How to add birthdays to iPhone Calendar

One way is to create an event in Calendar on the person's birthday, set Repeat to Every Year and add an alert. The other way is to save the birthday on the person's card in Contacts, which feeds the Birthdays calendar. Both are below, followed by a simpler option if all you want is a list with the days left.

Option 1: a yearly repeating event with an alert

Use this when you want a birthday as its own event, with a reminder you pick.

1. Open the Calendar app and tap the plus button in Day view.
2. Enter a title, such as "Maria's birthday".
3. Set the date to the person's next birthday.
4. Tap Repeat and choose Every Year. This is what makes it come back each year (the option is described in an Apple Community answer; Apple's "Create and edit events" page doesn't mention Repeat).
5. Tap Alert and choose when to be reminded.
6. Save the event.

Apple's iPhone guide says you can also add an alert later: tap the event, tap Edit, tap Alert and choose when you want to be reminded. Its examples are "At time of event" and "5 minutes before", and it lists other choices too.

Option 2: the birthday field in Contacts

This is how iPhone builds its own Birthdays calendar. You don't create calendar events by hand.

1. Open the Contacts app and tap the contact.
2. Tap Edit.
3. Add the birthday in the contact's details. Apple lists adding a birthday among the things you can do when you edit a contact.
4. Save your changes.

Then check that the calendar is switched on. In Calendar, tap the calendars button and tap Birthdays to include birthdays from Contacts with your events.

To control the alert for these birthdays, open Settings, tap Apps, then Calendar, then Default Alert Times, and tap Birthdays. The choice you make there applies to birthdays as a type, not to one person.

Which one should you use?

If you already keep birthdays in Contacts, option 2 is the less work. If you want a different alert for one person, or the person isn't in your contacts, option 1 fits better.

A simpler list with a countdown

Both options above put the birthday in a calendar. If what you really want is to see how many days are left for each person, a countdown list is easier to scan than a calendar grid.

Birthday Countdown keeps your birthdays in one list with the days left on each one, and the next birthday sits at the top. It doesn't import from Contacts or from the iPhone calendar, so you add each birthday yourself. Your birthdays stay on your iPhone and there's no account. You can save up to 5 active birthdays for free; unlimited birthdays are part of Premium.

To add one:

1. Open the Birthdays tab and tap the plus button at the top right.
2. On the New Birthday screen, type a first name (required) and optionally a last name.
3. Under Birthday, pick the month and day. The app saves only the day and month, so it doesn't show ages.
4. Tap Reminders to set when you're reminded. A new birthday starts with one reminder on the day at 10:00. To add another, tap the plus button on the reminders screen, choose "On the day", "1 day before", "3 days before", "1 week before" or "Custom", set the time and tap Save Notification.
5. Optionally add groups and a note, then tap Save Birthday.

The first time you save a birthday with reminders, iOS asks for permission to send notifications. If you decline, the app can't remind you. The Calendar tab shows all your birthdays on a monthly grid, and tapping a day lists who has a birthday on it.

For a longer walkthrough of counting down by hand, see How many days until my birthday. To see what is worth saving for each person, read the birthday tracker guide, and to keep the next birthday on your Home Screen, the countdown widget guide. More about the app is on the Birthday Countdown page.