What is the difference between "iCloud Calendar" and plain "Calendar"

This has been answered before, but I don’t understand why, when I schedule an appt, both calendars need to be selected to insure it’s saved to the Cloud. If I’m backing up my Calendar app to the Cloud, shouldn’t that be enough for it to be in both places? If they’re different, when I click my Calendar icon and do a Search, which calendar is searching?

iPhone 16 Pro

Posted on Mar 19, 2025 12:00 PM

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1 reply

Mar 19, 2025 12:09 PM in response to Jturnrich

Jturnrich wrote:

If I’m backing up my Calendar app to the Cloud, shouldn’t that be enough for it to be in both places?

Absolutely not.


There is a huge difference between a backup and actually storing your data somewhere. A backup is only available to restore to another device. Its purpose is to retrieve your data in the event of a catastrophe - like dropping your iPhone rendering it useless.


Sharing data in iCloud is a completely different feature.

Keep your calendars up to date and share them with iCloud - Apple Support


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What is the difference between "iCloud Calendar" and plain "Calendar"

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