Where to Find Your Calendar's ICS Link—and Which Links to Keep Private

Find an ICS link in the calendar's sharing, export, or integration settings. Some links publish a schedule for everyone; others contain a secret address that works like a password. Anyone who has that secret link can read the schedule, so choose the sharing method before sending it to someone else.

Google Calendar: public and secret addresses

On a computer, open Google Calendar, then Settings. Under Settings for my calendars, choose the calendar and open Integrate calendar.

The Public address in iCal format is for a calendar shared publicly. The Secret address in iCal format is for viewing your own calendar in another app. Google explicitly says not to give that secret address to other people, and provides a reset option if it is exposed. See Google's external-app guide.

An organization's administrator may restrict the available options. If the secret address is missing, ask the administrator which sharing options are allowed.

For sharing with another person, permission-based sharing can be more appropriate than handing out your private feed. You can grant and revoke a person's access individually.

Outlook: check the publishing controls

For Outlook on the web, inspect Settings → Calendar → Shared calendars for the calendar-publishing options available to your account. Managed Microsoft 365 organizations can restrict external sharing and publication.

Where publication is allowed, choose the calendar and the level of detail. An HTML link opens a browser view; an ICS link is for calendar subscriptions.

If the option is unavailable, ask IT what sharing route is supported. Outlook can also consume an incoming feed through Add calendar → Subscribe from web, as described in Microsoft's subscription guide. That receiving flow does not publish your calendar.

iCloud: public sharing is a deliberate choice

On iCloud.com, open Calendar, then select the sharing control beside the calendar you want to publish. Public sharing provides a link that recipients can follow without being private iCloud calendar participants.

Apple distinguishes private sharing from public calendar links in its sharing guide. Review the calendar's contents before enabling public sharing. A calendar full of personal appointments is not a good candidate merely because another app asks for a URL.

If the recipient needs editing rights, a read-only public link is not the answer. Consider the provider's private-sharing method or an appropriate authenticated account connection.

School, shift-schedule, and CalDAV services

Look for Subscribe, Calendar export, iCalendar, or Connect calendar in the source service. Choose your specific class, group, or schedule before copying. An “Export” button may download a static file instead of providing a continuing link.

For a CalDAV service, keep its account address separate from its ICS link. In a feed subscription form, enter the ICS link rather than the CalDAV sign-in address.

Some sources provide only a one-time file or a calendar behind an interactive login. Ask the publisher whether it offers a subscription for your account.

Check and protect the link

Add the URL using the receiving calendar's subscription option, then compare a recognizable event with the source. Add the link as a subscription in Google Calendar or Outlook.

Do not publish personal URLs in screenshots, issue trackers, shared documents, or open chat channels. If a secret link has escaped, use the provider's reset or unpublish control and update legitimate subscribers. Removing a bookmark does not revoke a feed address.

To use a feed in Avum, add the authorized ICS link as the source of a Sync Rule and select a writable receiving calendar. Keep confidential fields out of destinations that only need busy time. If you connect the provider account instead, review and revoke that app's access through the provider's account controls.

Ready to turn an ICS feed into busy time on your work calendar? Start your free 30-day trial with Avum today.