How long does iCloud keep calendar entries? Forever?

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How long does iCloud keep calendar entries? Forever?

Does anyone know HOW LONG calendar entries will be kept/stored on iCloud? Is is 30 days and then purge? Is it 60/90/120 days? CAN I SET THE TIME LIMIT FOR KEEPING CALENDAR ENTRIES somewhere on the iCloud dashboard on my PC that I haven't found yet? MY STRONG DESIRE is that ALL calendar entries I create on myiP4s that get auto-sync'd to iCloud would be KEPT FOREVER, or until I say they can go. Does anybody know anything about this???

Thanks!

iPhone 4S, iOS 5.0.1, 64GB, Black

Posted on Jan 25, 2012 2:36 PM

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Answer 1

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dsamuel24 Author

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Jan 26, 2012 2:36 PM in response to dsamuel24

OK, got off the phone with Apple Support and I found out, definitively, that iCloud will KEEP all calendar entries indefinitely and it does not delete them on any kind of 30/60/90 day cycle... everything you enter into the Calendar on iOS5/iCloud will stay there forever, with 2 exceptions:

1) YOU delete the calendar item/entry (either on purpose or thru user error), OR

2) You hit the Apple-mandated MAX of 25,000 calendar items/entries/events

That's right... Apple has decided that 25k individual calendar entries/events is the max, and if you hit that number of calendar items (which I will do inside of 2 years), iCloud will not allow you to enter any more events/entries until you delete some/all of the previous ones. (Sounds a lot like the 15mb / 75k TEXT LIMIT that iOS5 imposes, or at least did impose at the beginning of the iOS5 launch.)

So there ya go.

And to answer my own other question about how to back up the iCloud calendar, you CAN'T actually back, archive or otherwise "save" the iCloud calendar within the iCloud sphere itself. What you can do is LINK your iCloud calendar with Outlook (which I am in the process of doing and should have done from day 1 when I switched over to the iP4s and iCloud on 1/1/2012) or with iCal (or maybe even Gogle calendar, I'm not sure about that) and then backup or archive from those calendar programs.

Looks like I should have just called Apple Support to begin with, huh? 🙂

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Answer 2

dsamuel24 Author

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Jan 25, 2012 5:08 PM in response to Csound1

Hey Csound1, you appear to be genuinely trying to help me, and I very much appreciate that. I promise I am not trying to be antagonistic in return, it's just that your replies are not answering my basic question (HOW LONG DOES iCLOUD KEEP CALENDAR ENTRIES), nor are they helping me find a work-around, because:

1) I am on a Windows 7 PC (not a mac)

2) I DO NOT use iCal at all... I use(d) Outlook

3) I converted from Outlook as my PC calendar (and sync'd with iTunes thru the cable) over to iCloud as my PC calendar as of 1/1/2012

4) I no longer sync my iPhone or iPad with Outlook (cause when I do lots of bad things/duplicates happen)

5) I have never used Google as a calendar and have no interest in using Google as my calendar in the future (although I might be convinced to if I knew that Google kept all calendar entries FOREVER)

I really, simply, quite literally just want to know HOW LONG I can expect my calendar entries to last before I start seeing blank days at some point in the future when looking back at January, 2012. My iPhone/iPad/iCloud calendar is much more than just future appts... it is my daily diary and time log of every hour of every day and I want to keep it for years and years to come, just like I have done with my Outlook calendar.

Super cool graphic you posted, though. I have no idea what an iCal Archive is, but if it doesn't keep calendar entires readily available indefinitely like Outlook does, it would be of no use to me for my intended purpose. Is there an iCal for Windows 7? (Probably not.)

Thanks!

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Answer 3

Aug 12, 2017 3:44 PM in response to Csound1

I backup iPhone to my laptop. Now anyway, it took a few months after the Win 10 upgrade before I could finally get iTunes & Apple backup programs back on my laptop to be able to sync with my iPhone again. I'm going to try to follow your diagram next time I sync my phone to the laptop.

I would also be interested in getting info on using Google calendar on my iPhone. Be gentle though, I'm new to using Google on iPhone. I recently had to start using Google email (my carrier, Verizon, stopped providing their own email and gave it to AOL - I refuse to use AOL!) I need to know if the Google calendar can be used in Cloud. I'm low One space so I need to use as much as possible in Cloud.

Another issue I have I hope you can help with is Bing. I have set Google as my default search but that **** Bing just won't go away. I even tried following another user's info and changed the values in Register Editor. No change. The info was dated 2012 so it would have been for an earlier version of Windows, so that's probably why. Any advice you could give on getting rid of that stubborn Bing would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the info posted here, it is helpful to me.

Namaste 😌

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Answer 4

Csound1

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60,015 points

Jan 25, 2012 2:42 PM in response to dsamuel24

1 No idea

2 If you want to keep your calendar FOR EVER, back it up locally.

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Answer 5

dsamuel24 Author

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Jan 25, 2012 3:15 PM in response to Csound1

Thanks for the reply. However...

1. Not helpful. Someone should know the answer to this question, or the info should be posted somewhere readily available, and as far as I can tell, it is not and no one knows the answer to this very simple question.

2. Great... except not helpful either. How exactly does one go about backing up ICLOUD entries to ones personal, local PC? If that could be done (which I do not believe it can) that would be great. Tell me how.

IN THE MEANTIME, can anyone actually ANSWER the simple question of how long Apple allows you to keep calendar entries you post on your iCloud account? And if there is a way to change preferences on how long iCloud calendar entries are kept?????

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Answer 6

Csound1

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Jan 25, 2012 4:06 PM in response to dsamuel24

dsamuel24 wrote:

Thanks for the reply. However...

1. Not helpful. Someone should know the answer to this question, or the info should be posted somewhere readily available, and as far as I can tell, it is not and no one knows the answer to this very simple question.

2. Great... except not helpful either. How exactly does one go about backing up ICLOUD entries to ones personal, local PC? If that could be done (which I do not believe it can) that would be great. Tell me how.

IN THE MEANTIME, can anyone actually ANSWER the simple question of how long Apple allows you to keep calendar entries you post on your iCloud account? And if there is a way to change preferences on how long iCloud calendar entries are kept?????

In iCal, File>Export>iCal Archive

If that's still not helpful then you can use Google.

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Answer 7

Csound1

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Jan 26, 2012 6:19 AM in response to dsamuel24

I don't know the answer to 'how long', ask Apple (this is a user forum)

No iCal for Windows but Outlook has its own archiving features.

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Answer 8

wires10

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Jan 30, 2012 12:36 AM in response to dsamuel24

Hi, you know I have the same issue, always used Outlook for years and have migrated to icloud, and have just worked out a quick simple way. just simply in outlook, under both calendars and contacts icloud version right click each one and click copy folder, it will ask where, just put in local folders, a new duplicate calendar and contacts will apear. And if you look at pst file it will have grown in size.

Obviously this is a manual way and would have to keep doing it each week/month or something, but it gives me piece of mind.

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Answer 9

Feb 8, 2013 7:10 AM in response to dsamuel24

Ok, so I have the same problem, I must go thru way more than 25 k of entires pretty fast, cause I am losing info less than 6 months ago. Now I need the info and it's just gone! I read the replys here and they are useful, however I do not run outlook at home, I am on google. (although I am curious how you did it to outlook and will start to use that for keeping the calendar info if I have to). However I would rather know how to back up the info on icloud calendar to google, do you or anyone else know? I have a windows 7 operating system (I think Lion is Mac?) and I don't have ical...I don't think unless that is the name for the calendar that appears in icloud....I used to be a mobile me customer and switched to icould when I had to.....

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Answer 10

Csound1

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Feb 8, 2013 7:22 AM in response to Thomallmom

All Macs with Lion also have iCal.

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Answer 11

Feb 9, 2013 5:15 PM in response to Csound1

But I don't have a mac, Lion, or iCal. I have Windows 7. I used mobile me because i have an ipad, iphone and my kids have macs. We share calendars which is very useful. However, I keep losing past info,,,how do I back up icloud calendar to google? Or anything non Apple?

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Answer 12

Csound1

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Feb 9, 2013 6:10 PM in response to Thomallmom

Oh sorry for the mistake.

On Windows 7 Outlook is the only supported client. Outlook 2007 or 2010.

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Answer 13

Feb 9, 2013 7:47 PM in response to Csound1

Thanks...ARGH I just spend an hour chatting with Outlook people. I have Prof Plus 2010 and since I purchased it thru my sons school, they won't give me any support on the issue. Any idea how to download an icloud calendar to outlook? I did read a bit, but can't figure out how to export from icloud so that i can import to outlook!

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Answer 14

Csound1

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Feb 9, 2013 7:56 PM in response to Thomallmom

Go here, read the direction carefully.

Take Note.

Outlook has excellent archiving abilities, use them before you install, this is the real world, not marketing copy, things can go wrong.

iCloud calendars and contacts are housed in a separate account from Outlooks Personal Folders, post back for more detail if needed.

Outlook will operate slightly differently from your normal experience, adapt, don't get frustrated.

And post back any time.

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