Make a Grocery List That Auto-Sorts on Mac (Reminders)

Type "bananas, milk, dish soap" into an ordinary list and you'll crisscross the store retracing your own steps. Set the list's type to Groceries — added in macOS 14 Sonoma — and Reminders sorts every item into store sections as you type: produce together, dairy together, cleaning supplies together.

Create a Groceries list

1. Open Reminders and choose File → New List (or click Add List at the bottom of the sidebar).
2. Name it, pick a color and icon if you like.
3. Open the List Type menu and choose Groceries.
4. Click OK.

Now add items the lazy way — one per line, as they occur to you. Each item files itself into a category the moment you enter it: Produce, Dairy, Eggs & Cheese, Meat, Frozen Foods, Snacks & Candy, Household Items, and so on. The categorization understands real grocery vocabulary — "gruyère" lands with the cheese, "kombucha" with the beverages — and the sections mirror how stores are laid out, which is the entire point: one pass through the store, no backtracking.

Already keeping groceries in a normal list? Convert it in place: right-click the list in the sidebar, choose Show List Info, and switch its List Type to Groceries — existing items sort themselves.

When an item lands wrong

It happens — ambiguous items ("coconut water"?) or brand names the categorizer doesn't know. Drag the item into the correct section and carry on. Reminders learns from the correction, so the same item files itself correctly the next time you add it. Items it can't classify at all gather in an Other section at the bottom, waiting for a drag.

Everything else about Reminders still works inside a grocery list: quantities in the item name ("bananas x6"), notes for brand preferences, and checking items off as they land in the cart. Checked items disappear into the completed pile, ready for View → Show Completed when you want to re-add last week's staples.

Share it with the household

A grocery list earns its keep when everyone feeds it:

1. Select the list and click the add people button in the toolbar (or right-click the list → Share List).
2. Send the invitation over Messages or Mail.
3. Everyone who accepts sees the same live list — items added from a partner's iPhone in the kitchen appear on your Mac, already sorted into sections.

Whoever's at the store checks items off, and they're checked off for everybody — the classic duplicate-milk problem, solved. Shared members can add, edit, and complete items just like the owner.

Requirements and quirks

• macOS 14 Sonoma or later. On Ventura the List Type option doesn't exist; the same list syncs from a Sonoma-or-later device but shows without sections there. iPhones need iOS 17+ for sections.
• iCloud lists only — the Groceries type needs your reminders upgraded and synced through iCloud, which also keeps the list live across devices.
• Section names are fixed — you can't rename or reorder the categories; you're trading customization for zero maintenance.
• The feature's name varies by region (Groceries / Shopping), but the behavior is the same.

For the weekly rhythm, two habits close the loop. Keep View → Show Completed in your back pocket: last week's checked-off staples are one click from being un-completed back onto the list, which beats retyping "milk" every Sunday. And add items the moment supplies run low — the carton goes in the recycling, the item goes on the list from whatever device is nearest. Since the list syncs and sorts itself, there's no cleanup step later; the list is always ready for whoever ends up at the store.