Events disappearing and unable to re-import

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Level 1

133 points

Events disappearing and unable to re-import

Today I tried to put two new events in Calendar by dragging and dropping .ics files I'd received from the event organiser but the events keep disappearing and I can't re-add them.

When I dropped the first one I was prompted to choose which calendar to put it in and it was correctly added.

I did the same for the second (actually an earlier event) and it was added correctly but I noticed that the first had disappeared. I also noticed that another event added several days ago using a file from the same organiser had also disappeared. I have no idea whether it was there when I entered the first event or not.

I have tried re-adding the event by dragging and dropping the .ics file again. There is a flash of a pop-up for a fraction of a second but nothing after that. By capturing screen video and slowing it down I found that the pop-up is a progress bar with the text "Importing Calendar data..." and the blue of the progress bar already at 100%.

I don't know if the order of the events has any bearing on this but the only event to remain is the earliest one. All the events were in the same calendar.

As far as I can see (and remember) none of the events that I've added manually or imported from .ics files received from other organisations are affected.

Can anyone give me any ideas on troubleshooting?

In case the content of the .ics is having an impact I'm pasting it here. I've used the word "redacted" to show where I've removed details. Anything without an entry is like that in the original file.

BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
METHOD:PUBLISH
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART:20200923T180000
DTEND:20200923T183500
LOCATION:
TRANSP: OPAQUE
SEQUENCE:0
UID:
DTSTAMP:20200902T235435
SUMMARY:redacted
DESCRIPTION:redacted
PRIORITY:1
CLASS:PUBLIC
BEGIN:VALARM
TRIGGER:-PT10080M
ACTION:DISPLAY
DESCRIPTION:Reminder
END:VALARM
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR

iMac 27″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Sep 2, 2020 11:24 PM

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Answer 1

Joseph_S.

Community Specialist

Sep 4, 2020 8:14 AM in response to gakushaburu

Hello, gakushaburu.

We understand that when trying to add .ics event files to your Calendar on your Mac, the events disappear.

Which account is the Calendar linked to? It's possible it is not compatible with this type of file, and not all servers support all features.

You can find about adding Calendars and managing events in these guides.

Take care!

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Answer 2

gakushaburu Author

Level 1

133 points

Sep 4, 2020 3:11 PM in response to Joseph_S.

Hello Joseph

Thank you for the reply.

In fact these are local, native iCal calendars. I haven't linked iCal to any external calendars and the only reason there is more than one is because I used the 'File - New Calendar' function to separate certain types of events.

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Answer 3

Oct 8, 2020 2:14 AM in response to gakushaburu

I had this problem too: opening .ics files which resulted in events being imported into my calendar and only being visible for a second or so before they disappeared again. Drove me nuts. It did work on my iPhone, but not my Mac. Found this post while searching for a solution. What worked for me: on my Mac -> System Preferences -> Apple ID -> iCloud -> uncheck calendar synchronisation. I watched all my iCloud calendars disappear from iCal. Then, checked the calendars again and waited until they all reappeared. After that, I could import the same .ics files which I had disappearing on me, but now without any problems.

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Answer 4

gakushaburu Author

Level 1

133 points

Oct 8, 2020 6:51 PM in response to DavidFokkema

Thanks for the information.

I don't use iCloud so the calendar synchronisation option is not checked. In fact I've never logged into iCloud so the option doesn't even appear in System Preferences, I just have a login prompt. I sync with my phone using iTunes.

The fact that this only happens with ics files received from one organisation suggests that there is something about the content which causes the problem rather than a general syncing problem.

I've not tried to see what happens if I add the event to my calendar on the phone. Although I'd prefer to do it on my Mac, it may be an acceptable workaround so I'll try it next time I get an invitation from the organisation causing the problem.

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Events disappearing and unable to re-import

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