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Adding Birthdays to Your iPhone Calendar: A Comprehensive Guide

So, you want to be the friend who never forgets a birthday? Excellent choice! Adding birthdays to your iPhone calendar is surprisingly easy, and I’m here to walk you through it. Let’s dive into the nitty-gritty.

How do you add birthdays to your iPhone calendar?

There are primarily three methods to populate your iPhone calendar with birthdays: through your Contacts app, directly within the Calendar app, or by syncing a Facebook account. Let’s break each of these down:

1. Adding Birthdays via Contacts:

This is arguably the most efficient and recommended approach. The birthday information is tied directly to the contact card, ensuring accuracy and easy updating.

Open the Contacts App: Find the Contacts app icon on your iPhone’s home screen (it usually looks like a person’s silhouette).
Select the Contact: Locate the person whose birthday you want to add. You can scroll through your contacts or use the search bar at the top.
Tap “Edit”: Once you’ve found the contact, tap the “Edit” button in the upper right corner.
Scroll Down and Tap “Add Birthday”: Scroll down through the contact’s details until you see the option “Add Birthday.” Tap it.
Enter the Birthday: A calendar interface will appear. Use the calendar wheel or the date entry field to select the correct month, day, and year of the person’s birth.
Tap “Done”: Once you’ve entered the birthday, tap the “Done” button in the upper right corner.
Tap “Done” Again: Finally, tap “Done” again to save the changes to the contact.

Now, the birthday should automatically appear in your Calendar app on the correct date each year. Your iPhone is smart enough to remember it going forward.

2. Adding Birthdays Directly to the Calendar App:

While less common, you can manually add a birthday directly into your calendar as an event. This might be useful if you don’t have the person in your contacts or prefer to manage birthdays separately.

Open the Calendar App: Find the Calendar app icon on your iPhone’s home screen (it usually looks like a calendar page).
Select the Date: Navigate to the date of the birthday you want to add.
Tap the “+” Button: Tap the “+” button in the upper right corner to create a new event.
Enter the Event Details: Give the event a title (e.g., “John’s Birthday”).
Toggle “All-day” to On: Make sure the “All-day” toggle is switched ON. Birthdays, generally, are celebrated all day.
Tap “Repeat”: Tap the “Repeat” option and select “Every Year” to ensure the birthday reappears automatically each year.
(Optional) Set a Reminder: If you want to be reminded in advance, set a reminder under the “Alert” option.
Tap “Add”: Tap “Add” in the upper right corner to save the event.

3. Syncing Birthdays from Facebook:

If you have a Facebook account and it’s connected to your iPhone, you can import birthdays directly from Facebook into your calendar. Be aware that this method imports all birthdays from Facebook, and you may not want everyone’s birthday cluttering your calendar.

Open Settings App: Tap on the Settings app.
Scroll Down and Tap “Calendar”: Find the Calendar section and tap on it.
Tap “Accounts”: Select “Accounts“.
Add Account: Choose “Add Account“.
Choose Facebook: From the list, select “Facebook“.
Login to Facebook: Enter your Facebook credentials.
Enable Calendars: Make sure the “Calendars” toggle is switched ON.
Save: The birthdays from your Facebook friends should now appear in your iPhone calendar.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here are some common questions and scenarios you might encounter while managing birthdays on your iPhone:

1. How do I display birthdays in my Calendar?

Even if you’ve added birthdays, they might not be visible. To ensure they are showing:

Open the Calendar App.
Tap “Calendars” at the Bottom.
Make Sure “Birthdays” is Checked: Ensure the box next to “Birthdays” is checked. If it’s not checked, tap it to enable the birthday calendar. This will show birthdays from your Contacts.

2. Can I change the reminder time for all birthdays at once?

Unfortunately, iOS doesn’t offer a global setting to change the reminder time for all birthdays simultaneously. You’ll need to adjust the reminder individually for each birthday event, either through the contact’s profile or directly in the Calendar. A third-party app might offer this feature.

3. How do I remove a birthday from my iPhone calendar?

The method depends on how the birthday was added.

If added via Contacts: Open the Contacts app, find the contact, tap “Edit,” scroll down to the birthday, and tap the red minus sign to the left of the birthday. Then, tap “Delete Birthday” and “Done.”
If added directly to the Calendar: Open the Calendar app, tap the birthday event, tap “Edit” in the upper right corner, scroll to the bottom, and tap “Delete Event.”
If synced from Facebook: Disable the Facebook calendar sync as described above.

4. Why aren’t my Facebook birthdays showing up?

Several reasons could be at play.

Calendar Sync Disabled: Double-check that you have enabled the “Calendars” toggle in the Facebook account settings within your iPhone’s Settings app.
Facebook App Permissions: Ensure the Facebook app has permission to access your calendar. Go to Settings > Privacy > Calendars and make sure the Facebook toggle is ON.
Outdated Facebook App: Make sure you have the latest version of the Facebook app installed. Update it through the App Store.

5. Can I customize the color of the birthday calendar?

Yes, you can.

Open the Calendar App.
Tap “Calendars” at the Bottom.
Tap the “i” Icon Next to “Birthdays”: This will open the calendar settings.
Choose a Color: Select a different color from the provided options.

6. How do I get my birthdate not to show up in the calendar?

If you added your own birthdate and want to remove it, follow the instructions for removing a birthday from the Contacts app (since your own contact card contains this information).

7. My iPhone Calendar shows the wrong birthday date. How do I fix it?

This usually stems from incorrect information in the Contacts app. Simply correct the date in the contact’s profile, and it will automatically update in the calendar.

8. Can I add a birthday without a year?

Unfortunately, the iPhone Calendar app requires you to enter the year when adding a birthday. If you don’t know the year, you can enter an estimated year, but it’s not possible to omit the year entirely. You could also enter a placeholder year, like 1900, and remember the age yourself.

9. Will birthdays disappear if I delete a contact?

Yes. Deleting a contact will also remove their birthday from your calendar if the birthday was linked to that contact.

10. How do I see a list of all the birthdays in my calendar?

There isn’t a built-in feature in the iOS Calendar app to view a comprehensive list of all birthdays. You’ll need to scroll through the calendar month by month or year by year. Third-party calendar apps often offer this functionality.

11. Are there any third-party apps that are better for managing birthdays?

Yes, many apps specialize in birthday reminders and management. Some popular options include:

Birthday Calendar: A dedicated app for tracking birthdays and anniversaries.
Any.do: A task management app that integrates with your calendar and can remind you of upcoming birthdays.
TimeTree: A shared calendar app, great for families to keep track of everyone’s birthdays.

These apps often offer advanced features like importing birthdays from multiple sources, customizable reminders, and gift ideas.

12. How do I print a list of birthdays from my iPhone?

The iPhone Calendar app doesn’t have a print function. You would need to use a third-party app or export your calendar to a computer and print from there. Exporting your calendar data can often be done through iCloud settings and then importing into a calendar application on your computer.