How to Turn Off Invoice Reminders in QuickBooks Online
There are two reasons someone searches for how to turn off invoice reminders in QuickBooks Online. Either they set them up and something went wrong — a reminder went out to a client who already paid, or the tone was off, or a client complained. Or they never liked the feature to begin with and want it gone.
Either way, this guide covers exactly how to do it — for all customers at once, or just for specific invoices or clients. And if you're turning them off because they're not working the way you need, we'll cover what a better approach looks like at the end.
How to turn off all invoice reminders in QuickBooks Online
QBO's reminders are controlled globally from Account and Settings. Turning them off here disables them for all customers and all invoices.
Click the gear icon in the top right corner, then select "Account and Settings."
In the left sidebar, select "Sales."
Scroll down to the "Reminders" section. Toggle off "Automatic invoice reminders." Click Save.
That's it. All automatic reminders are now disabled. Any reminders that were scheduled but hadn't sent yet will be cancelled.
How to turn off reminders for a specific invoice
If you want to keep reminders on globally but exclude a particular invoice — say, for a client you're already in conversation with — you can do it at the invoice level.
Go to Sales, then Invoices, and open the specific invoice you want to exclude.
Depending on your QBO version, you may see a "Send reminders" checkbox or toggle on the invoice itself. Uncheck or toggle it off.
Save the invoice. Reminders will no longer fire for this specific invoice even if they're enabled globally.
Why people turn off QBO's invoice reminders
If you're here because something went wrong, you're not alone. These are the most common reasons people disable QBO's reminders.
QBO's reminders don't check payment status before sending. If a client pays the day before a scheduled reminder, the reminder goes out anyway. This is probably the most common complaint about the feature.
QBO sends the same email to every customer on every invoice. There's no way to give your best long-term client a gentler reminder while being more direct with a chronic late payer. One size fits all.
If you're actively negotiating a payment plan with a client, automated reminders going out in the background undermine the conversation. QBO gives you no easy way to pause reminders for one client without turning them off entirely.
Some invoices need more follow-up than others. QBO caps you at three reminders with no ability to add more or extend the sequence for overdue invoices.
What to do instead of turning them off entirely
Turning off reminders entirely usually means going back to manual follow-up — which takes time and is easy to let slip. A better approach is smarter reminders rather than no reminders.
What smarter reminders look like in practice:
- They escalate. The first reminder is friendly. The second is more direct. The third is firm. Tone matches the number of days overdue, not a fixed template.
- They're per-client. High-value relationships get a softer sequence. Chronic late payers get the firm version from the start. Some clients get no automated reminders at all.
- They stop when payment arrives. The moment QuickBooks detects a payment, the reminder sequence stops. No manual intervention, no awkward emails to clients who already paid.
- You can pause them mid-sequence. If you pick up the phone and have a conversation, you can pause the automation for that client without affecting anyone else.
None of this is possible with QBO's built-in feature, which is why most people who need more control end up either doing it manually or using a dedicated tool.
If you turned off QBO's reminders because they were causing problems rather than solving them, it's worth trying a tool built specifically for this. PayDuer connects to QuickBooks, lets you configure reminders per client, escalates tone automatically, and stops the moment payment is detected. It's free right now.
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