how-to-force-google-calendar-to-refresh-subscribed-calendar.md

Given a subscribed calendar with a url like

https://example.com/example.ics

To force Google Calendar to refresh and reload the contents right now, unsubscribe from the calendar and subscribe to a new calendar with a URL like

https://example.com/example.ics#1

Adding the anchor tag will force Google Calendar to think of it as a new calendar

Many people who come to this gist are not looking for a one time forced refresh but instead to refresh recurringly. If that's you, you should check out @derekantrican 's Google App Script

https://github.com/derekantrican/GAS-ICS-Sync

Which can refresh a calendar automatically every N minutes

https://script.google.com/home/projects/1BOk8MDLbLaHh6SwG1M1tsgNXjkcC-79LE0QoipRuTDxbO3fMVvqoROQD/edit

Thanks to @rattrayalex for pointing people to this script

Hello everyone. So I installed the script and it was working with very few errors on the first few days. Now it's at a 95% error rate and not syncing my calendars as it was before. Any ideas why this would happen? Have others experiecned this? I'm assuming the code/script is up to date?

The error for failed attempt is as follows:

Error DNS error: http://icsUrl1 at callWithBackoff(Helpers:939:9) at fetchSourceCalendars(Helpers:80:5) at startSync(Code:159:21)

@stefmikhail looks like you left the URL as "icsurl1" instead of updating it to an actual URL of the source calendar (see lines 28-30)

that said, if you do not understand what a Google Apps Script does, you may not want to give it access to your stuff 😬

This Google Apps Script can refresh a calendar automatically every N minutes: https://script.google.com/home/projects/1BOk8MDLbLaHh6SwG1M1tsgNXjkcC-79LE0QoipRuTDxbO3fMVvqoROQD/edit

It works brilliantly! Thanks!

Flawless function and very simple installation. The clear, direct instructions (even down to "the button looks like this") and examples made this so easy to install. I really appreciate this; you've solved a constant headache I've had for over a year. Thanks so much.

i signed up for a github account just to say THANK YOU for this

Worked like a charm thanks to the comments telling me what I was doing wrong. A thank you from a non-coding PM who needs all her calendars in one place. :)

I copied the script and tried to launch just to get an error "Script function not found: install". Does is still work? What am I doing wrong?

Works like a charm. Thank you for providing this. The "native" way not working - creating an ICS link and subscribing to it - drove me nuts. Now I can see all my calendar entries again in one place. Perfect.

@Kavadera
Follow the instructions - there are a couple of steps to complete before it works

1. Make your own copy: Go to the project overview icon on the left (looks like this: ⓘ), then click the "copy" icon on the top right (looks like two files on top of each other)
2. Settings: Change lines 24-50 to the settings you want to use. Perhaps don't change more than to enter the ICS link and ensure the target calendar exists - you need to create the target first in your Google calendar view—all that is to modify line 28.
3. Install: Make sure your toolbar says "install" to the right of "Debug", then click "Run"
4. Authorize: You will be prompted to authorize the program and will need to click "Advanced" > "Go to GAS-ICS-Sync (unsafe)"
   (For steps to follow in authorization, see this video: https://youtu.be/_5k10maGtek?t=1m22s )

Turned out, if you run the script without editing the ICS link, the script crashes and self-destroys itself. After I recreated another copy and added the URL to calendar ICS , the error didn't appear again. Not very user-friendly, but it finally works. Thanks to the author!

The Google script worked for me!

Now my outlook 365 calendar via .ics refreshes every minute on gmail :). Thank you for the help.

Any recommendations for the interval for refreshing? Are there any problems with a short interval that refreshes the calendar too frequently?

I have set mine to every 15 minutes and have had no issues.

Just to help people out if they need it:

• On the "Code.gs" page, when you follow step 1 and click on the ⓘ, then click the "copy" icon on the top right (looks like two files on top of each other), a new window/tab will open with a Google Apps Scripts project called Copy of GAS-ICS-Sync that you will then customize

• On the "Code.gs" page, when you follow step 2, you want to go down to Line 28 of the script code and replace:
  icsUrl1
  ...with the URL of the subscribed calendar that you want Google-Calendar to re-fresh or re-sync with

and also replace:
targetCalendar1
...with the Name of the calendar in Google-Calendar that corresponds to the subscribed calendar
NOTE - I did not type the name of the subscribed calendar exactly the same by mistake, and a new subscribed calendar was created under "My Calendars" that was a duplicate of the previously subscribed calendar under "Other Calendars" - this was no big deal, I just un-ticked the subscribed calendar under "Other calendars" for now (I could remove it completely if I want)

• Repeat the above 2 steps if you have additional calendars

• Otherwise, you can delete the lines of code that have example text for other calendars

• Then follow the rest of the instructions (I left the other lines of code as-is; the info on the "Code.gs" pages explains what all the settings are and you can decide how to set them)

It works for me, and I had never done anything like this before!

Is there a way to re-share the resulting google calendar.
I want to share with my family (wife and kids) the google calendar created by this script, If I can re-share, I do not have to install the scripts in all family accounts. Currently it is not possible to re-share in google calendar user interface.

Just one quick note. I dont use Chrome. I notice when I tried to install this script using Firefox, when it asks to approve the permissions I was getting 'Something went wrong. Please try again later'.

Had to use Edge for it to install successfully and grant the relevant permissions.

https://script.google.com/home/projects/1BOk8MDLbLaHh6SwG1M1tsgNXjkcC-79LE0QoipRuTDxbO3fMVvqoROQD/edit

This is fantastic, thanks! One change to Settings would be nice:

var onlyFutureEvents = true;
// If you turn this to "true", past events will not be synced (this will also removed past events from the target calendar if removeEventsFromCalendar is true)

It would be nice to have onlyFutreEvents true to make the sync faster, but also leave removeEventFromCalendar also true so any future events that are deleted get removed, but past events aren't touched.

This is absolutely fabulous! Million thanks to @derekantrican for making it!

Thank you very much for that. Awesome!

I am trying to use this great tool, but after a few entries are added to my calendar the output log shows:

Dec 1, 2023, 10:45:39 AM Error API call to calendar.events.insert failed with error: Bad Request
at callWithBackoff(Helpers:939:9)
at processEvent(Helpers:241:20)
at unknown function
at startSync(Code:202:15)

and then no further entries are added.

Any ideas?

This is the ICS file:
webcal://clubv1.blob.core.windows.net:443/diary-events/127/5bff3598-4200-4f24-ac99-d4c38f3ca6b2.ics

I am trying to use this great tool, but after a few entries are added to my calendar the output log shows:

Dec 1, 2023, 10:45:39 AM Error API call to calendar.events.insert failed with error: Bad Request at callWithBackoff(Helpers:939:9) at processEvent(Helpers:241:20) at unknown function at startSync(Code:202:15)

and then no further entries are added.

Any ideas?

This is the ICS file: webcal://clubv1.blob.core.windows.net:443/diary-events/127/5bff3598-4200-4f24-ac99-d4c38f3ca6b2.ics

@kennysarmy1 The file you are trying to sync does not comply to the ical standard. Have a look at derekantrican/GAS-ICS-Sync#289 derekantrican/GAS-ICS-Sync#237 for similar reports.

When I use the anchor tag (#1) to update my calendar, it works perfectly. I added the anchor tag to the webcal url in Google Calendar. I don’t want to go in manually and change the calendar all the time, so I installed the script and I run it without errors but my calendar is not updating.

On line 28 ["icsUrl1", "targetCalendar1"], I added in my target url and calendar name.

This is the webcal url for the calendar: webcal://p114-caldav.icloud.com/published/2/OTU0NTQwNzk1NDU0MDc5NY0GfaMdNrmofxaskYFk8I9ZnMV1JBhhZIkTGL90GL00#1

This is the public url to this calendar from Google: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=udru2fk5hldka3rbj4u9cm5frb63b6f0%40import.calendar.google.com&ctz=America%2FNew_York

I’m pretty sure that I am making a mistake with the url. I tried many different combinations from above but no luck. I was hoping that someone could point me in the right direction? Thank you!!

On line 28 ["icsUrl1", "targetCalendar1"], I added in my target url and calendar name.

You have to add the source url not the target url. The second item is the name of the google calendar you want to sync to (in case you want to sync to your main calendar you have to use the account gmail address)

On line 28 ["icsUrl1", "targetCalendar1"], I added in my target url and calendar name.

You have to add the source url not the target url. The second item is the name of the google calendar you want to sync to (in case you want to sync to your main calendar you have to use the account gmail address)

@jonas0b1011001 Thank you so much for the quick response! I really appreciate it! I will add the source file in a bit. Thanks!

I finally got this working and it’s great! I wanted to post a mistake I was making in case it helps anyone out in the future. It seems like a simple mistake but took me a few days to figure out.

I created a calendar in Google from an iCloud url called “Appointments.” It was a read-only calendar. When I added in my source url and target calendar on code.gs line 28, nothing worked. I thought I was inputting the wrong url.

After searching the boards, I realized I needed to create a new calendar in Google and delete the read-only calendar. I called the new calendar “Appointments” as well. I put in my source url and the target calendar (Appointments) and everything worked. Hope this makes sense and I hope it helps.

Is the issue arising only because google calendar refreshes infrequently, or is it because they NEVER refresh? I am almost certain that some of the calendars I subscribe to are updated from time to time but I never checked how promptly

It's because google calendar refreshes infrequently. I'm not sure how long it takes to refresh but it is a considerable amount of time. It will update eventually but I wanted it to refresh much more quickly. This solved the problem for me.

ok thanks but does infrequently mean hours or days/weeks?

It usually takes some where between 12 and 24 hours to refresh.

Great!

Thank you so much! @derekantrican, you are a lifesaver!