Calendar links for Google, Apple and Outlook

In Google Calendar it is the secret address in iCal format. In iCloud it is the link you get by making a calendar public. In Outlook it is the ICS link you get by publishing a calendar. The steps for each are below, checked against the companies' own help pages on 10 October 2026.

At a glance

Service	What the link is called	How to switch it off
Google Calendar	Secret address in iCal format	Reset, which replaces the address
Apple iCloud	The link for a Public Calendar	Turn off Public Calendar
Outlook.com and Microsoft 365	ICS link, under Publish a calendar	Unpublish

Google's steps need a computer. Apple's work on an iPhone, a Mac or iCloud.com. Microsoft's are for Outlook on the web and new Outlook for Windows.

Google Calendar

These steps follow Google's page on syncing your calendar with other programs.

1. On your computer, open Google Calendar.
2. At the top right, click Settings, then Settings in the menu.
3. On the left, under "Settings for my calendars", click the name of the calendar you want to use.
4. Click Integrate calendar.
5. In the section "Secret address in iCal format", copy the link.

Who can read it. Google says only you should know the secret address, and that you should not give it to other people. Its purpose is to let you view your calendar in another application. Pasting it into an app is that use, and it means trusting the app.

To reset it. Click Reset. Google says this invalidates the old address and creates a new one.

If you cannot find it. On a work or school account, Google says your administrator may have changed the sharing settings. Ask them, or use a file instead, as described at the end of this page.

Apple iCloud Calendar

iCloud has no secret address. To get a link you make one calendar public, which gives anyone with the link a read-only view of it. Publish only the calendar you need and leave the rest private.

On an iPhone

From Apple's guide to sharing iCloud calendars on iPhone:

1. Open the Calendar app.
2. Tap the Calendars button, then tap the Info button next to the iCloud calendar you want.
3. Turn on Public Calendar.
4. Tap Share Link and copy the link.

On iCloud.com

Apple notes you need a tablet or a computer to use Calendar on iCloud.com. From its guide to sharing a calendar on iCloud.com:

1. Go to icloud.com/calendar and sign in.
2. Select the Calendar Information button next to the calendar's name in the sidebar.
3. Turn on Public Calendar.
4. Select Copy.

On a Mac

From Apple's guide to sharing iCloud calendars on Mac:

1. In the Calendar app, place the pointer over the calendar's name in the list and click the Share Calendar button.
2. Select Public Calendar.
3. Click the Share button and choose how to send the link, for example to yourself in Mail or Messages.

To switch it off. Turn off Public Calendar in the same place. On iCloud.com, Apple's stop sharing page says to select Save afterwards. On a Mac you can also Control-click the calendar and choose Stop Sharing. Apple's pages do not say whether turning it back on later gives you a new address, so do not count on that to shut out an old link.

Outlook.com and Microsoft 365

In Outlook you publish a calendar and choose how much detail goes out. These steps follow Microsoft's pages on sharing your calendar in Outlook.com and on sharing a calendar as view-only in new Outlook and Outlook on the web. They do not cover the phone app, so use a browser or new Outlook for Windows.

1. Open the calendar. In Outlook.com, select Settings, then Calendar, then Shared calendars. In Outlook on the web and new Outlook for Windows, the same screen is under the View tab, Calendar settings.
2. Under "Publish a calendar", choose the calendar.
3. Choose how much detail people can see. Pick the lowest level on offer, because Vennado needs only the times.
4. Select Publish.
5. An HTML link and an ICS link appear. Copy the ICS link. The HTML link opens a web page and will not work as a calendar link.

Who can read it. Microsoft says publishing lets "anyone" view the calendar or subscribe to it, at the level of detail you chose, and that published calendars are read-only.

To switch it off. Go back to Shared calendars and select Unpublish.

Work accounts. Microsoft notes that calendar sharing on a work or school account may be limited by your organisation's settings. If Publish a calendar is missing, that is the likely reason. Do not try to work round your employer's settings. Use one of the other routes below.

What Vennado does with your link

• It is fetched through Vennado's server, because a web browser cannot fetch a calendar feed from another company's site directly.
• The server strips every event down to its timing fields before passing it to your browser: when it starts, when it ends, whether it repeats. Titles, locations, notes and attendees are removed.
• The server does not store or log the feed or the link.
• The link is saved only in your own browser, so you can refresh your diary later without finding it again. It is not saved with the shared plan, and nobody else in the plan can see it.
• What is kept for the plan is a list of busy intervals: a start, an end, and a kind (work, on call, personal or rest).

Vennado accepts links that begin https:// or webcal://, and feeds up to 2 MB. It reads your calendar when you add the link and again when you refresh. It does not sign in to your account, it has no two-way sync, and it never writes to your calendar.

If you would rather not use a link

• Use a file. A calendar file (.ics) is read in your own browser and never uploaded. Only the busy times are kept. In Google Calendar on a computer, point to the calendar under My calendars, click More, then Settings and sharing, and under Calendar settings click Export calendar. Google's instructions for exporting a calendar have the detail. A file is a snapshot, so export a new one when things change.
• Tap your busy days in by hand. Nothing is read at all.
• Add a rota. If that calendar only held your shifts, see turning a rota into a calendar.

To show other people when you are busy with no app in the middle, see sharing free and busy times without sharing your diary. For where the link goes in the planner, see how Vennado works, and for what is stored, the privacy notice.