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How to Send Microsoft Lists Deadline Reminders to Assigned Persons

Maira Mehtab Oct 1, 2026 868 views

Question details

The user wants to automatically notify specific individuals when a task assigned to them in Microsoft Lists is approaching its deadline.

How to Send Microsoft Lists Deadline Reminders to Assigned Persons

Product: Microsoft Lists
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Managing tasks in Microsoft Lists and needing an automated system to alert the responsible person before or on the due date.
Observed behavior: Microsoft Lists does not natively send scheduled reminders to assigned users, requiring a custom workflow via Power Automate to extract the date and assignee.

Before you start

Ensure you have an active Microsoft 365 subscription with access to both Microsoft Lists and Power Automate. Verify that your List has a standard 'Date and time' column for deadlines and a 'Person or Group' column for the assigned users.

Solution 1Recommended

Create a Scheduled Cloud Flow in Power Automate

Set up a daily automated workflow that checks deadlines against the current date and sends personalized notifications to the assignees.

Because Microsoft Lists relies on Power Automate for complex conditional triggers, the most reliable method is to create a flow that runs on a schedule (e.g., daily), scans your list for impending deadlines, and sends an email or Teams message.

Set up a scheduled trigger

Go to Power Automate, click 'Create', and select 'Scheduled cloud flow'. Name your flow, set it to run daily, and click 'Create'.

Retrieve items from Microsoft Lists

Add a new action and search for 'Get items' (SharePoint). Select your Site Address and the specific List Name containing your tasks.

Filter based on the deadline

Add a 'Condition' action. Compare your List's deadline column (e.g., Due Date) to your target date (using the 'formatDateTime' expression to match the current date or an upcoming date).

Configure the notification

In the 'If yes' branch, add the 'Send an email (V2)' action. Click the 'To' field and select 'Add dynamic content', then choose the Email property from your List's Person column. Customize the subject and body to include task details.

Prevent duplicate reminders

Add a 'Yes/No' column named 'Reminder Sent' to your Microsoft List. At the end of your flow's 'If yes' branch, add an 'Update item' action to change this column to 'Yes'. Update your initial 'Get items' filter query to exclude items where this column is already 'Yes'.

Create a Scheduled Cloud Flow in Power Automate

Alternative Notifications: You can replace the email action with 'Post message in a chat or channel' to send the reminder directly to the assignee in Microsoft Teams.

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Track Tasks and Deadlines Efficiently with WPS Office

If setting up complex workflows in Power Automate feels overwhelming, WPS Office provides a free, lightweight alternative. You can manage tasks, assignees, and deadlines effortlessly using WPS Spreadsheet, utilizing built-in templates and intuitive conditional formatting to track upcoming due dates without requiring automated programming.

1. Open WPS Spreadsheet: Launch WPS Office and click on 'Spreadsheet' to start a new document or open an existing tracker.
2. Select a Tracker Template: Navigate to the Template library and search for 'Task Tracker' to find pre-formatted sheets with deadline columns.
3. Apply Conditional Formatting: Highlight your deadline column, click 'Conditional Formatting', and set a rule to highlight dates occurring in the next 7 days in red.

100% compatible with Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) formatsFree built-in project tracker and task management templatesLightweight application that runs smoothly on Windows, Mac, and mobileFamiliar user interface with zero learning curve

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I send reminders directly from Microsoft Lists without Power Automate?

You can use the native 'Remind me' feature in Microsoft Lists to set a personal alert for yourself based on a date column. However, to automatically notify other users assigned to a task, you must use Power Automate.

How do I stop my workflow from sending duplicate emails every day?

To prevent spam, add a Yes/No column (like 'Notification Sent') to your list. Update your Power Automate flow to set this column to 'Yes' after an email is sent. Then, configure your 'Get items' OData filter query to only retrieve items where 'Notification Sent' is equal to 'No'.

Why is my Power Automate flow failing to read the Person column?

The Person column in SharePoint/Lists is a complex object. In Power Automate, you need to ensure you are selecting the 'Email' property specifically from the dynamic content list (e.g., 'AssignedTo Email') rather than just the column name, which returns a data array instead of a text email address.

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