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How to change default event time in iCal?

When I make a new event in iCal it's default set to "all-day".

When I hook of "all-day" is comes up with a 8 hours event.


This makes me "crazy", if I make a late event it pushes the to-date to next day.

All in all it makes me have to do a lot of changes to make a simple iCal event.


I have read some place in this forum that it's possible to use Terminal for change this by entering this in Terminal:


defaults write com.apple.iCal 'Default duration in minutes for new event' 60


I have tried that, still no change in my defaults for an event.


User uploaded file User uploaded file


Would love to get your help on this issue =)))

MacBook Pro (17-inch Core 2 Duo), iOS 5.1

Posted on Mar 29, 2012 3:04 AM

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Posted on Dec 11, 2013 9:42 AM

Yep, got the same simple question: How to change the default start time in iCal? Can't seem to find an answer anywhere so I suppose it can't be done. Apple wants my acitivities to start at nine AM. But I don't.

3 replies

Mar 31, 2012 11:03 PM in response to Tom Mehlum

[This may have been answered elsewhere but it's such an important change by Apple that the description of what's happening deserves as wide a distribution as possible.]


You don't mention if you are using 10.6 or 10.7 (Lion) but, given the date of your posting, it appears as though you might be using 10.7 so I'll make that assumption.


Apple has made a dramatic shift in how they approach "making an appointment". It used to be very "point and click"ish so that the user had to be very careful to get every parameter set just right before they clicked OK to finalize the appointment. This is nothing very different. Most calendar programs work this way on most operating systems, not just in OS X.


Apple is changing this approach to one that is more "SIRI like"; more leaning toward the way people usually talk about appointments.


Let me illustrate.


The old method would have required you to:

- select a date by clicking

- select a start time by clicking

- select an end time by clicking or typing a duration

- and then somewhere along the way you would need to type a description of what the appointment is about.

That's at least 2 or 3 uses of the mouse and about as many uses of the keyboard just to make one appointment.


Apple's new approach is to let you type something like "Meeting with Bob april 14 9am-11" and that's it. Actually, this can be shortened to "Bob april 14 9am-11".


To take advantage of this, rather than click in the calendar portion of iCal to make an appointment, just click on the "+" in the title bar or even use CMD-N to make a new appointment. When the prompt appears, type the information for your appointment.


The iCAL HELP has some other pointers on this in the SET UP EVENTS > ADD EVENTS TO A CALENDER section (see the end of this message). It does list off some "defaults" but all of these are easily overridden by what you type in the event description. Even something like "Bob april 14 9am-11p" works and does a booking with "Bob" for April 14th starting at 9 am and going until 23:00 and it all works regardless of which calendar VIEW you're in.


Try it. You may like it and, given that it's more like iOS operates with SIRI, I suspect it is the future....


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Add events to a calendar

You can add any kind of event to your iCal calendars. For example, you can add meetings, doctor appointments, and family activities.

You can’t add events to a calendar you subscribed to.

Open iCal

  1. Click Add ➕ at the top of the iCal window or press Command (⌘)-N.Events are added automatically to your default calendar.
    • If you want to choose a different calendar for the event, hold down the Add button (+), and then choose a calendar.
    • To change your default calendar, choose iCal > Preferences, click General, and then select a calendar from the Default Calendar pop-up menu.
  2. Enter a name, date, and time duration for the event, and then press Return.For example, you can enter “Super Bowl Party Feb 6,” “Movie with Rebecca on Friday at 7pm,” “Soccer Game on Saturday from 11am-1pm,” or “Breakfast with Jon,” and then press Return.
    • If you don’t enter a time duration for the event, iCal sets the event’s duration to 1 hour.
    • If you don’t enter any time information for the event, iCal makes the event an all-day event.
    • If you enter “breakfast” or “morning,” iCal sets the event to start at 9 a.m.
    • If you enter “lunch “ or “noon,” iCal sets the event to start at 12 p.m.
    • If you enter “dinner” or “night,” iCal sets the event to start at 8 p.m.
  3. To set any other event options (for example, to set your event to repeat, add an alert, or invite others to the event), make your changes in the event’s editor, and then click Done.Set an event to recurSet an alert for an eventInvite others to an event


Here are some additional ways to add events:

  • Add an event in Day or Week view by dragging from the event’s start time to its end time.
  • Add a new 1-hour event in Day or Week view by double-clicking within the day you want the event to appear, at the event’s start time.
  • Add a new event in Month view by double-clicking within the day you want the event to appear. Enter a name and time duration for the event in the event’s title field, and then press Return.iCal moves the event to the correct time and sets it to the correct duration. For example, you can double-click within a day in Month view, enter “Movie 7-9pm,” and then press Return.If you don’t enter a time duration, iCal sets the event’s duration to 1 hour.If you don’t enter any time information, iCal makes the event an all-day event.

May 20, 2013 11:37 AM in response to Wayne Billing

Add a new event in Month view by double-clicking within the day you want the event to appear. Enter a name and time duration for the event in the event’s title field, and then press Return.iCal moves the event to the correct time and sets it to the correct duration. For example, you can double-click within a day in Month view, enter “Movie 7-9pm,” and then press Return.If you don’t enter a time duration, iCal sets the event’s duration to 1 hour.If you don’t enter any time information, iCal makes the event an all-day event.



Here's a weird glitch using Month view:

Double click the day and enter, "LA 6pm" it creates an ALL day event.

Double click the day and enter, "L.A. 6pm" it creates a one hour event.


I have OS 10.7.5 and iCal 5.0.3

How to change default event time in iCal?

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