Birthdays & anniversaries

Make a birthday countdown you can use every year

Use Special Occasions in Countdown to repeat birthdays yearly and track age. Enter a birth year or current age alongside the next birthday countdown.

Use Special Occasions in the iPhone app to set up a birthday that repeats automatically every year. Add the person's birth year or current age, and Countdown tracks their age alongside the time remaining until their next birthday.

Set up a birthday with Special Occasions

1. Open Countdown on your iPhone and create a new countdown.
2. Enter a name, such as “Alex's birthday,” and choose their next birthday date.
3. Under Special Occasions, select Birthday. This automatically sets the countdown to repeat yearly.
4. In Birth year or current age, enter either the year they were born or how old they are now. Use their current age, not the age they will turn on their next birthday.
5. Choose an emoji and color, then save your countdown.

Track the next birthday and their age

With a birth year or current age entered, your countdown keeps track of both the time until the next birthday and the person's age. The yearly repeat keeps the birthday countdown going, so you do not need to create it again each year. If you do not know their birth year or age, leave that field blank and still count down to their birthday.

Keep the birthday and the party separate

If the celebration is on a different day, create a separate countdown for the party. Keep the birthday itself as a Birthday special occasion so its yearly date and age tracking stay tied to the person's birthday.

For a February 29 birthday, check the next occurrence and choose how you want to celebrate in years without a leap day. A yearly date setting should reflect your preference rather than a guessed celebration date.

Give yourself time to prepare

The app can remind you when the date arrives and ahead of it. Choose an advance reminder when you need time for a gift or a call. Review the reminder options in the app; custom reminder settings are part of Premium.

Keep it on your screen

With Premium, add a Home Screen or Lock Screen widget so the birthday stays visible. Follow the widget setup guide. If you track several birthdays, use tags to keep them together in your list.

Share only what you mean to share

You can share an event with friends or family through the app. A shared birthday is different from a public holiday in the event directory: your personal countdown is not listed there.

Without an iPhone, you can create a birthday in the web app. Its data stays on that browser and device; it does not automatically become an iCloud countdown.