Reminders Widget on iPhone: Pick a List and Check Off Tasks

The Reminders widget shows one of your lists on the Home Screen, and you can check off an item by tapping it without opening the app. Add it from the widget gallery, then use Edit Widget to choose which list it shows.

Add the Reminders widget

1. Touch and hold the Home Screen background until the apps jiggle.
2. Tap Edit, then Add Widget.
3. Search for Reminders, swipe through the sizes and tap Add Widget.
4. Move it where you want it and tap Done.

Larger sizes show more items from the list. The steps come from Apple’s widget guide for iOS 27 ↗.

Choose the list and check off items

• Change the list: touch and hold the widget, tap Edit Widget, then choose a list.
• Complete an item: tap it in the widget. In the app, completed items are hidden from the list.
• See finished items again: open the list in Reminders, tap the More button and choose Show Completed.

All three are described in Apple’s Reminders guide ↗. If you want two lists at hand, for example groceries and work, add two Reminders widgets and set each to a different list, or put them in a widget stack to save space.

Use it on the Lock Screen

Apple says you can complete items from the Lock Screen too. Touch and hold the Lock Screen, tap Customize, choose the Lock Screen, then tap the widget area or Add Widgets and pick Reminders, following Apple’s Lock Screen guide ↗. The Lock Screen version is much smaller, so it suits a short list. Tapping works in StandBy as well, according to Apple’s widget guide ↗.

If the widget is not updating

• Open Reminders. Changes made on another device or by someone sharing the list reach the widget after the data arrives, and opening the app helps it catch up. Apple’s developer guide ↗ explains that iOS schedules widget reloads.
• Check the list. If you renamed or deleted the list the widget showed, choose it again with Edit Widget.
• Turn off Low Power Mode, which reduces background activity, per Apple’s Low Power Mode page ↗.
• Remove the widget and add it again if it is still out of date.

For a widget that is missing entirely, see why a widget is not showing. To run a whole routine with one tap instead of a single to-do, try the Shortcuts widget.