How to Subscribe to a Calendar on iPhone and Mac

Subscribing to a calendar on iPhone and Mac lets you add a read-only feed — a holiday list, a team schedule, or a public iCloud calendar — using an .ics or webcal:// URL. This guide walks through the exact steps on each device and how to control how often the feed refreshes.

Before you start: get the link

You need the feed's URL, usually ending in .ics or starting with webcal://. Both work in Apple Calendar. If you only have a webcal:// link, you can paste it directly; if you have an https link, that works too. For where these links come from, see what is an .ics file and get a public iCloud link.

Subscribe on Mac

1. Open the Calendar app on macOS.
2. In the menu bar, choose File → New Calendar Subscription.
3. Paste the calendar URL and click Subscribe.
4. In the settings sheet, set:
   • Name and Color for the calendar.
   • Location — choose iCloud to sync the subscription to your other Apple devices, or On My Mac to keep it local.
   • Auto-refresh — how often Calendar checks for updates.
5. Click OK.

Tip: Choosing iCloud as the location means the subscription appears automatically on your iPhone and iPad, so you only have to add it once.

Subscribe on iPhone or iPad

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Apps → Calendar → Calendar Accounts (on older iOS, Settings → Calendar → Accounts).
3. Tap Add Account → Other.
4. Tap Add Subscribed Calendar.
5. Paste the URL into the Server field and tap Next.
6. Adjust the name and options, then tap Save.

The subscribed calendar now appears in the Calendar app, view-only.

Set the refresh frequency

Subscribed calendars are pull-based — your device periodically downloads a fresh copy. They do not update the instant the source changes.

• Mac: Right-click the subscribed calendar → Get Info (or reopen the subscription), then set Auto-refresh (e.g., every 5 minutes, hourly, daily).
• iPhone/iPad: Subscriptions follow your Fetch New Data settings under Settings → Apps → Calendar → Calendar Accounts → Fetch New Data. Set the schedule to Hourly or shorter for fresher updates.

If a feed seems stale, that's usually expected behavior, not a bug — see why subscribed calendars don't update instantly.

Subscribed vs imported

Subscribing is different from importing:

If you only want a one-time snapshot, import the .ics instead. For most feeds — holidays, sports, team schedules — subscribe so future changes flow in. See add a holiday or sports schedule.

Remove a subscription

• Mac: Right-click the calendar → Unsubscribe (or Delete).
• iPhone/iPad: Settings → Calendar → Accounts, tap the Subscribed Calendars account, select the feed, and tap Delete Account.

Troubleshooting

• "The URL is invalid" — double-check for typos; try swapping webcal:// for https:// or vice versa.
• Nothing shows up — make sure the subscribed calendar is ticked in the Calendar app's sidebar/list.
• Events look old — lower the refresh interval, and see why subscribed calendars don't update.

Related reading

• Subscribe to a calendar by URL in any app
• Sync iCloud Calendar with Google or Outlook

If you also use Google and Outlook, nocal unifies those calendars into one timeline — see how.