How to Schedule WhatsApp Appointment Reminders for Your Clients

Q: Can I send the same reminder to several clients?

Yes, up to four people per reminder. Click Add another recipient (the plus icon) next to the To field. Each person gets the message in their own chat, not in a group. This works for a parent and child, or for a couple who come together. For different clients at different times, schedule one reminder each and use Save and Schedule another message.

Q: Can I edit or cancel a reminder?

Yes. In Reminders, open the reminder's menu and choose Edit or Delete. Changes are possible until the message has been sent. Sessions of a recurring series work a little differently: see the recurring reminders guide.

To schedule a WhatsApp appointment reminder in WA Reminders, open Schedule, pick the client from your contacts, choose a template, enter the appointment time and choose when the message goes out, for example 1 day before. At that moment the reminder is sent from your own WhatsApp number, with nothing else for you to do.

You don't need a calendar, a booking system or any other software. The first setup takes about ten minutes. After that, each reminder takes less than a minute.

This guide walks through every step with the exact names you'll see on screen. If you're still comparing ways to send reminders, start with the overview of WhatsApp appointment reminders.

What you need before you start

You only do this part once:

A WA Reminders account. Plans start at 19 USD per month, and every plan has a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Your WhatsApp connected. Go to Settings and find the WhatsApp section. On your phone, open WhatsApp, go to Linked devices and tap Link a device. Then point the camera at the QR code on your screen, like you do with WhatsApp Web. From then on, reminders go out from your number, and when clients reply, the replies land in your normal WhatsApp.
The right timezone. It's also in Settings. Every time you enter in the app uses this timezone, so check it before you schedule anything.

Step 1: Save your clients as contacts

Open Contacts in the menu. To add one client, click Add contact and fill in First name, Last name and Phone number. To bring in everyone at once, click Import and choose one of these:

From a file: a CSV exported from your practice software or a spreadsheet.
From Google Contacts: the contacts saved in your Google account.
From your phone: open WA Reminders on your phone and pick contacts from your address book. There's a guide to adding clients from your phone's contacts.

If you skip this step, you can still save new clients while you schedule (see Step 3).

Step 2: Write your reminder once, as a template

Your reminder is usually the same for every client; only the day and time change. Save it once as a template.

Go to Templates, click Create Template, give it a Template name (for example "Appointment reminder") and write the Template message. Then click Save.

Use variables for the parts that change. WA Reminders fills them in when the message is sent:

{{DD}}: the day of the week, for example Monday.
{{MM/DD}} or {{DD/MM/YYYY}}: the date of the appointment.
{{HH}}: the time, for example 3:00PM. Use {{hh}} for 24-hour time (15:00).
{{event_title}}: whatever you write in the Message Title when you schedule.

There's no variable for the client's name. The simple workaround is to write the client's first name in the Message Title and start the template with {{event_title}}:

Hi {{event_title}}, this is Laura from Bright Smile Dental.
Just a reminder of your appointment on {{DD}} {{MM/DD}} at {{HH}}.
If you can't make it, reply here and we'll find another time.

That last line matters most. A reminder that invites a reply tells you early who isn't coming, so you can give the slot to someone else. For more ready-to-copy texts, see these WhatsApp appointment reminder templates, and the full list of variables is in the variables guide.

Step 3: Schedule the reminder

Click Schedule in the menu. The page is called Schedule a message, and you fill it in from top to bottom:

Message Title. Write the client's first name, for example "Anna". It fills {{event_title}} in your template and helps you find the reminder in your list later.
Pick a template to send as a message. Choose the template you just saved. For a one-time text, choose Write Custom Message instead and type it in the One-off message box.
To. Click the contacts icon next to the field (its tooltip says Pick from contacts) and choose the client in Pick a contact. Or type the number with the country code. If that number isn't saved yet, an Add as new contact icon appears, so you can save the client without leaving the form.
Time of event. Enter the date and time of the appointment, not the time you want the message to go out. Your timezone is shown right under the field.
Send the message. Choose how long before the appointment the reminder goes out: anything from At the time of the event to 7 days before the time of the event. For most appointments, 1 day before the time of the event works best: the client has time to rearrange their day or to tell you they can't come.
Event Duration. Choose how long the appointment lasts.

You can leave the other fields as they are.

Step 4: Add a second reminder closer to the time (optional)

Some clients need a nudge on the day itself. Tick Send a Follow Up Message, then:

In Followup Offset, choose 1 hour before the time of the event (or 30 or 5 minutes before).
In the second Pick a template to send as a message box, choose the text for this second message. A short one works well: "See you in an hour, Anna!"

A follow-up sent before the appointment has to go out later than the first reminder. With a reminder 1 day before, you can pick 1 hour, 30 minutes or 5 minutes before. Followup Offset also has options after the appointment, from 5 minutes after to 2 hours after, which work for a thank-you note or a review request.

Choose Send the message first, then tick the follow-up box. Changing Send the message unticks the follow-up.

Step 5: Save, or save and schedule the next one

You have two buttons at the bottom:

Save schedules the reminder and takes you back to your list of reminders.
Save and Schedule another message schedules it and opens an empty form for the next client. Your template and Send the message choice are already selected, so you only change the client and the time.

With several appointments to cover, the second button saves a lot of clicks. Here's how to send all of tomorrow's appointment reminders in five minutes.

See, edit or cancel your scheduled reminders

Click Reminders in the menu to see everything you've scheduled. Switch between Week and Day, or type a name or number in Search events.

Each reminder has a menu with three options:

Preview shows the message with the variables already filled in. Use it to check the date and time read the way you expect.
Edit opens the same form, so you can change the client, the time or the message.
Delete cancels the reminder. As the confirmation says, the recipients won't receive any message.

You can edit or delete a reminder until it has been sent. If a message couldn't go out, for example because your WhatsApp was disconnected, the menu also shows Retry Sending.

Clients who come every week

For weekly therapy sessions, classes or a course of physio sessions, you don't need to schedule each reminder by hand. Tick Repeatable Event and every session gets its reminder. Here's how recurring appointment reminders on WhatsApp work.

Other ways to send reminders

Scheduling reminders yourself is what most WA Reminders customers do. Two alternatives, if they suit you better:

Clients book themselves. Share your WhatsApp booking page. Clients pick a slot, and their confirmation and reminder are scheduled automatically.
Your agenda is already in a calendar app. WA Reminders can also send a reminder for each event in your calendar: see WhatsApp reminders from Google Calendar.

Frequently asked questions

Can I send the same reminder to several clients?

Yes, up to four people per reminder. Click Add another recipient (the plus icon) next to the To field. Each person gets the message in their own chat, not in a group. This works for a parent and child, or for a couple who come together. For different clients at different times, schedule one reminder each and use Save and Schedule another message.

Can I edit or cancel a reminder?

Yes. In Reminders, open the reminder's menu and choose Edit or Delete. Changes are possible until the message has been sent. Sessions of a recurring series work a little differently: see the recurring reminders guide.

Do my clients need to install anything?

No. They get a normal WhatsApp message in their usual chat with you. They don't need an app, an account or a link.

Does the reminder come from my own number?

Yes. WA Reminders sends from the WhatsApp number you connected with the QR code. You don't need a new number or the WhatsApp Business API, and replies come back to your own WhatsApp.

Start scheduling your reminders

Connect your WhatsApp, save your template and schedule your first reminder today. Create your WA Reminders account. Every plan comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee.