Outlook.Application
   Dim objNS As Outlook.NameSpace
   Dim objFolder As Outlook.MAPIFolder
   Dim objItem As Object
   Dim calendarItem As Outlook.AppointmentItem
   Dim itemsUpdated As Integer: itemsUpdated = 0
 
   ' Create a new Outlook instance
   Set objOL = CreateObject("Outlook.Application")
   Set objNS = objOL.GetNamespace("MAPI")
 
   ' Access the default Calendar folder
   Set objFolder = objNS.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderCalendar)
 
   ' Browse all calendar items
   For Each objItem In objFolder.Items
       If objItem.Class = olAppointment Then
           Set calendarItem = objItem
         
           ' Change reminder to 15 minutes
           calendarItem.ReminderSet = True
           calendarItem.ReminderMinutesBeforeStart = 15
           calendarItem.Save ' Save changes
         
           itemsUpdated = itemsUpdated + 1
       End If
   Next
 
   ' Display confirmation message
   MsgBox itemsUpdated & " appointments were updated.", vbInformation
End Sub

Final Step

Run the script by pressing F5 or by selecting:

Run > Run Sub/UserForm

after selecting the ChangeRemindersOnExistingAppointments procedure.

This script scans your calendar and changes the reminder for every appointment to 15 minutes. Note that the script may take some time if you have a large number of appointments in your calendar.

Important Considerations

Backup

Make sure to back up your data before running scripts that perform bulk modifications on Outlook data.

Performance

If you have a large number of events, the script may take some time to complete. It is recommended to run it when you do not need immediate access to Outlook.

Permissions

You must have the necessary permissions to run VBA scripts in Outlook. Some organizations disable this capability for security reasons.

This document includes a template that can be executed directly on the user workstation.

Force meeting reminders