NextUp Alert FAQ

NextUp Alert is a Windows 11 and Windows 10 desktop application that provides reliable calendar reminders and meeting alerts for your Google Calendar events and Microsoft Outlook calendars. Unlike browser-based notifications, it runs natively on Windows, giving you multiple customisable alerts, alarms, voice announcements, taskbar countdowns and instant meeting access via keyboard shortcuts.

It offers several things native Google Calendar notifications do not:

• Multiple alerts per event: up to 5 notifications before events start and 5 before they end
• Visual taskbar countdown: see the time remaining directly in the taskbar icon
• Alarm sounds: gradual volume increase until dismissed, not just a quick pop-up
• Keyboard shortcuts: press Ctrl+Alt+M to instantly join your next meeting
• Voice announcements: spoken reminders such as “Event starts in 5 minutes”
• Persistent notifications: they do not disappear until you dismiss them

Yes. It is fully optimised for Windows 11 ARM64 devices such as the Surface Pro X and Copilot+ PCs, as well as traditional x64 Windows 10 and 11 computers. It is one of the few calendar reminder apps built specifically for ARM architecture.

It sits quietly in the background between reminders, and it does not need a browser window or Outlook to be open to do its job. It is a desktop app that starts with Windows and stays in the system tray.

Reminders are worked out on your machine from your calendar. If you turn on the optional AI features, the relevant event details are sent to the AI provider to produce the summary or the spoken audio. Crash and performance logs are also uploaded for diagnostics, after best-effort redaction on your device. The privacy policy sets out exactly what is sent, to whom and for how long, and the compliance page lists every sub-processor.

Yes. It integrates directly with Google Calendar, syncs your events every 5 minutes and supports all your Google calendars, including shared ones.

Yes. You can enable or disable specific calendars from your Google account — for example showing only your work calendar while hiding personal or subscribed ones.

Yes. It integrates directly with Microsoft and Outlook calendars, syncs every 5 minutes and supports shared calendars. Outlook does not need to be open — NextUp Alert works independently of it.

NextUp Alert monitors connectivity and automatically re-syncs your events when the connection is restored. Events that have already been downloaded continue to trigger reminders while you are offline.

Up to 5 notifications before an event starts, from 10 seconds to 3 hours ahead, and 5 notifications before an event ends, from 10 seconds to 30 minutes before. Each one can use a different alert type.

Five types, which you can combine:

• Alarm sounds: notification sounds that gradually increase in volume
• Voice announcements: spoken reminders such as “Event starts in 10 minutes” or “Event ends in 5 minutes”
• Notification alerts: simple sound notifications
• Popup alerts: a popup that shows above all other windows
• Taskbar visual cues: the taskbar icon changes colour to indicate urgency and displays the time remaining

Yes. You can choose from a list of built-in alarm sounds and several voice announcements. Each of your 5 start timers and 5 end timers can use a different sound, and volume is adjustable from 0 to 100%.

Yes. With alarm sounds, NextUp Alert keeps playing at maximum volume — after a gradual increase — until you dismiss the notification or the meeting time arrives.

Yes. You can configure up to 5 voice announcements before a meeting ends, which helps you wrap up conversations on time and be ready for the next one.

Yes. It automatically detects video meeting links in your calendar events for Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom and other platforms, displays them prominently and lets you join with one click or a keyboard shortcut.

Press Ctrl+Alt+M to instantly open the video link for your current or next meeting. It is useful when:

• Your previous meeting ends early and you want to join the next one immediately
• You need to rejoin quickly after a connection problem
• You want to join without clicking through the app

Yes. Hover over the NextUp Alert icon in your taskbar to see previews of upcoming meetings, with quick action buttons to join video calls directly.

Yes. The taskbar icon displays a live countdown and uses colour coding:

• Green: normal countdown — you have time
• Yellow: the event is starting soon
• Red: the event is starting now, or ending soon

This lets you glance at the taskbar to see the time remaining without opening the app.

Yes. The in-meeting countdown shows the time remaining during your current event, and can be enabled or disabled in settings.

When NextUp Alert detects overlapping meetings it disables the in-meeting countdown, to avoid confusion about which meeting the countdown refers to. You can dismiss the unwanted meeting, or disable in-meeting countdowns so it counts down to the next meeting instead.

Yes. The filtering system has two actions:

• Filter out: hide events from your list completely
• Mute: keep events visible but suppress sounds and countdowns

You can filter on event title keywords, organiser names, event status (declined or tentative), all-day events, events without video calls, and past events.

Create a filter for “Event declined” and set the action to “Filter out” or “Mute”. That hides or silences all declined events without changing anything in your Google Calendar.

Yes. Use the “Dismiss meeting” button on any event to stop reminders for that event only. This is useful for a recurring meeting you occasionally cannot attend.

Yes. The “Mute all sounds” toggle silences notifications without disabling the countdown displays. It does not persist after a restart, so sounds resume the next time you open NextUp Alert.

Check these in order:

• NextUp Alert is running — look for the icon in the system tray
• Your Google or Microsoft account is successfully linked
• The event has reminders configured in your calendar settings
• Event filters are not hiding or muting the event
• Windows Focus Assist is not blocking notifications

Yes — that is a common complaint about browser-based notifications. NextUp Alert addresses it by using native Windows notifications that stay until dismissed, alarm sounds that repeat until acknowledged, a persistent taskbar countdown, and alert timing that is not limited to Google Calendar’s options.

Yes. It can start automatically when Windows boots, and minimises to the system tray so it is ready without cluttering your desktop.

Yes. NextUp Alert detects when your system wakes from sleep or hibernation, then refreshes your calendar events and restarts the timers, so you do not miss notifications after the machine has been asleep.

It is built for people whose day is mostly meetings:

• Multiple alerts — 10-minute, 5-minute and 1-minute warnings
• End-of-meeting reminders so you wrap up and are not late for the next one
• Keyboard shortcuts to jump straight into the next video call
• Overlap detection for simultaneous meetings
• Taskbar integration, so you always know what is next without opening an app
• Lightweight enough to run all day without slowing the machine down

Yes. You can choose between 12-hour (AM/PM) and 24-hour formats in settings.

Yes. Click any event to see the full description, the organiser’s name and email, the location, the attendee list, and any meeting links.

The app has in-app options to rate it in the Microsoft Store and submit feedback. You can also join the r/NextUpAlert community on Reddit, which is where feature requests are discussed, or support development via Ko-fi.

The Windows Calendar app is good for viewing events. NextUp Alert adds the parts it does not do:

• Multiple customisable alerts per event, rather than limited notification options
• Alarm sounds with gradual volume increase, rather than a basic notification
• Voice announcements, which Windows Calendar does not have
• A taskbar countdown timer — Windows Calendar does not show time remaining
• Keyboard shortcuts for instant meeting access
• Advanced filtering rather than basic filtering
• End-of-meeting reminders — Windows Calendar only alerts at start times