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I’m trying to target iPhone users and I recently discovered about exportable .ics files as a method to add events/calendars. I have searched Internet for a while and I didn't find a good way to import .ics files into my local calendar on IPhone. The following methods were seen:

  • Going to Settings > Passwords > Subscribe calendar > Other, but I can't do it since I have a local .ics file, and things like Pastebin doesn't seem to work. I also don't have this file in my iCloud account and I can't export (no options) .ics files in there.

  • Mailing myself with the local .ics file. Firstly, I had "Gmail" application on my Iphone, and didn't see it working. Now, I have reinstalled the "Mail" on Iphone, and it doesn't seem to interact with my file, it only says "Download" but in fact it doesn't download anything.

Please, remember that I have to do this my way. I have been scraping a seminars website in order to get my events info and then I'm on the last step but I couldn't complete it without this task.

Chuck Le Butt
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arioboo
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  • So is your 'local file' on the iphone. I don't see a way either to import on an iphone. From googling it looks like if you have an apple mac, you can import there. If you have a windows pc,then you could import into a new google calendar and subscribe to that google calendar from the iphone. Or load the local file up somewhere so that it has a URL that you can 'subscribe' to. – anmari Oct 02 '20 at 05:23
  • Rather then having to email yourself, you can now achieve this using the shortcut: https://routinehub.co/shortcut/7005/ – Alfie Jun 24 '22 at 11:57
  • @Alfie - That doesn't work for my phone (15.6). – SPRBRN Aug 03 '22 at 10:42

3 Answers3

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I just ran into this issue using the iOS gmail app and not being able to add it to my iOS calendar.

Not sure how it wasn't working for you with the native iOS Mail app, but what worked exactly for me to get the event into the iOS calendar app without ever leaving my iPhone was to do the following:

  1. download/copy .ics attachment from original email in gmail app
  2. attach/paste the .ics in a new message in the Mail app
  3. send the message to yourself (I used my icloud.com address)
  4. open the newly received message and tap on the .ics icon
  5. use the Add Event option to add the event to your calendar

you can download the .ics into the files app, but I found that copying and pasting worked just as well.

zephyr707
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    Crazy that you have to do this! I thought .ics was an Apple invention? I just do it myself. This is too much trouble. – SPRBRN Aug 03 '22 at 10:38
  • @SPRBRN per https://docs.fileformat.com/email/ics/ the ICS file format was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in 1998. For the FRC 2445, see here: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2445.txt – MmmHmm Oct 31 '22 at 21:33
  • Apple: It just works – Chuck Le Butt Nov 19 '22 at 10:22
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I have found a working solution:

  1. Open the target ICS-file in a text editor (NotePad++, for example).
  2. Copy all ICS contents to a Windows clipboard.
  3. Paste ICS contents to a bar-code creator (Free QR Creator, for example) and create a large QR code image.
  4. Open iOS Camera app and point to the screen.
  5. The calendar event box will appear at the top of the screen.

This works at least in iOS 13.7.

Andrey Kazak
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  • IMO, @zepher707 ‘s answer is much better, especially since everything can be done on the iPhone. And I can confirm it works on iOS 14.8. – EJ Mak Oct 23 '21 at 04:19
  • The described method works fine with iOS 14.8 and was discovered for the case where one needs to import an ICS file to iOS Calendar from Windows PC. – Andrey Kazak Oct 24 '21 at 13:24
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Forward the file to your Hotmail address and open the file to get the + sign to add the event

Marios Treppides
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  • As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please [edit] to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers [in the help center](/help/how-to-answer). – Community Apr 21 '22 at 17:21