How to change the update frequency of a calendar I am subscribing to

Context

This article is primarily intended for those who subscribe to Stellar and LMOD calendars to display in their personal calendar applications, but applies to internet calendar subscriptions in general.

Answer

Unfortunately different calendar programs use different ways of controlling the update frequency for pulling in subscribed calendar information. Here we try to summarize this information for the most commonly used calendar apps.

Apple Calendar/iCal (Mac OS)

• Internet calendar subscriptions in Apple Calendar will be indicated by this icon in the list of calendars
• To change the update frequency of a subscribed calendar
  1. Select the calendar in the sidebar and then choose Get Info from the Edit menu
  2. If you selected a subscribed internet calendar, you will see an Auto-refresh popup menu
  3. Select your desired refresh frequency from the Auto-refresh pop-up menu
  4. Click OK to save your changes

Apple iOS Calendar (iPhone and iPad)

1. Navigate to the Settings app
2. Tap on Calendar to go to calendar settings
3. Tap on Accounts to see all your calendar accounts and subscriptions
4. Tap on Fetch New Data
5. Scroll down to the Fetch section and select your desired update frequency

Note that unlike your desktop Apple Calendar, on iOS the setting applies to all calendar subscriptions that are set to Fetch. Calendar updates will happen in the background, and for large calendars frequent updates can cause your battery to drain faster. Keep that in mind when you select an update frequency.

Microsoft Outlook 2013 (Windows)

We have not directly confirmed this yet, but 3rd-party documentation indicates that Outlook for Windows observes the non-standard X-PUBLISHED-TTL setting in an iCal feed to set automatic update frequency. Stellar and LMOD iCal feeds do not currently set this value, which means updates may be limited to when Outlook performs a Send & Receive operation. If your Outlook program is not set to automatically run Send & Receive periodically, you can adjust this interval in File > Options > Advanced.

Needs to be tested and confirmed The above information comes from documentation, but has not been tested and confirmed. We'll update this article once we have done so.

Microsoft Outlook 2016 (Mac OS)

Outlook 2016 for Mac OS does not allow you to directly subscribe to internet calendars or adjust the update interval.

Needs to be tested and confirmed The above information comes from documentation, but has not been tested and confirmed. We'll update this article once we have done so.

Google Calendar (web)

Google Calendar does not allow you to adjust the update interval for iCal calendar subscriptions, and does not observe a TTL set in the calendar feed. Google Calendar updates feed information once every 8 hours.

Needs to be tested and confirmed The above information comes from documentation, but has not been tested and confirmed. We'll update this article once we have done so.

Google Calendar (Android)

Google Calendar does not allow you to adjust the update interval for iCal calendar subscriptions, and does not observe a TTL set in the calendar feed. Google Calendar updates feed information once every 24 hours.

Needs to be tested and confirmed The above information comes from documentation, but has not been tested and confirmed. We'll update this article once we have done so.

Microsoft Outlook 2010 (Windows)

No information.

Needs to be tested and confirmed The above information comes from documentation, but has not been tested and confirmed. We'll update this article once we have done so.

Microsoft Outlook 2011 (Mac OS)

No information.

Needs to be tested and confirmed The above information comes from documentation, but has not been tested and confirmed. We'll update this article once we have done so.

Microsoft Outlook Online (Office 365)

No information.

Needs to be tested and confirmed The above information comes from documentation, but has not been tested and confirmed. We'll update this article once we have done so.

See also

• Learning Modules (LMOD) Calendar Subscriptions
• Google: Add someone else's Google calendar (click on the Add using a link section)
• Apple Calendar/iCal: Subscribe to calendars
• Outlook Web App: Open an Internet calendar in Outlook Web App