Can't import Google calendar, please help

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The Basics

  • Nextcloud Server version (e.g., 29.x.x):
    • not sure where to look - provided by Disroot anyway
  • Operating system and version (e.g., Ubuntu 24.04):
    • Ubuntu Studio 24.04
  • Web server and version (e.g, Apache 2.4.25):
    • replace me
  • Reverse proxy and version _(e.g. nginx 1.27.2)
    • replace me
  • PHP version (e.g, 8.3):
    • replace me
  • Is this the first time you’ve seen this error? (Yes / No):
    • yes
  • When did this problem seem to first start?
    • 1800 hrs, 20/10/2026
  • Installation method (e.g. AlO, NCP, Bare Metal/Archive, etc.)
    • already running online
  • Are you using CloudfIare, mod_security, or similar? (Yes / No)
    • IDK

Summary of the issue you are facing:

[Cannot import Google .ics calendar file into nextcloud’s Calendar app. Does not populate]

Steps to replicate it (hint: details matter!):

  1. Import calendar to Calendar app

  2. Look for evidence of import

  3. Doesn’t work here

Log entries

Nextcloud

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sorry I'm not that clever

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PASTE

Web server / Reverse Proxy

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Configuration

Nextcloud

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PASTE HERE

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2

Hi @tillymoose, no need for logs yet, this is usually one of a few simple things:

When you export from Google Calendar (Settings > Import & export > Export), Google gives you a .zip file, not an .ics. Unzip it first. Inside there is one .ics file per calendar, and those are what you import.

In the Nextcloud Calendar app, open Calendar settings at the bottom left and use Import calendar. Pick the .ics file and choose which calendar it should go into (or a new one).

After the import, make sure that calendar is ticked as visible in the left sidebar, and jump to a date you know has events. If your Google calendar is mostly older events, the current week can look empty even when the import worked.

If the file is very large, the import can time out on a hosted instance. In that case try importing one calendar file at a time.

If none of that works, tell us what you see after you click import (an error message, a spinner, or nothing at all) and that will narrow it down.

Cheers from the Novastart team, where we build an infinite canvas workspace.

3

Thanks, it was my impatience and ignorance. I can now see dates populating the calendar if I sit back and let it digest.

I saw no gauge for the progress of the ingestion of the .ics file, hence I suspected some file incompatibility etc.

I’d like to suggest adding a progress bar at this point, for the future unwary.

Best regards!