Add an ICS File to Your iPhone Calendar

Install it once

1. Tap Get the shortcut above.
2. The Shortcuts app opens with a preview of what it does. Scroll down and tap Add Shortcut.
3. That is it. It now lives in your share sheet.

Add any .ics file to your calendar

1. Open the .ics file wherever it is: the Files app, a Mail or Messages attachment, or a download in Safari.
2. Tap the Share button.
3. Tap ICS To Calendar in the share sheet.
4. Calendar shows what is in the file. Tap Add All, or just Add for a single event. You can pick which calendar the events go into first, including a Google calendar that is already set up on your phone.

If you open the shortcut from the Shortcuts app instead, it just reminds you to use the share sheet.

Why won't my iPhone open an ICS file?

Because iOS only knows what to do with an .ics file in a couple of places. Mail handles an .ics attachment natively (tap the attachment, then tap Add All), and tapping a link to an .ics file in Safari also offers to add the events. Everywhere else there is a gap: the Files app, Messages, and many third-party apps open the file as raw text or as a preview with no Add button anywhere. The shortcut fills that gap by handing the file straight to Calendar, which is what makes the import screen appear.

Two ways without a shortcut

Email it to yourself

Send the .ics file to your own address, open the message in Mail, tap the attachment, then tap Add All. Mail passes the events to Apple Calendar with nothing to install.

Open the link in Safari

If the .ics is a web link rather than a file you already have, tap it in Safari and iOS offers to add the events for you.

Neither one helps when the file is already sitting in the Files app or arrived through Messages or another third-party app. That is when the shortcut is the answer.

Check what is inside first

Not sure what is in the file? Open it in the ICS viewer to see every event before you import anything. If a file refuses to import, run it through the ICS validator to check it for errors.

No .ics file, just a flyer or a screenshot?

If you have a photo of a flyer, a poster, or a screenshot instead of a calendar file, photo to calendar reads it and builds the events for you. For a pasted email or a block of text, use text to calendar.