Module 5 · 5.3

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Importing and syncing on all your devices

Module 5: Calendar and contacts · Reading time: 11 minutes

Learning objective: After this lesson you can import calendars and contacts without duplicates, sync them on iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows and in Outlook, and cleanly switch off the old sync.

Key terms: importing, empty calendar or address book, duplicates, merging, subscribing (read-only), iOS account (CalDAV and CardDAV), DAVx5, Thunderbird, CalDav Synchronizer, default calendar, switching off the old sync

The order that prevents duplicates

The most common problem after a switch isn't that something is missing, but that everything appears twice. This is almost always down to the order you do things in. Stick to this:

Import first, in the web interface of your new service.
Check that the numbers add up (lesson 5.2).
Only then set up the devices.
Switch off the old sync on each device as soon as the new one works.

If you reverse this order, here's what happens: your phone still has all your Google contacts, you add the new CardDAV account, the phone uploads "its" contacts to the new address book, and then you also import the vcf file. Then everyone ends up in there two or three times.

Importing into an empty calendar or an empty address book

Import a file once, and preferably into a new, empty calendar or a new, empty address book. Give it a recognisable name, for example "Work (from Google)". If something goes wrong, you simply delete that one calendar or address book and start again, without touching your other data.

If you're not sure whether an import worked, check the list first before trying again. A second import of the same file creates duplicates with most services; only if the appointments have the same UID and go into the same calendar does the server recognise them.

For the bakery this means: everyone imports their own calendar into their own "Personal" calendar, and the administrator sets up the shared "Delivery schedule" calendar once and shares it with the team.

Still got duplicates?

Just a few: merge them pair by pair in the address book.
Everything duplicated: create a new, empty address book, import the original file once, and delete the duplicate address book.
On a Mac or iPhone: the Contacts app can detect duplicates itself and suggest merging them; the result goes back to the server via CardDAV.

Always download a copy of the address book (vcf) before you start tidying up.

Subscribing instead of importing

You don't need to move every calendar over. School holidays, your sports club's fixtures or public holidays are calendars belonging to someone else that you just want to view. You subscribe to these with a link (an ics address). A subscription is read-only and refreshes itself. If you import a calendar like this instead, you end up with a copy that's never updated again.

The reverse is also possible: if you want to show a calendar from your new service in a program that doesn't support CalDAV, such as Outlook on the web, you create a subscription link. Be careful: anyone with that link can see the calendar. Only use this for a calendar without any private information.

Setting up per device

For each device you need the server address, your username and an app password (lesson 5.1). Create a separate app password for each device.

Device or program	How	Watch out for
iPhone and iPad	Settings, Calendar (or Apps, Calendar), Accounts, Other: CalDAV account; and under Contacts a CardDAV account	two accounts: one for the calendar, one for contacts; then choose your new calendar as the default calendar
Android	the DAVx5 app (on Google Play and F-Droid); this puts calendars and contacts into your phone's standard apps	exclude DAVx5 from battery optimisation, otherwise the sync will stop
Mac	System Settings, Internet Accounts, Add Other Account: CalDAV and CardDAV
Thunderbird	Calendar: new calendar on the network; Address Book: CardDAV address book	Thunderbird often finds calendars by itself from the server address
Classic Outlook for Windows	the free CalDav Synchronizer add-in, into a new, empty calendar folder	doesn't work in new Outlook, Outlook on the web or Outlook for Mac; there you only get a subscription link (read-only)

The default calendar

A common mistake: the new calendar is set up, but new appointments you create on your phone end up in iCloud, in "On My iPhone" or in your old Google calendar. This is down to your phone's default calendar. Set this to the calendar from your new service. The same applies to the default account for new contacts.

Switching off the old sync

Once the new sync is working on a device, switch off the old one:

iPhone: under Settings, Calendar, Accounts, open the Google or Exchange account and switch off Calendars and Contacts (or remove the account entirely if it's no longer needed for mail).
Android: in the account settings, switch off calendar and contacts sync for the Google account. Note: you often still need the Google account itself on Android for the Play Store. You only switch off the calendar and contacts sync.
Outlook: only remove the Microsoft 365 account once the mail has also been moved (module 4).

Do this per device and tick it off your list. With twelve staff each having a phone and a laptop, that's 24 devices.

Setting up sharing and collaboration again

Shared calendars don't carry over automatically. Set them up again after the import:

share the shared calendars with the right colleagues or a group, with edit or read-only rights;
deliberately make calendars that need to be visible outside the organisation (an opening hours or appointments calendar) public, on purpose and separately;
agree who sends invitations for shared appointments, so there aren't two organisers.

In practice: what it looks like with a provider

In a WebOké Nextcloud, you import a calendar in the Calendar app, at the bottom left under Calendar settings, with Import calendar: you choose the ics file and the calendar the appointments should go into. You import contacts in the Contacts app, under Contacts settings. On the iPhone you add a CalDAV account and a CardDAV account; if the iPhone says it can't verify the account, enter the full address shown under Server Address for iOS and macOS in Calendar settings. On Android you log in to DAVx5 via your Nextcloud's login screen, after which DAVx5 creates an app password itself. For classic Outlook you use CalDav Synchronizer. Other CalDAV services work the same way on the same devices; only the server address differs.

Summary

Import and check first, then set up devices, then switch off the old sync: that's how you avoid duplicates.
Import each file once, into a new, empty calendar or a new, empty address book.
Subscribe to other people's calendars instead of importing them.
iPhone and Mac support CalDAV and CardDAV natively; Android needs DAVx5; classic Outlook needs the CalDav Synchronizer add-in.
Set the default calendar to your new service and set up shared calendars again.

Quiz

Exercise

Exercise E5.3: One device, completely done. Choose your own phone. Import (or check) your calendar and contacts in the new service, connect the phone with its own app password, set the default calendar correctly and switch off the old sync. Then create a test appointment on your phone and check whether it appears in the web calendar. Fill in the checklist.

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