Free Deadline Reminders for Google Sheets

Expiration date reminders from Google Sheets (free email alerts)

Certifications, licenses, insurance policies, contracts, domain names, passports, software subscriptions: things that expire are usually tracked in a spreadsheet, and usually noticed a week too late. This guide sets up a Google Sheet that emails the right person a set number of days before each expiration date, every morning, automatically. It’s free and needs no add-on.

It uses Sheets Deadline Reminders, a free, MIT-licensed Apps Script.

Step 1: Set up the tracker

One row per item that expires. Two column names matter: Email (who gets the reminder) and Due Date (the expiration date, formatted as a date). Everything else is up to you:

Item	Owner	Email	Due Date	Done
Forklift certification	Ana	ana@example.com	12/01/2026	☐
Liability insurance	Office	office@example.com	01/15/2027	☐
example.com domain	IT	it@example.com	03/09/2027	☐

To send yourself every reminder instead of each owner, put your own address in every Email cell.

Step 2: Choose how early to be warned

Expirations usually need more notice than task deadlines. Open the script (Step 3) and change the line at the top:

const DAYS_BEFORE = 30;

Each row is then reminded once, when it’s 30 days or less from expiring. Use 60 or 90 for things with long renewal processes.

Step 3: Add the script

Extensions → Apps Script, delete the placeholder code, paste in Code.gs, and set DAYS_BEFORE as above. Save.
Reload the sheet. A 📅 Reminders menu appears.

Step 4: Write the reminder email

In Gmail, write a draft. Any column can go in the message:

Subject: {{Item}} expires on {{Due Date}}

Hi {{Owner}}, {{Item}} expires on {{Due Date}}. Please renew it and tick “Done” in the tracker.

Step 5: Turn it on

📅 Reminders → Turn On Daily Reminders, then type the draft’s subject. Approve the permission prompt the first time (“Google hasn’t verified this app” → Advanced → Go to (your project name) → Allow; it’s your own script).

Anything already inside the window is emailed right away. After that, the sheet checks itself every morning.

When something is renewed

You have two options:

Enter the new expiration date. The row is reminded again when the new date comes into range, so yearly renewals keep working with no extra setup.
Tick a checkbox. Name a column Done (or Paid or Completed) and insert checkboxes with Insert → Checkbox. Ticked rows are never reminded.

FAQ

Does my computer need to be on? No. The daily check runs on Google’s servers.

Can I get one reminder 30 days out and another 7 days out? Not automatically: it sends one reminder per expiration date. For a last-minute nudge, clear that row’s Reminder Status cell when you want it, and the next morning’s run sends it again.

Is it free? Yes. Gmail allows scripts about 100 recipients a day on a personal account and 1,500 on Google Workspace, which is plenty for a tracker.

Get the script on GitHub · General guide: automatic email reminders from Google Sheets

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