Tired of chasing people to fill out your forms? Or maybe you want to remind yourself (or your team) when a form hasn’t been submitted yet? If you use Jotform, you’ve probably noticed it makes forms easy, but reminders aren’t always obvious. This guide is for you if you want forms off your plate—without nagging people manually.
Why set up reminders in Jotform anyway?
Forms are only useful if people actually fill them out. Maybe you:
- Need employees to submit timesheets weekly
- Want clients to complete onboarding forms
- Collect RSVPs or registrations for an event
But people forget. Or ignore your first email. Automated reminders cut down on “Sorry, I missed this!” and make your life easier.
Let’s be clear: Jotform does have built-in reminder features, but they’re not perfect or all-powerful. Some things require workarounds, and there are limits. I’ll call those out as we go.
Step 1: Figure out what kind of reminder you actually need
Before you build anything, nail down when and who you want to remind. There are two main scenarios:
- Remind people to fill out a form (they haven’t started yet)
- Remind people after they submit a form (to follow up, or send info)
Jotform’s built-in “Form Reminder Emails” work great for the first case: nudging people to start the form. But if you want to chase people who haven’t submitted yet, or send repeating reminders, you’ll need to think ahead.
Pro tip: Jotform doesn’t natively remind people who haven’t submitted a form after they’ve started but abandoned it. For that, you need to enable “Save and Continue Later” and send reminders to those partial responders—but it’s not as seamless as it sounds.
Step 2: Use Jotform’s built-in reminder emails (for non-responders)
The easiest way to get started is using Jotform’s own reminder tool. This sends emails on a schedule to a list of addresses, prompting people to fill out your form.
How to set it up:
- Open your form in Jotform.
- Click “Publish” in the top menu.
- On the left, click “Email.”
- Choose “Schedule a Reminder Email.”
- Click “+ Add Reminder.”
- Set up:
- Recipients: Add the email addresses you want to remind.
- Frequency: Daily, weekly, or custom schedule.
- Time: Pick when the reminder is sent.
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Message: Edit the default message if you want.
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Save.
That’s it. Jotform will now email your list on the schedule you picked, with a link to fill out the form.
What works:
- Dead simple for short lists or one-off forms.
- Good for reminding people to start a form.
What doesn’t:
- You have to manually enter all the emails. No automatic list pulling.
- Doesn’t track if someone already submitted—everyone on the list gets the reminder, even if they finished.
- No advanced logic (e.g., “remind only those who didn’t submit”).
Bottom line: For small groups or one-time reminders, this works. For bigger projects, you’ll want something smarter.
Step 3: Setting up submission-dependent reminders (after someone submits)
Want to send reminders after someone submits a form? Maybe you want to remind them to take the next step, or follow up in a week. Here’s how you can do it.
Jotform’s built-in autoresponder emails can go out instantly after submission, but not on a delay. For delayed or scheduled follow-ups, you’ll need to get creative.
Option A: Use Jotform’s “Autoresponder” (for instant follow-ups)
- In your form builder, click “Settings.”
- Click “Emails.”
- “+ Add an Email” → Choose “Autoresponder.”
- Edit the email content, recipients, and save.
This sends an immediate email after submission. Good for receipts, instructions, etc. But not for reminders days later.
Option B: Use integrations (Zapier, Make, or similar) for delayed reminders
If you want to send a reminder 3 days after submission, or only if someone hasn’t taken another action, you’ll need an integration platform.
How to do it with Zapier:
- Set up your Jotform form. Make sure it collects email addresses.
- Create a Zapier account (if you don’t already have one).
- Make a new Zap:
- Trigger: “New Submission” in Jotform.
- Action: “Delay” (choose how long to wait).
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Action: “Send Email” (use built-in Zapier email, Gmail, or your own mail service).
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You can add filters, e.g., only send if certain criteria are met.
Downsides:
- Zapier (and similar tools) cost money if you want more than a handful of automations.
- You’re sending the follow-up regardless of what the person does next (unless you build more complex automations).
When to use: If you absolutely need a reminder X days after submission, this is the most reliable way.
Step 4: Reminder emails for incomplete (partially filled) forms
Jotform does have a “Save and Continue Later” feature. When someone starts a form and clicks “Save,” they enter their email and get a link to continue. But what if they never finish? You can manually remind them, but it’s not automatic.
What you can do:
- Enable “Save and Continue Later” in your form’s settings.
- Check the “Incomplete Submissions” in your Jotform dashboard.
- Manually email those users a reminder (yes, it’s manual).
Jotform does not auto-remind people who abandon a form. There’s no built-in way to chase incomplete forms without custom code or a third-party integration.
Workarounds: If you’re technical and the volume justifies it, you could export incomplete submissions and trigger reminders via Mailchimp or another email tool. For most people, it’s not worth the headache.
Step 5: Reminding yourself or your team about submissions
Want to get pinged when a new form comes in? Or maybe get a daily digest? Jotform can send instant notifications, but scheduled or summary reminders need a workaround.
Instant notifications (built-in):
- Under “Settings” → “Emails,” set up a “Notification Email.”
- Add your email (or your team’s).
- You’ll get an email every time someone submits the form.
Digest or scheduled reminders:
- Jotform doesn’t do digests or scheduled reminders natively.
- You can use Zapier to collect submissions and send you a daily or weekly summary.
Tip: Don’t overthink it. If you just need to check for submissions, set up a recurring calendar reminder to look at your Jotform inbox. Sometimes, manual is good enough.
Step 6: Advanced: Remind only people who haven’t submitted yet
Here’s where things get messy. Jotform doesn’t track “who was supposed to submit” unless you already have a list of intended respondents. If you do, here’s a rough approach:
- Keep a list of expected respondents (e.g., employees, clients).
- After your deadline, export the list of actual submissions from Jotform.
- Compare lists (Excel, Google Sheets, whatever).
- Email the non-responders using your email tool of choice.
Automation? With Zapier or Make, you could try to automate some of this, but it gets complicated fast. For most small teams, a spreadsheet and a mail-merge does the job.
What to ignore: Don’t waste time building a Rube Goldberg machine to chase ten people. For big groups, consider a tool built for assignments and tracking (like Google Forms with Classroom, or workflow tools).
Things to watch out for
- Emails land in spam: Jotform’s reminders sometimes end up in junk folders. Remind your users to check spam, or use your own mail server if deliverability matters.
- Reminders can be annoying: Set clear expectations. Too many emails = more ignoring.
- Privacy concerns: If you’re sending reminders with personal info, make sure you’re respecting privacy rules.
Recap: Keep it simple
Automated reminders in Jotform aren’t magic, but with a little setup, they do save you a ton of follow-up hassle. Use Jotform’s built-in reminder emails for simple cases. For anything fancier—like delayed follow-ups or chasing non-responders—expect to pull in Zapier or a spreadsheet.
Don’t overengineer. Start basic, see what actually helps, and only get fancy if you really need to. Most people just need a nudge, not a full-blown automation robot.