If you really want to do repeating events correctly, don't make a pile of repeating events in the spreadsheet. Import the single events (non-repeating) that you exported from a spreadsheet to your Google calendar then export it as an .ics from the calendar and open it in a text editor. Then you just "find and replace all" for: END:VEVENT with RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY END:VEVENT That will make all the events repeating yearly. There's also "DAILY" "WEEKLY" etc. If you want to see what the proper fields are for different event settings, make an event with those options, export it and then open the .ics to see the format. This way, you actually have a repeating event that you can edit and update all future occurrences instead of having a pile of events you'd have to edit.
When talking about why it's important to import into a new, temporary, test calendar, you say you would need to manually delete each event, one at a time, because they are not recurring events. Is there a way to set up the CSV so Google Calendar imports the events as recurring events? If I go to Susan Jones' birthday, in your example, and click to edit it, I want it to show that it recurs annually forever, or at least shows annually for 4 years, but it seems with this method each birthday would be a stand-alone event. Am I right that this is a work-around to make single events as-if-they-are recurring events?
Look at ,my other comment. You just have to first import to a temp calendar, then export as an .ics file. Open that file in a text editor and you can add a few lines, save and reimport to your final calendar as real repeating events.
Hi I would like to add data to my excel file without importing it every time and add it automatically straight to google calendar when updated on my excel file.
That is not possible with the import. Maybe, using a 3rd party app you could set up a connection between Google Sheets and the calendar. I haven't tested that, but I bet there is something available.
You'd want to look into writing a scheduled script on your computer that basically imports it for you whenever the modified date on the CSV file changes - it would need to see the modified date change, export the google calendar, compare the two for differences, make a separate file of those differences, import the differences, and either delete the differences file or save it somewhere for reference. It might also need a way to know the difference between an altered event and a new event... maybe even the ability to delete an event I think at that point in the script, you'd realize it's a lot easier to ditch the excel sheet and just work directly in the calendar itself
If you really want to do repeating events correctly, don't make a pile of repeating events in the spreadsheet. Import the single events (non-repeating) that you exported from a spreadsheet to your Google calendar then export it as an .ics from the calendar and open it in a text editor. Then you just "find and replace all" for:
END:VEVENT
with
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY
END:VEVENT
That will make all the events repeating yearly. There's also "DAILY" "WEEKLY" etc. If you want to see what the proper fields are for different event settings, make an event with those options, export it and then open the .ics to see the format. This way, you actually have a repeating event that you can edit and update all future occurrences instead of having a pile of events you'd have to edit.
Find and Replace using :
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY
END:VEVENT
with Extended ( Search mode ) does the job in Notepad++
this worked just right. Exactly what i was looking for. Thanks @datmeme8967
When talking about why it's important to import into a new, temporary, test calendar, you say you would need to manually delete each event, one at a time, because they are not recurring events. Is there a way to set up the CSV so Google Calendar imports the events as recurring events? If I go to Susan Jones' birthday, in your example, and click to edit it, I want it to show that it recurs annually forever, or at least shows annually for 4 years, but it seems with this method each birthday would be a stand-alone event. Am I right that this is a work-around to make single events as-if-they-are recurring events?
Look at ,my other comment. You just have to first import to a temp calendar, then export as an .ics file. Open that file in a text editor and you can add a few lines, save and reimport to your final calendar as real repeating events.
Hi I would like to add data to my excel file without importing it every time and add it automatically straight to google calendar when updated on my excel file.
That is not possible with the import. Maybe, using a 3rd party app you could set up a connection between Google Sheets and the calendar. I haven't tested that, but I bet there is something available.
You'd want to look into writing a scheduled script on your computer that basically imports it for you whenever the modified date on the CSV file changes - it would need to see the modified date change, export the google calendar, compare the two for differences, make a separate file of those differences, import the differences, and either delete the differences file or save it somewhere for reference. It might also need a way to know the difference between an altered event and a new event... maybe even the ability to delete an event
I think at that point in the script, you'd realize it's a lot easier to ditch the excel sheet and just work directly in the calendar itself