How to create recurring tasks in Notion (2026)

Notion creates recurring tasks in two ways. A repeating database template adds a fresh task on a schedule, whatever you did with the last one. A complete-and-reset automation moves a task's due date forward when you finish it. Both are below, with screenshots, plus a workaround for the biggest limit: Notion cannot show a recurring task until it exists.

How to create recurring tasks with database templates

Database templates with a repeat schedule are the built-in way to set up recurring tasks in Notion. Notion introduced the feature in November 2022, and its help center lists no plan restriction for it.

You create a template once, set how often it repeats, and Notion adds a new task at each interval.

Step 1. Open your tasks database

Navigate to the database where you want recurring tasks. This can be any database with task-related properties like status, due date, or assignee.

Step 2. Create a new database template

Click the blue arrow next to New and select + New template.

Step 3. Set up the template properties

Name your template something descriptive (e.g., "Weekly review" or "Monthly report"). Add default values for any properties you want pre-filled: status, priority, assignee, tags. Click outside the template editor when finished.

Step 4. Set the repeat schedule

Back in the database, click the blue arrow next to New, hover over your new template, and click the three-dot menu (⋯).

Select Repeat.

Choose daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly, then the interval, start date, and time. Click Save.

For anything less regular, pick Custom. Notion's examples are every 3 days, Tuesday and Thursday every week, or every 2 months.

Step 5. Create a task from the template

Click the blue arrow next to New and select your template. Notion creates a task with all the pre-filled properties. From now on, Notion automatically creates a new task at each scheduled interval.

You can also create an empty task first, then assign the template to it from the template picker below the properties.

You can keep several templates with different schedules in one database: daily stand-ups, weekly reviews, monthly reports.

To stop a schedule, delete the template or switch Repeat off in the template options.

How to repeat a task after you complete it

A template creates tasks on a fixed schedule. If you only want the next one after you finish this one (water the plants, pay the invoice), reset the task itself with an automation. Thomas Frank's guide documents this pattern in depth.

Add three properties to the database: Due (Date), Status (Status) and Recur interval (Number, in days). Then:

1. Click the lightning bolt at the top right of the database and choose + New automation.
2. Set the trigger to Status is set to Complete.
3. Add an Edit property action: Status to Not started.
4. Add a second Edit property action: Due, using a custom formula Trigger page.Due.dateAdd(Trigger page.Recur interval, "days").
5. Click Save.

Finishing the task now pushes its due date forward by the interval and reopens it. Restrict the automation to a view filtered to tasks where Due is not empty and Recur interval is at least 1, so one-off tasks stay untouched.

The day-count formula breaks on monthly tasks, because a month is not 30 days. Notion's dateAdd() also accepts "months", "weeks" and "years" as units, so a monthly task can use "months" with an interval of 1.

Database automations need a paid Notion plan; Notion's pricing page shows the Free plan with buttons only. A button property with the formula This page.Due.dateAdd(This page.Recur interval, "days") does the same job on Free, but you click it instead of ticking the task.

Automations can also send the reminder. The Send notification to action notifies up to 20 workspace people, and the Notion automations help page lists an Every {frequency} trigger that runs on a schedule and works with every action except Edit property. See how to set reminders in Notion for the full setup.

What are the limitations of Notion recurring tasks?

• No future task preview. Notion creates each task on its scheduled date. Next week's recurring tasks do not exist in your database until then.
• One date only. Notion has no recurrence rule (RRULE) for tasks, so a repeating task appears on a calendar view at its next due date only.
• Template-based only. A task cannot repeat unless a template, or one of the automations above, drives it.
• No natural language input. Unlike Todoist, you cannot type "every Monday at 9am". You set the schedule in the template menu.
• Created By shows Notion automation. Pages made by a repeating template carry that label, so check any view or filter that relies on Created By.
• No daily nesting. You cannot nest a template inside a template that recurs daily, and nesting stops at three levels.

The missing preview hurts planning most. A calendar view or weekly schedule template will not show a recurring task before its creation date.

How to see recurring tasks on your calendar

Syncing a Notion database to Google Calendar shows tasks only after Notion has created them, so it does not fix the preview gap on its own. For a real forward view, keep the recurrence where it is native: a repeating Google Calendar event, or a recurring task in Todoist or Microsoft To Do.

2sync connects Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, Todoist, Google Tasks, Microsoft To Do and more with Notion, so those items land in your Notion database and stay in step. Start with the Google Calendar integration, or read the Google Calendar setup guide.

For tasks that start in Notion, the same sync pushes each new recurring task to your calendar the moment Notion creates it. Map the due date, status, and assignee fields. Completing a task in either app updates the other.

FAQ

Related guides

• How to set reminders in Notion: Add time-based alerts to any task or page.
• Best Notion to-do list templates: Ready-made databases for task management.
• How to create sub-tasks in Notion: Break recurring tasks into smaller steps.
• Todoist recurring tasks: Compare Notion's approach with Todoist's natural language recurrence.
• Notion vs. Todoist: Which task manager fits your workflow.
• How to sync Notion with Google Calendar: Full setup guide for two-way calendar sync.
• How to use Notion Calendar: See database dates next to your Google Calendar events.
• Best Notion calendar templates: Calendar layouts for planning and scheduling.
• Best project management templates for Notion: Manage projects with tasks, timelines, and workflows.
• Best free Notion templates: The complete roundup of free templates.