Trello guide
Marta Kowalczyk writes about design and creative apps for Appcyclopedia, working on a MacBook Air, an iPhone 16 Pro and a Galaxy A55.
- Web
- macOS
- Windows
- iOS
- Android
Short answer
Open the card and select Dates, or hover over the card and press D. Pick the due date and time, choose a reminder, and save. The date appears as a badge on the front of the card.
No reminder, no notification: Trello only notifies you about a due date if a reminder is set. Choose one in the same window.
Below: the steps, start dates, what the badge colours mean, and marking a card done.
How to set a due date on a Trello card
To add a due date to a Trello card, open the card’s Dates option. The first group sets the date and reminder, the second covers finishing the task.
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Set the date
Open the card and select Dates
Click the card to open it and select Dates. In a browser you can also hover over the card on the board and press D to open the same window without opening the card.
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Pick the due date and time
Choose the day in the calendar and type a time if the task has one. A card can have a due date, a due time and a start date.
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Add a start date if the work spans several days
Tick Start date and pick the day work begins. Start and due dates together show a task as a span, which also appears in the Calendar and Timeline views on plans that have them.
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Choose a reminder, then save
Pick a time from the reminder list, such as one day before. Choose None if you do not want one, but then Trello sends no notification. Save, and the date appears as a badge on the front of the card.
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Finish the task
Mark the card complete
When the task is done, hover over the card and click the check circle, or tick it on the back of the card. The date badge turns green so everyone can see it is finished.
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Change or remove the date
Open Dates again to move the date, or remove it from the same window. The badge updates straight away for everyone on the board.
A report due on Friday at 17:00: open the card, select Dates, set Friday and 17:00 as the due date, and set the reminder to one day before. On Thursday afternoon you get a notification, and the badge turns yellow so the whole team sees it is close.
Set the reminder every time you set a date: without it, the date sits on the card and Trello never tells you.
More about Trello
Boards, lists and cards for organising tasks, free for up to 10 collaborators.
If your Trello due date does not remind you
- You got no notification before the due date
The card had no reminder, or the reminder was None. Open Dates and choose a reminder time; Trello needs one to notify you.
- Someone else is not notified about the card
Due date notifications go to members of the card. Add the person to the card from Members so they get the reminder too.
- The badge is pink and the card is not late
Pink means the card has been overdue for more than a day. Mark it complete if it is done, or move the due date.
What the due date colours mean
The badge on the front of a card changes colour as the date gets closer, so you can read a whole board at a glance.
| Badge colour | Means |
|---|---|
| Light grey | Due in more than 24 hours |
| Yellow | Due within 24 hours |
| Red | Just became overdue, for the first 24 hours |
| Light pink | Overdue for more than 24 hours |
| Green | Marked complete |
Mark cards complete when they are done: a board full of red badges hides the one task that really is late.
Due date or start date: when you need both
A due date alone says when something must be finished. Add a start date when the work takes days, such as a report you will write over a week. The card then shows the span, and planning views lay it out across the days.
What to do after adding due dates
With dates and reminders set, Trello does the remembering. Mark cards complete as you finish them, so the colours always show what is left.
Open Dates, set the day and time, and choose a reminder. On a busy board, sorting cards by due date brings the next deadline to the top of each list.
Trello due dates: what to know
- What do the colours on a Trello due date mean?
- Grey means more than 24 hours away, yellow due within 24 hours, red just overdue, pink overdue for more than a day, and green complete.
- Can I add a due date on my phone?
- Yes. Open the card in the Trello app and set the dates from the card’s details. They appear on every device.
- Who gets notified about a due date?
- Members of the card, when a reminder is set. Add people to the card if they should be reminded.
- Can a card have only a start date?
- Yes. A card can have a start date, a due date, both, or neither.
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Test log
Followed the steps? Tell us how it went on your device. Entries appear here after we check them.
- Worked Every step, start to finish · Elias Brandt and Daniel Okonkwo Team
I tested this
Steps performed and confirmed 8 days ago
When you need this
If you want a Trello task to have a deadline, add a due date from the card’s Dates option and set a reminder. A coloured badge on the card shows how close it is.
- Describes
- Trello in a browser and the desktop app for Mac and Windows · Trello app for iPhone and Android
- Takes
- Under a minute
- Platforms
- Web · macOS · Windows · iOS · Android
- Published
- 16 October 2026
- Facts checked
- 10 October 2026
Steps repeated and verified by 
Elias Brandt and 
Daniel Okonkwo
on
- Elias Brandt: the Windows and web steps on a ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Windows 11 Pro).
- Daniel Okonkwo: the Mac steps on a MacBook Pro (macOS 27.0.1), the iPhone steps on an iPhone 15 (iOS 27.0.1) and the Android steps on a Pixel 9 Pro (Android 17).
Limits quoted here come from Trello’s documentation and were not tested.
Source: Trello Support, Add a due date or start date to a card
Trello 