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Guide · Office and email

How to import an .ics file into Outlook (new Outlook, classic, web, Mac)

By Blink Brief · Updated  · How pages are made

In new Outlook for Windows, Outlook on the web and Outlook.com, go to Calendar › Add calendar › Upload from file, choose the .ics file and the calendar, and select Import. In classic Outlook for Windows, use File › Open & Export › Import/Export › Import an iCalendar (.ics) or vCalendar file (.vcs). In Outlook for Mac, drag the .ics file onto the calendar and click Import. An imported file is a snapshot; if you have a link, subscribe instead so it updates.

Short answer

  • New Outlook, Outlook on the web, Outlook.com: Calendar › Add calendar › Upload from file › Browse › choose the calendar › Import.
  • Classic Outlook for Windows: File › Open & Export › Import/Export › Import an iCalendar (.ics) or vCalendar file (.vcs) › Next › choose the file › Open as New.
  • Outlook for Mac: Calendar › drag the .ics file from Finder onto the calendar › Import.
  • Outlook phone app: import in Outlook on the web instead, with the same account.

Which Outlook do you have?

  • Outlook on the web or Outlook.com: Outlook in a browser tab, at outlook.office.com or outlook.live.com.
  • New Outlook for Windows: the newer Windows app, which Microsoft's pages call "new Outlook". Its calendar steps are the same as Outlook on the web's.
  • Classic Outlook for Windows: the app with a File menu at the top left (Outlook for Microsoft 365, 2024, 2021, 2019, 2016).
  • Outlook for Mac: the Mac app, with its own import.

If the steps for new Outlook don't match your screen, Microsoft's advice is to follow the classic Outlook steps instead: "If the steps under this New Outlook tab don't work, you may not be using new Outlook for Windows yet."

New Outlook and Outlook on the web: Upload from file

Microsoft's steps for Outlook on the web and Outlook.com:

  1. Save the .ics file to your computer.
  2. Select Calendar in the navigation pane, then Add calendar.
  3. Select Upload from file.
  4. Select Browse, choose the .ics file, and select Open.
  5. Select the calendar you want the file imported to, then select Import.

If you don't see Add calendar, Microsoft says the navigation pane is collapsed: select the three-lines icon at the top of the calendar to expand it.

New Outlook for Windows uses the same Calendar › Add calendar › Upload from file dialog; the University of Wisconsin–Stout's help page for new Outlook gives these steps and adds that you can drag the file into the Upload from file box instead of browsing. Microsoft's feature comparison between new and classic Outlook (last updated September 23, 2026) lists ".ics file support" in new Outlook as "Partially available", with the note: "Preview is available when you drag and drop an invitation onto the calendar."

Microsoft on what an import gives you: "When you import an .ics file, you get a snapshot of the events in the calendar at the time of import." It doesn't change when the sender's calendar does.

Classic Outlook: Import/Export and "Open as New"

Microsoft's steps for classic Outlook for Windows:

  1. Select File › Open & Export › Import/Export.
  2. In the Import and Export wizard, select Import an iCalendar (.ics) or vCalendar file (.vcs), then Next.
  3. Browse to the .ics file, select it, and select OK.
  4. Select Open as New.

Open as New puts the events in a calendar of their own: Microsoft says it opens side by side with yours and is added to the Navigation Pane under Other Calendars. That keeps someone else's schedule apart from your own events. Microsoft's warning applies here too: "The imported calendar is a static snapshot; it does not self-update."

Outlook for Mac

Microsoft's page "Import iCal items into Outlook for Mac" applies to Outlook for Microsoft 365 for Mac, Outlook 2024 for Mac and Outlook 2021 for Mac. Its steps:

  1. In Outlook, open Calendar at the bottom of the navigation pane.
  2. In the Finder, find the .ics file and drag it onto the Outlook calendar grid or list.
  3. Click Import.

Microsoft's note: "If you have multiple accounts configured in Outlook for Mac, you'll need to select the proper calendar when importing events." Outlook only reads .ics files: "Outlook can't import events saved in the iCal Archive (.icbu) format", which is what Apple Calendar's File › Export › Calendar Archive makes.

The Outlook phone app

Microsoft's import pages describe Outlook on the web, Outlook.com and the Windows and Mac apps; none gives steps for the Outlook app on iPhone or Android. If you only have the file on your phone, email it to yourself, open Outlook on the web on a computer with the same account, and use Upload from file. The events then show in the phone app with the rest of that calendar.

For the iPhone's own Calendar app, see adding an .ics file to the iPhone Calendar; for Google Calendar, adding an .ics file to Google Calendar from a phone.

When nothing imports

First, check what the file holds. A file with no events, or a web page saved under an .ics name, imports nothing in any version of Outlook.

Check the .ics file before you import it

To check it by hand:

  1. Open the file in a text editor, such as Notepad or TextEdit.
  2. It should start with BEGIN:VCALENDAR. Each event starts with BEGIN:VEVENT; count those lines to count the events.
  3. The SUMMARY: lines hold the titles and the DTSTART: lines the start dates.

If the file has events, go through the rest:

  • You opened the file instead of importing it. For new Outlook, Microsoft's feature comparison says dropping an invitation onto the calendar shows a preview. Use Upload from file, or Import/Export in classic Outlook, to bring in the whole file.
  • The events are in another calendar. Every version asks which calendar to import into, and classic Outlook's Open as New makes a new one under Other Calendars. Look there, and check that it's ticked to show.
  • The dates are outside your view. The check above gives the first and last dates: go to those weeks.
  • You have a link, not a file. In Outlook on the web, use Add calendar › Subscribe from web, enter the link and select Import. Microsoft says a subscribed calendar can take "more than 24 hours" to show changes.

Importing someone else's calendar into a shared one? Run it through the free Busy Calendar tool first, so the copy shows only "Busy" blocks: it keeps times and repeats and removes titles, notes, locations, attendees and links, in your browser. To get a file out of new Outlook, see exporting a calendar from new Outlook; to keep two calendars in step instead of copying, calendar sync tools compared.

Questions

How do I import an ICS file into new Outlook?

Go to Calendar, select Add calendar, then Upload from file. Browse to the .ics file (or drag it in), choose the calendar to import it to, and select Import. These are the steps Microsoft gives for Outlook on the web and Outlook.com, which new Outlook for Windows shares.

Why isn't my ICS file adding to my Outlook calendar?

Check four things: that you used Upload from file or Import/Export rather than double-clicking the file; that the file holds events (the check on this page counts them); which calendar you picked in the import; and, for a link, that you subscribed rather than imported. Microsoft's feature comparison also lists new Outlook's .ics support as "Partially available".

Can I import an ICS file in the Outlook mobile app?

Microsoft's import steps are for Outlook on the web, Outlook.com and the desktop apps, not the phone app. Import the file in Outlook on the web from a computer, with the same account; the events then show in the Outlook app on your phone.

Sources

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