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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

Reply
96 replies

Jan 21, 2017 4:04 PM in response to rpmca

Just encountered this problem today. I found that if I opened the event that wasn't working in TextWrangler, the file begins like this:

BEGIN:VCALENDAR

PRODID:-//more//iCal4j 1.0//EN

VERSION:2.0

CALSCALE:GREGORIAN

METHOD:REQUEST

BEGIN:VTIMEZONE


But if you change "METHOD:REQUEST" to "METHOD:PUBLISH" (a change I figured out from looking at the text of .ics events I'd been able to successfully import) the event immediately worked! Hope this works for people 🙂

Jul 18, 2018 1:07 AM in response to Andrew Harris1

Exactly the same problem too! If I click on any new .ics file in an email, it immediately opens a diary event from 9 months ago. Furthermore, nothing actually happens with the new .ics event. On my machine (brand new MBP Retina, OSX10.8.2 and iCal 6.0).


Its not random, always opens the same old event. I've tried deleting the old event, but it keeps re-installing it (and sending the old event originator continual decline messages!).


However, if I drag the .ics file into iCal, it seems to work fine (although accepting the event is a bit of a palava).


Any ideas to fix gratefully received.

Jul 18, 2018 1:07 AM in response to SteveSnyder

I tend to agree with your prognosis Steve - that's exactly how I get around the Calendar bug too. I guess a completely fresh OSX install should fix it? Apart from that though, my Exchange mail and Calendar are working faultlessly.🙂

Feb 20, 2017 6:29 AM in response to Jeffery Nunes

There's the keyword - busycal!


The Mac calendar has always been freakishly unreliable for me - making calendars disappear, duplicating them, refusing to synchronise.


The answer? Ditch it! BusyCal was up and running in two minutes, included all the calendars that Mac OS declared had malformed ICS links. The price is pretty steep - but the free 30 days will help me out of a jam while I look for an open source equivalent. Suggestions anyone?

Feb 21, 2017 10:15 AM in response to Henrygg98

My ics was already set to "PUBLISH". This is the first time I experience this issue of not being able to import the .ics file. I even changed it back to request, and nothing.


Here is something odd, though. If I create a new event and start typing the name of the event I tried to import, I get get a drop-down menu to autocomplete said event. So, apparently it is importing the info somehow, although not visible and won't show up in search.


In God's Harmony

Feb 28, 2017 10:50 PM in response to rpmca

GOODBYE ICAL !


This is totally unacceptable. The iCal / Calendar app has been flawed for ages and nothing is being done to fix the issues. Lately it has caused a new client relationship to start off in a terrible manner, us showing up for a meeting that had been postponed. Calendar just didn't feel like updating the event. Swell.


Apple: get your act together.


Jeez, this top-down attitude and indifferent behavior only thrives in lousy public institutions and at the check-out line in cheapest malls.

Aug 7, 2012 12:52 PM in response to rpmca

Same issue here :-(


When I paste <webcal://calendars.office.microsoft.com/pubcalstorage/...Calendar.ics> into a new browser window, iCal opens and the subscribe window populates with the URL.


I hit "subscribe", pause while it checks, then the error message: "The URL webcal://calendars.office.microsoft.com/pubcalstorage/...Calendar.ics encountered redirect error -1007. Make sure the URL is correct."


I know the URL is good b/c I can subscribe in Outlook 2007/XP.


Running: 10.7.4, MackBook Pro 2011

Aug 30, 2012 9:30 AM in response to rpmca

I stepped into this hole this morning running 10.8.1 and could replicate all the issues described in this thread. I'm on a new MPB Retina. Clearly this is going to require a software fix from Apple. In the meantime, I appreciated the reminder that you can at least use Quicklook to see the event properly and then manually enter it into Calendar.

Sep 4, 2012 2:50 PM in response to rpmca

Just chiming in here to report the same problem... actually mine is ever weirder.


1) Click on ics in mail.

2) Calender opens

3) shows the event as an old exsiting event (like somebodies birthday party 2 years ago)


So basically istead of getting the new even I get some old event... this is a weird bug.


I do have something that helps... if you drag the ics to the calender the even goes in normally.


I don't know why I ever upgrade Mountain Lion took away more things than gave.

Oct 6, 2012 1:21 PM in response to rpmca

Another weird variation on this thread: I am running 10.8.2 on a MBPR. I use iCal to manage my google calendars. I get .ics files in my email. Sometimes clickng on them will properly added the event to my calendar. Sometimes, like others have experience, the event simply will not add (actually it briefly seems to add and the vanishes). Then, if I successfully add an event and then have another event to add from an ics file in my email to take place on the same day, the first event will be deleted as the second is added.


I'm afraid I will need to find another calendaring program. It's a shame as I really liked iCal under 10.6. I used it with icalx to manage several calendars shared with various people and it all worked just fine. This icloud integration push seems to be wreeking havoc with apple software.

Calendar not importing .ics

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