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Facebook calendar not syncing with Google Calendar at all
I have had heaps of issues getting my Facebook events to sync with my Google calendar. It worked brilliantly to start with, then it seemed to work only intermittently. I used Soren's work-around: https://sorenh.github.io/fbcal.html? which resolved the problem.
Now with the Facebook update, I'm having the same problem.
Using the link text provided by Facebook gives me events - but only events before it broke. I clicked "interested" to several events this weekend - and NONE of them are showing up on my Google Calendar.
So I've tried adding the prefix "webcal" as has been suggested, I've tried the old layout using the new Key, I've again tried Soren's work-around and nothing is working at all.
Anyone got any further clues as to how to get this to work?! - ridiculous that it's not.
Now with the Facebook update, I'm having the same problem.
Using the link text provided by Facebook gives me events - but only events before it broke. I clicked "interested" to several events this weekend - and NONE of them are showing up on my Google Calendar.
So I've tried adding the prefix "webcal" as has been suggested, I've tried the old layout using the new Key, I've again tried Soren's work-around and nothing is working at all.
Anyone got any further clues as to how to get this to work?! - ridiculous that it's not.
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Hi Willow, do you have any special characters, or quotation marks, in your Facebook name? I suggest you download the FB iCal file and run it through an online iCal validator. They don't pick up all potential issues, but they can help. If not, you'll have to start splitting the file in two manually in a text editor (keeping the iCal structure of BEGIN and END tags) and trying to import both halves. If a file fails to load, split in two again, rinse and repeat until you can narrow the problem down to a single event. Usually you'll find something in either one or several events which Google doesn't support, such as double-quotes or special characters in the CN field I mentioned first. Once you've found the problem then maybe you can fix it either by deleting the problematic event completely, or changing something in those events.
It may seem strange that problems like this occur, but the fine details of the iCal specs are interpreted slightly different by each calendar provider, and it's actually very hard to produce a completely consistent result in every calendar app with the same iCal file.
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Thanks Neil!
No, my FB name doesn't have any strange characters, and hasn't changed since this last worked.
That makes perfect sense and I'm perfectly comfortable with doing 99% of what you said.
That makes perfect sense and I'm perfectly comfortable with doing 99% of what you said.
But I cannot work out how to actually download the ical file from FB? I've been looking and so far can't find any straightforward ways to do just that.
As an afterthought, how does Google cope with events that have emojis in the title? I know a couple of events I've RSVP'd to have emojis (clinking glasses for a birthday party for example) - are these events possibly the cause of the problem?
TIA
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OK, so using Soren's link I think I was able to download the ics file - but it looks nothing like what I was expecting... there's no real way to "split it in half". It looks nothing like the individual ics files FB sends you when you choose to export an event (as opposed to your whole calendar). Here's a link to the 42 pages of ics info from FB:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HQpVmNgdLdyHceBMfWeeBuvqTiQbfGVFtfvZTklXJh8/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HQpVmNgdLdyHceBMfWeeBuvqTiQbfGVFtfvZTklXJh8/edit?usp=sharing
And here's the actual ICS file I was able to download:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YsRMj0EX9HTbWMcoYkx6j2JNX4p699OV/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YsRMj0EX9HTbWMcoYkx6j2JNX4p699OV/view?usp=sharing
Does this give you any ideas as to why this isn't working?
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Hi Willow, if you paste the link from Facebook into the browser's URL bar it should download the ICS file, is that how you got it? I'll take a look when I get to my computer, but it's quite possible that emojis could cause this.
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No. If I paste or click the link, all I get is a broken page. Nothing wants to download at all.
I put Facebook's link into Soren's tool and clicked the new link and it gave me the option to download - which is why the file is called FixFBCal.ics
I got the same content when I used the verifier above and asked it to show the source.
I tried importing the ics file into Google calendar and Outlook calendar - no dice.
I removed the emojis, it didn't help.
I'm almost ready to start a new account and just start rsvping to each event one at a time to try to narrow it down. It's so incredibly frustrating as I belong to several different clubs - all of which advertise their events on Facebook of course.
For now, I resorted to exporting each event via email to my calendar - but that's not sustainable...
And I put a web-shortcut to my Facebook calendar on my homepage next to my actual calendar - so at least if someone says "are you free next Friday?" I can open both and compare...but again, complete lack of inefficiency and not a great solution at all.
I appreciate you taking a look for me x
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Hi Willow,
I don't see how Soren's tool can download the ics data from your FB link, but your browser can't... are you sure you used the exact same URL? If the file passed online iCal validators then the only way to troubleshoot this that I know of is to split the iCal file (raw or Soren's) in half, test import to Google and repeat that process on failed sections until you narrow it down to a single event which refuses to import. Hopefully analyzing that event will tell you why the feed fails, and you can maybe fix the offending events.
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It didn't pass either of the the validators.
I put the results up a few replies up.
Urgh. My response was flagged as "off topic" which is maybe why you didn't see it.
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Hi Willow,
You are not using the correct URL: the file you are using is actually a webpage that you "saved", not an iCal file. You need to go to https://www.facebook.com/events/ and scroll down... to the right you'll see the text:
"You can add your events to Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar or Apple Calendar. Once you add them, they'll stay updated. Learn More.
Upcoming Events", like the picture below where I have right clicked (on macOS) on "Upcoming Events".
Upcoming Events", like the picture below where I have right clicked (on macOS) on "Upcoming Events".
So you copy the link address for "UPCOMING EVENTS", which will be an address in the format:
https://www.facebook.com/events/ical/upcoming/?uid=680668213&key=b3OJe7HFsNf9ZhFl
(that's not a real one, but the address should look similar). You can then paste that URL into a browser address bar to download the iCal file.
The problem then is to figure out which event in it is causing problems using "divide, import, repeat" I mentioned above.
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That's exactly what I'm doing...
And when I CLICK the link address, I get a broken page - no option to download - I'll try Firefox later today and see if that makes a difference.
When I COPY the link address and paste it into Google calendar, nothing imports.
Here is the copied link
Huh. Funnily enough doing it on Chrome for my mobile I actually got a download option with a long press... But it still just took me to a broken link page.
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Hi Willow, if the FB link doesn't even download a valid iCal file then the problem is clearly at Facebook's end, and you'll need to contact them to resolve it.
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Grrr...which is of course impossible!
I've sent a bug report to Facebook...I really hope they get on board to help, but I don't like my chances 😢 ...meaning I likely have to live with this broken link which is a real problem tbh.
I had no luck with Firefox either. CLICKING the link takes me "sorry, this content isn't available right now", no prompt to download anything at all.
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Hi Willow,
I don't know which you'd have more luck with in general as regards tech support... but in this case it's clear that only FB will be able to help. I assume this was working previously, in which case you could try removing the events that you added most recently until the feed starts working again. Not a great solution, but I can't see any other options.
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You still think it's related to an event(s)? And not just a faulty link?
I am prepared to do that... anything to get this working again - it's kinda how I run my life!
I am prepared to do that... anything to get this working again - it's kinda how I run my life!
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HI Willow, what did FB support say about it? Did you already try downloading the iCal file on a different machine, different browser and different network, just in case?
If you don't have too many events then I'd try deleting them until the link starts working. If you've got too many for that to be practical... then I think you should keep trying until FB tell you why that link is broken.
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Look.
I'm having the same problem. I had my FB events linked with my Google Calendar. Worked for more than a year. Now it's gone.
And I can't even find a settings option for events in FB. And if I try the events URL option in Google, the FB events are all wacky now.
Please don't tell us we aren't having this problem. It's borderline gaslighting.
I'm having the same problem. I had my FB events linked with my Google Calendar. Worked for more than a year. Now it's gone.
And I can't even find a settings option for events in FB. And if I try the events URL option in Google, the FB events are all wacky now.
Please don't tell us we aren't having this problem. It's borderline gaslighting.
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Hi Stacia, I'm not saying you aren't having the problem, I'm explaining why it isn't Google's responsibility to ensure their system works with FB Events, but rather the other way around: if FaceBook users are unhappy with the Events feed FB provides because it doesn't work with Google, Yahoo or Whatever Calendar, they should complain to Facebook. If FB determine that their system is correctly formatting the feed, but that Google Calendar misinterprets it (there is a standard Calendar specification), they should resolve it directly with Google, or come to an agreement if it turns out to be a case of the iCal format being interpreted differently.
As an example, Facebook allows quotation marks within an Organiser's name, Google Calendar doesn't. Google isn't wrong to disallow them and FB has every right to use them. Who should fix the problem?
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I've been working on this with another FB account - I've started to transfer my events to another account - and the .ics calendar download link is working correctly - unlike on my real FB feed where I'm getting that broken link...
So far so good, haven't yet found the "broken" event, but slowly working my way through it.
You mentioned quotation marks within an organiser's name - anything else I should be looking for?
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Hello,
Is there ANY update on this? i am having this issue aswell, and its been driving me up the wall for months. i have tried everything written on the net on that topic, and i simply cannot get this to work.
infact, if i hit the calendar link on FB, i get the "You are not authorized to view this feed" message, which is even more insane. ...
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I have the same problem and the new Facebook design doesn't show that export event feature...
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There's no option for this on the new FB at all....any word??
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Hi Courtney, Frederik,
I can't find it either in the new interface. I suggest you switch back to the "Classic" view (top right in the downward arrow), and let FB know the iCal URL seems to have disappeared. It's still there on the Classic view as I described above (https://support.google.com/calendar/thread/51353363?hl=en&msgid=53501928)
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Thank you very much. The suggestion for pages is correct!
https://www.facebook.com/events/ical/upcoming/ this is the structure we need a uid and key
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