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Q: Calendar not importing .ics

Calendar is not accepting .ics invites. Here's the scenario:

 

I receive an email invite to a meeting (they use outlook exchange). I quicklook the .ics file to check the date/time/etc... It's all correct. I then double-click the .ics file and iCal (now Calendar) opens. Nothing happens: it doesn't add the file, move to the day of the event, etc...

 

This only happens occasionally and it's driving me nuts. Most of the time meeting invites work, but every so often they won't. Or they will but then any updates won't be accepted.

 

Any thoughts?

 

(I'm on a MacBook Pro 15'' that's a few years old, running 10.8)

Posted on Aug 1, 2012 8:51 AM

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Q: Calendar not importing .ics

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  • by John de Graaff,

    John de Graaff John de Graaff Aug 28, 2015 11:28 PM in response to rpmca
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 28, 2015 11:28 PM in response to rpmca

    I had the same problem.

    After import in iCal the new item appeared and then within 1 sec disappeared.

     

    When hacking I found that if this tag was changed or deleted then the ICS files get imported in iCal fine:

     

         X-APPLE-ETAG

     

    You can use this perl command on the CLI to quickly change a ICS file:

     

         perl -pi -e 's/X-APPLE-ETAG/NOT--X-APPLE-ETAG/g' filename.ics

     

    This command to do it quickly for a lot of files:

     

         find . -type f -name '*.ics' -print -exec perl -pi -e 's/X-APPLE-ETAG/NOT--X-APPLE-ETAG/g' "{}" \;

     

    I was able to re-import 3 calendars with >100 ICS files within seconds!

  • by kdriceman,

    kdriceman kdriceman Oct 5, 2015 10:48 AM in response to John de Graaff
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 5, 2015 10:48 AM in response to John de Graaff

    This problem has been a frustration for me for quite some time now.  I have tried all of the suggestions above and still cannot get Calendar to save or even open iCal invites that come from Mail.  I have no problem open and adding the exact same invite when using iOS on my iPhone or iPad.  I also have no problem with the invite when using Outlook.  I have just resorted to the inconvenience of just using my iPhone or iPad to add appointments.  It works, but I'm baffled that the two, highly used, Apple Apps (Mail and Calendar) won't work together on an Apple Mac and that the problem has continued for - according to this thread - years.

  • by shawes,

    shawes shawes Oct 20, 2015 9:02 AM in response to fastasleep
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 20, 2015 9:02 AM in response to fastasleep

    THANK YOU for posting.   this was driving me crazy.   

  • by kdriceman,

    kdriceman kdriceman Oct 25, 2015 8:03 AM in response to rpmca
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 25, 2015 8:03 AM in response to rpmca

    I have just upgraded to OSx El Capitan and it appears to have resolved this problem.  I can now double click on an invite in my Mail program and it is added into Calendar. Unfortunately, it seems that it won't sync those events my Exchange server.  I can add an event into Calendar and it will sync.  But if I double-click on an event from Mail, although it adds it to Calendar, it won't sync through the exchange server.  Jeez... always something. 

  • by janfog,

    janfog janfog Mar 16, 2016 2:31 PM in response to kdriceman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 16, 2016 2:31 PM in response to kdriceman

    Calendar invites stopped automatically populating a few months ago for SOME things.  I can't find a pattern.  Started hitting "add to my calendar" on the web and downloading the .ics event.  Tried most of the suggestions above on my MAC, opening with Calendar instead of calendar file handler, dragging, doubleclicking, etc.  None worked so have been duplicating the event manually.  Not a good work around.

     

    Just went to do the "add to my calendar" on my iphone 6plus and it populated and then it auto synced with my Mac calendar.  Better work around...not ideal.

     

    I hope this gets fixed as it looks like it has been an issue for some time according to this thread.

  • by John2314,

    John2314 John2314 Apr 1, 2016 12:55 PM in response to sswallace
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 1, 2016 12:55 PM in response to sswallace

    Thank you!  This method worked for me.

  • by bkolas,

    bkolas bkolas Apr 7, 2016 1:39 PM in response to rpmca
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 7, 2016 1:39 PM in response to rpmca

    It is how to comprehend 4 years after this post was started the problem continues to go on. The most remarkable par about it all is if you use the Mail app on an iOS device it deals handles the ics files perfectly! If you have this problem please acknowledge it on this forum, with enough support Apple may actually do something about it.

  • by benjamin j,

    benjamin j benjamin j May 10, 2016 7:56 PM in response to rpmca
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Applications
    May 10, 2016 7:56 PM in response to rpmca

    Apple support, is anyone able to assist in this case, seems not to be a fix???? very frustrating , please help

  • by Greg-Roseville-MN,

    Greg-Roseville-MN Greg-Roseville-MN Jun 6, 2016 11:33 AM in response to rpmca
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iCloud
    Jun 6, 2016 11:33 AM in response to rpmca

    After reading this entire thread and trying all of the potential resolutions, I have come to several conclusions.  First, there are actually several problems posted here that appear the same but are not and thus there are several 'fixes' that work for some people and not others.  Here's the list of different problems I saw in the thread:

    1. Microsoft products are installed and the default app was changed to the CalendarFileHandler.  Change it back to the Calendar app. 

    2. The ical appointment being sent is not in compliance with standards or is out of date (std version 1).  look at who's sending it and from what type of server/application. 

    3. Characters in the meeting location like a "-".  I haven't tested this but suspect there is a different reason the "fix" of removing the "-" works.

    4. My problem with an ical appointment relates to the original meeting being modified (canceled the original and a new appointment date/time being sent in one ical).  The email showed the changed appointment but the ical processing only removed the old one and never added the new date and time. 

    Therefore, it appeared to process but in fact it never ADDED the new appointment date and time. I'm still looking for the reason for this and have not seen any resolutions here that explain it.  It could be user error on the sending side. 


    My point is this...don't assume these are all related to the same root cause problem because they are not.  I hope this helps and saves someone time.


  • by coffy.sk,

    coffy.sk coffy.sk Jul 6, 2016 2:23 AM in response to Lonnie Robinson
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 6, 2016 2:23 AM in response to Lonnie Robinson

    OMG!!

    What a hack.

    Thank you Lonnie, I was desperate.

    And as always Apple support *****

  • by rherardi,

    rherardi rherardi Aug 8, 2016 11:26 PM in response to rpmca
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Applications
    Aug 8, 2016 11:26 PM in response to rpmca

    I have yet to find a single .ics file that can be successfully imported into the Calendar app on El Capitan 10.11.6 (or any prior version for the last 5 years). Perhaps it is fundamentally broken if the user is not using iCloud, i.e., the calendar is local to the machine.

     

    In the current case, there is a local Mac OS X Server App Calendar Server. This also does not work. It never worked before even when there was no server.

     

    Here is an example file that does work:

     

    BEGIN:VCALENDAR

    VERSION:1.0

    BEGIN:VEVENT

    URL:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/distinguished-lecturer-seminar-enabling-and-exploit ing-machine-learning-in-ultra-low-power-devices-tickets-26625282938

    DTSTART:20160819T010000Z

    DTEND:20160819T030000Z

    SUMMARY:Distinguished Lecturer Seminar: Enabling and Exploiting Machine Learning in Ultra-low-power Devices by Naveen Verma, Princeton University

    DESCRIPTION:For details, click here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/distinguished-lecturer-seminar-enabling-and-exploit ing-machine-learning-in-ultra-low-power-devices-tickets-26625282938

    LOCATION:Texas Instruments Silicon Valley Auditorium, 2900 Semiconductor Dr., Building E Santa Clara, CA

    END:VEVENT

  • by mondym,

    mondym mondym Aug 18, 2016 6:58 AM in response to Lonnie Robinson
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 18, 2016 6:58 AM in response to Lonnie Robinson

    It helped!

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