IPhone calendar events not showing in widget

If you’re having trouble with Things’ widgets, please check out the tips on this page.

iPad & iPhone

There is no Things widget to add

Please launch Things at least once after installing/updating the app. Then try to add the widget again. If that doesn’t help, please power down your device, start it up again and try adding the widget. For iOS 16 users missing the Lock Screen widgets, please check out additional tips here.

I can’t see my calendar entries in Things’ widget

That’s not a feature we support. Our widget only shows content from Things (to-dos). You can always add a widget from your favorite calendar app to see your events, though.

The widget doesn’t update

In order for the widget to update, the main app must be launched. You can do this manually or Apple’s background app refresh can do it for you – but only if you use Things frequently so Apple’s background app refresh can learn your usage patterns.

If your widget doesn’t update at all after launching the main app, try these steps:

1. Check that you’re using the latest iOS/iPadOS. Here’s how.
2. Check that you’re using the latest Things version. Here’s how.
3. Quit Things via the App Switcher, and then relaunch the app.
4. Remove the widget, reboot your device, and add the widget back.

Lock Screen widgets (iPhone-only)

Can’t add the Things widget to the Lock Screen?

1. Make sure that your iPhone is updated to the newest Operating System (iOS 16).
2. Go through the steps described in the top section.

Widget customization

• The dimensions of the rectangular widget are pre-defined by Apple’s iOS.
• Customization of the circular widgets is currently not supported.

The XL widgets are missing

• Check that the iPad is running iPadOS 15 and Things 3.15 or better.
• Check that you are using the iPad version of Things. The iPhone app does not offer the XL widgets.
• Check if you can see the XL widgets of other apps, like Apple Contacts or Apple Notes.
• Go through the steps described in the top section.

If the widgets still do not appear, this is due to an iPadOS bug. They might simply appear after a couple of days, or when Apple has addressed this issue in an iPadOS update.

I cannot mark to-dos as complete or cancelled in the widget

This is a change that Apple introduced in 2020 with iOS/iPadOS 14. The new widget styles no longer allow you to interact with them.

The + button is missing from the small widget

Starting with Things 3.15, the + button can be configured per widget (long-press on the widget to access its configuration options). For the small widget, the + button will always be hidden, regardless of what you configure.

I prefer to use the old, interactive widget. Can I?

Yes, Apple still permits adding the old widgets to Notification Center, but they don’t permit using them on your Home Screen, or to drag them up. They’ll always stay at the bottom of Notification Center.

Issues on macOS 11 or newer

There is no Things widget to add

Please launch Things at least once after installing/updating the app. Then try to add the widget again.

The widget is empty

This seems to affect primarily Ventura users, and many different apps (it’s an OS bug). You can try to relaunch Notification Center to force widgets to update. Open Activity Monitor and type Notification Center into the search field in the upper-right corner. Select the search result and click the x button → Force Quit. It might take a few seconds, and it will also restart itself immediately afterwards.

The widget keeps disappearing

This macOS bug affects many third-party apps. Unfortunately, it’s not something we can fix, but we hope that Apple will address this in one of the next updates.

I cannot mark to-dos as complete or cancelled in the widget

This is a change that Apple introduced in 2020 with macOS 11 Big Sur. The new widget styles no longer allow you to interact with them.

I can’t see my calendar entries in Things’ widget

That’s not a feature we support. Our widget only shows content from Things (to-dos). You can always add a widget from your favorite calendar app to see your events, though.

The widget doesn’t update

In order to see current data in the widget, make sure that Things is running. If you created new to-dos via a Shortcut and Things wasn’t running at that time, you have to launch the app first before these to-dos can appear in widgets.

If the data in the widget doesn’t update at all, try first to quit Things completely, and then relaunch the app. Should that not help, remove the widget, reboot your Mac, and then add the widget back.

Issues on macOS 10.15 or older

The widget only shows the Today list

If you’d like to see other lists than Today on your Mac, please update to macOS Big Sur. If your Mac cannot update to macOS 11, then you can only view today’s to-dos in a widget.

The widget shows outdated content

If the widget in your Mac’s Notification Center shows outdated content that doesn’t match what you see in Things, try rebooting your Mac first to see if that resolves the issue. If not, please follow the steps below:

1. Quit Things.
2. Remove the widget from Notification Center.
3. Click on your empty Desktop, and then go to the menu bar at the top of your screen.
4. Click Go → Go to Folder...
5. An input window will open. Copy & paste this into it: ~/Library/Containers/
6. Find the folder labeled com.culturedcode.ThingsMac.TodayWidget and delete it.
7. Empty the Trash.
8. Reboot your Mac (do not skip this step!).
9. Add the widget back.

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