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Add a Google or Outlook calendar with a link

Paste a calendar's private ICS link to see its events in Plexii straight away. Read-only, refreshed every 15 minutes, and no sign-in needed.

All plansUpdated

The quickest way to see your Google or Outlook calendar in Plexii is to paste its private link. Every calendar has one: an address ending in .ics that publishes its events. Plexii reads it and shows the events beside your own blocks, in their own colour.

A calendar added this way is read-only. Its events appear in Plexii, and nothing you do in Plexii changes them. If you want Plexii to write your blocks back to Google or Outlook as well, sign in to the account instead. See Sign in to Google or Microsoft calendars.

Adding a calendar with a link is part of every plan.

Before you start

Find your calendar's private ICS link. Plexii shows these steps too: click Where is my Google Calendar link? or Where is my Outlook link? in the Calendars panel.

Google Calendar

  1. In Google Calendar, rest the pointer on the calendar, click its ⋮ menu, then Settings and sharing.
  2. Scroll to Integrate calendar.
  3. Copy Secret address in iCal format.

Outlook

  1. In Outlook, go to Settings > Calendar > Shared calendars.
  2. Under Publish a calendar, pick the calendar and Can view all details.
  3. Click Publish, then copy the ICS link.

Add the calendar

  1. Open Calendar. In the side menu, under Apps, click Calendar in the Tools group.
  2. Click Calendars in the toolbar.
  3. Under Add a calendar, paste the link into the first box.
  4. Type a name in the Name box, for example Work. If you leave it blank, the calendar is called Calendar.
  5. Click Add.

Plexii reads the calendar straight away and tells you what it found, for example Connected — 128 events in view. If the calendar has nothing coming up, it says Connected. The feed has no events in the next two years.

The calendar joins Your calendars with the source Feed. Give it a colour there. See Manage your calendars.

What you will see

  • Events from the calendar appear in every view, from Day to Year, in the calendar's colour.
  • In the day and week views they are drawn flat with a coloured edge, so you can tell them from your own blocks. Rest the pointer on one to see its title and place.
  • Plexii keeps events from one year back to two years ahead.
  • The calendar refreshes by itself every 15 minutes while PlexiDesk is open. Click Refresh now on its row to refresh it at once.

If Plexii cannot read the link, a message says why, and the calendar is still listed carrying the same message so you can fix it.

  • Check you copied the whole link. It usually ends in .ics, and starts with https:// or webcal://. Both work.
  • Check it is the calendar link, not a web page. If Plexii says the address returned a page rather than a calendar feed, copy Secret address in iCal format in Google Calendar, or the ICS link from Publish a calendar in Outlook.
  • If you reset the link in Google or Outlook, the old one stops working. Remove the calendar in Plexii and add it again with the new link.

Common questions

Can I change or delete an event from Plexii? No. A calendar added with a link is one-way: its row says One-way: a published feed cannot be written back to. Change the event in Google or Outlook, and Plexii shows the change at the next refresh.

Why does an event show no Join button or guest list? A link brings in each event's title, time and place. To see the Join button, guests and your own reply, sign in to the account instead. See Meetings from your Google or Outlook calendar.

Can I add more than one calendar? Yes. Add each calendar's link in the same way and give each a different colour.

How do I stop seeing it? Click its coloured dot to hide it for a while, or click Remove to take it off for good.

Still need help? Contact support at [email protected].