Import calendar events from an .ics file
Bring events into Thendoo from any .ics calendar file, with time zones, repeating events and cancelled dates kept. A one-time copy, unlike the live Google connection.
How often: Manual, whenever you import a file. You can run the same file again.
What syncs
- Events from an .ics file, timed or all-day, in their own time zoneInto Thendoo
- Repeating events with their repeat rules, cancelled and changed datesInto Thendoo
- To-dos in the file as tasksInto Thendoo
Set it up
- 1Save your calendar as an .ics file. In Google Calendar: Settings, then Import & export, then Export, and unzip the download. In Apple Calendar: File, then Export.
- 2In Thendoo, open Settings, then Import, pick Calendar file (.ics) and upload it with Upload and preview.
- 3Check the preview, select Next: where it goes, choose the Space for the new calendar, then select Import.
Good to know
- A one-time import is a copy. Changes you make later in the original calendar don't follow, unlike the live Google Calendar connection.
- A repeat rule with parts Thendoo doesn't support keeps only its first occurrence, and the report lists it. Extra dates added with RDATE are not read.
- An event whose time zone the file names but doesn't define is read in your own time zone, and the report says so.
- Outlook and iCloud calendars can't be connected live yet. They are candidates for a later phase.
Thendoo can import .ics calendar files today. iCalendar is the standard file format for calendars, and most calendar apps can export it, so this brings in events from almost anywhere, including calendars Thendoo can’t connect to live.
How it works
You upload the file in Settings, then Import, and see a preview with a count of events and a few samples. Each file becomes its own calendar in Thendoo, in a Space you choose. Nothing is written until you select Import.
- Time zones stay right. Each timed event keeps its original time zone, so a 9:00 meeting in Berlin stays 9:00 in Berlin. All-day events stay all-day.
- Repeating events stay repeating. Repeat rules come over when Thendoo supports every part of them. Cancelled occurrences stay cancelled, and occurrences that were moved or changed keep their changes.
- To-dos come along. If the file holds to-dos as well as events, they become tasks.
- No duplicates. Importing the same file again updates the events already there.
- Undo. The whole import can be removed for 30 days from Import history.
What doesn’t come over exactly
A repeat rule that uses parts Thendoo doesn’t support keeps only its first occurrence, and extra dates added outside the rule are not read. A time zone the file names but doesn’t define is read in your own zone. Each of these shows up in the import report, so nothing changes quietly.
When to use it
Use it for a one-time move, like bringing over a school timetable or an old work calendar. If you need a calendar to stay in step, a live connection is better. Google Calendar is live today, with the calendars you mark Show on Today on your timeline and time blocks optionally written back to a separate “Thendoo” calendar.
Troubleshooting
- Should I import my Google calendar as a file?
- Usually not. The live Google Calendar connection keeps events up to date. A file import is meant for calendars from apps Thendoo can't connect to, or a one-time move like an old work calendar.
- Some changed occurrences of a repeating event are missing.
- When a changed occurrence can't be matched to its series, Thendoo leaves it out rather than guess, and the import report counts it. Check those dates and adjust them in Thendoo.
- I imported the wrong file.
- Open Settings, then Import, find the run in Import history and select Undo. It removes the calendar and events that import added. Undo works for 30 days.
Checked against: www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5545, support.google.com/calendar/answer/37111