The guide
How to keep track of birthdays, honestly compared
Forgetting a birthday feels bad, and it happens to organised people too. The fix isn’t a better memory, it’s a better system. Here are six ways to keep track of birthdays, with what each one really costs you. The last one is ours, and we say so.
Free · no app needed
1. The calendar on your iPhone or Android phone
Every phone can turn the birthdays in your contacts into a yearly calendar entry with an alert. On iPhone it’s the Birthdays calendar in the Calendar app; Google Calendar does the same from your Google Contacts, and Samsung phones through the Samsung Calendar.
- Free, and already on your phone
- Reminders a day or a week ahead
- Works offline
- Only for the dates you know and typed in
- Nobody else sees it, so the family still asks you
- Contacts without a birthday field stay invisible
Kost je: Adding every date yourself, and keeping it up to date.
2. Outlook at work
Outlook shows birthdays from your contacts too, and a team can set up a shared calendar. Fine at the office, awkward for a family, and it stops when you change jobs.
- Coworkers can share one calendar
- Reminders in the tool you already open
- Needs a Microsoft 365 setup
- Not for family and friends
- Somebody maintains the list
Kost je: An admin, and a volunteer who keeps it current.
3. A birthday tracker spreadsheet or printable
A Google Sheet, an Excel template or a printable birthday list: the classic birthday tracker. Sorted by month, it’s a nice overview. It just doesn’t remind you of anything.
- Free, and you can print it
- Everything in one overview
- No account for anyone
- No reminders at all
- You type every date
- The new baby isn’t in it until you hear about it
Kost je: A yearly evening of updating, and looking at it in time.
Want the overview without the typing? See the birthday tracker that keeps itself up to date.
4. A birthday book or a perpetual calendar
The birthday book in the hall, or a perpetual wall calendar with a page per month. Cozy, and it has kept families going for generations.
- Zero technology
- Everyone in the house sees it
- Lovely as a gift
- It hangs in one place
- No reminders when you’re away
- Handwriting, and no way to share it with the group
Kost je: Walking past it at the right moment.
5. Facebook
For years Facebook was the birthday reminder for everyone. Today many people don’t use it anymore, hide their birthday, or don’t see the notifications. If yours stopped showing, read Facebook birthdays not showing.
- Automatic, for friends who are on it
- Others fill in their own date
- Only friends who still use Facebook
- Notifications you easily miss or turn off
- Kids and grandparents aren’t on it
Kost je: Depending on a platform that is slowly emptying out.
6. A shared calendar everyone fills in themselves (Hoera)
This is the method we built, so read it as such. With Hoera you don’t collect dates. You share one link in the group chat, and each person adds their own name and birthday. Everyone sees each other, and everyone gets a reminder by email in time.
- Complete, because everyone adds their own
- Reminders by email: weekly, and extra for favorites
- Free, no app, works on any phone and on a computer
- Family, work and friends in one calendar, each group sees only itself
- The group has to tap the link once
- Only WhatsApp delivery is paid (€19 a year)
Kost je: Sharing one link. That’s it.
How the sharing works, compared with Google and Outlook, is on shared birthday calendar.
Why can’t I remember birthdays?
Because a date is an abstract fact with nothing to hang it on. Whether you have ADHD, a busy head or simply a lot of people in your life, forgetting a birthday says nothing about how much you care. The people who never forget are rarely better at remembering. They have something that remembers for them.
So don’t train your memory. Pick one of the ways above that reminds you a few days early, and let it do the work.
Keeping track of friends’ and family birthdays
Friends
Friends are the hardest: they are not in your contacts with a birthday, and you don’t want to ask every year. A shared calendar in the friends’ group chat solves it once.
Family
Family means partners, nieces, nephews and grandchildren, and the list changes every year. Read family birthday calendar for a calendar the whole family keeps up to date.
Coworkers
At work the question is also who is allowed to know. See office birthday calendar.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an app to keep track of birthdays?+
Plenty. Most are personal: you install the app and type in every birthday yourself. Hoera is free, needs no install and works the other way round: you share a link and the people in your life add their own birthday.
How do I keep track of everyone’s birthday?+
Stop collecting dates one by one. Put one link in each group chat you are in, family, friends, work, and let everyone add themselves. The few people without a phone you add yourself.
What is the best way to keep track of birthdays?+
One place that holds every birthday, plus something that reminds you a few days early. Your phone’s calendar does that for the people you already have dates for. For everyone else, a shared calendar where people add their own birthday is the only method that stays complete.
How do I keep track of birthdays on my iPhone?+
Add the birthday to the person in Contacts. The Calendar app then shows it every year in the Birthdays calendar, and you can set an alert in Calendar settings. The catch: you have to know and type every date yourself.
How do I keep track of birthdays in Google Calendar?+
Google Calendar shows birthdays from your Google Contacts automatically. Add the date to the contact, turn on the Birthdays calendar and set a notification. Again: only for dates you already know.
Is there a free birthday tracker?+
Yes. A spreadsheet or a printable is free, and so is Hoera. The difference is who does the work: with a spreadsheet you type everything, with Hoera everyone types their own.
Can Hoera keep track of anniversaries too?+
Not yet. Hoera is about birthdays only, so it can stay simple.
Why can’t I remember birthdays?+
Because dates don’t stick to faces. It has nothing to do with caring. People who ‘remember’ everyone’s birthday almost always have a system: a calendar, a list, or a reminder. Get the system, and you can stop feeling guilty.
Try the way where everyone helps
Ready in a minute. Then you share the link, and the rest takes care of itself.
Free · no app needed