I live a complicated Calendar life. I keep my schedule in Outlook 2010 on my PC, which syncs to the cloud through Google Calendar but can’t talk to Outlook 2011 on my Mac, which I use for travel. Can Apple’s new iCloud save me? Let’s talk platforms.
iCloud & Outlook 2010 For PC
iCloud is available to PC users, and it does work with Outlook 2010. I downloaded the iCloud Control Panel software, told it to sync with Outlook, and away it went.
After it was done, my first concern was that my Outlook Calendar was completely empty. Oh dear. Fortunately, none of my appointments were lost. iCloud had created two calendars, in a new iCloud section of Outlook.
One was for what I gather is now the new location for my calendar. The other was for conflicts that iCloud wasn’t sure what to do with.
Now, if you want the full story of how I resolved this, keep reading. If you only want some highlights:
- You can’t create a calendar in Outlook and have that appear in iCloud
- But you can create a calendar in iCloud and have that appear in Outlook
- You can’t import into a calendar on iCloud
Merge Conflicts? Start Over!
The iCloud software helpfully alerted me to these conflicts, with a pop-up box promising further advice. That jumped me over to the iCloud Help home page, with no advice displayed for anything I can find when I search for “calendar merge conflicts” or “merge conflicts” or even just “merge.”
I headed over to iCloud, to see if maybe it showed both calendars there in my online view, along with a way to merge them. No. Only the main iCloud calendar was shown. Nor was there any way to import a bunch of events, that I can see. That’s something that Google Calendar supports, despite being online. It’s also something that Outlook supports. I guess if you need to get a lot of events into your iCloud calendar, you’ll have to use a software program like Outlook or iCal (I don’t use this, myself).
Over on Google Calendar, my original Outlook calendar was still active — fortunately, even though I had auto-sync on, there were so many deletions that it was asked to do (because iCloud had wiped out my original calendar on my desktop) that it asked if I wanted to go ahead. I also quickly turned sync off quickly.
This is a good time to say that before you do ANYTHING with Outlook, export your calendar. That way, you can get back to where you where, if things get messed up.
In my case, since Google Calendar still had a clean record, I exported a iCal copy (use the private address option for this; Google’s instructions are out-of-date). Then I opened that calendar using Outlook. That created a new calendar in a new group called “Other Calendars.” I dragged the new calendar into my iCloud group.
That did nothing. Apparently, if you add new calendars in Outlook, even in your iCloud group, it doesn’t care. Those aren’t going to sync. But annoyingly, if you create a new calendar at iCloud, that calendar will sync over to Outlook. That would be a good workaround, if iCloud allowed for importing. As I said, it doesn’t.
Over at the Outlook site, there was a help file that suggested there was a way to merge two existing calendars. No luck, however. Trying that, only my iCloud-based calendars were listed. There was no way to merge the new one I’d created from my Google Calendar data (or that you’d be able to merge if you created from any backed-up data).
Sigh. In the end, I found a help page on how to delete all entries in an Outlook calendar. I wiped everything off my main iCloud calendar within Outlook. That did the same online. Next, I went File > Options > Advanced > Export (yes, Export, it’s a stupid name for trying to import) > Import an iClaendar file. Then I selected my clean Google Calendar export file (or you could use any clean file) and selected Import into my existing calendar rather than “Open as New.”
And that did nothing put repopulate my old, original calendar with what iCloud had cleared out.
In the end, I turned off iCloud. I reimported my calendar into Outlook, into my main calendar, and I started all over again. And it took ages, because iCloud didn’t clear out my old calendars at first. Hint: turn it off, then make sure you sign out.
In the end, the second attempt got all of my items into iCloud and the iCloud calendar in Outlook 2010. Now it was Google Calendar sync time.
Outlook: iCloud Or Google Calendar Sync, Pick One
Why on earth would I want to sync iCloud and Google Calendar? If two clouds combine, won’t there be rain?
Why not? As I said, I really live in Outlook. When I’m traveling, I want my calendar on my travel devices. Often, that’s an Android phone. Google Calendar plays nice there.
So, I’m not really syncing iCloud and Google Calendar. I’m syncing Outlook with both iCloud and Google Calendar. Does that work? No. Oh, no it doesn’t.
I have happily used Google Calendar Sync as a lightweight way to keep Outlook and Google Calendar talking to each other. Every 30 minutes, the two talk. If I’ve made a chance in either place, they swap info. This has allowed me to always have my calendar on any device — even my iPhone.
Google Calendar Sync will only talk to your default Outlook calendar. iCloud, as I’ve explained, clears that out and makes its own iCloud calendar. That’s not the default, so Google can’t get at it. Why iCloud can’t just use the default, as Google does, I don’t know. But it means you have to make a choice.
You can sync between Outlook and Google Calendar, or between Outlook and iCloud. But you can’t do both.
Outlook 2011 For Mac: iCloud & Google Calendar Both Hate You
My real dream, since I started using Outlook 2011 on the Mac last year, was that it would be able to sync with my calendar as Outlook on the PC can. But Google has never made a calendar sync option that worked. Or Microsoft hasn’t helped. I don’t know. But you’ve been screwed.
Now Apple doesn’t care, either. iCloud has no ability to sync with Outlook 2011. There’s nothing there. Checking further on the Apple site, only iCal on the Mac is supported.
In the end, I’m kind of disappointed. In terms of calendaring, iCloud isn’t solving my cross-platform issue at all. It’s also being more invasive than the current Google solution that I’m already using, coming along and pushing my Outlook default calendar out of the scene.
Why on earth didn’t Apple support Outlook 2011 on the Mac?
It’s also bizarre that the calendar app on my iPhone itself, it merrily deals with both.
Of course, if you’re an all Apple person, iCloud calendar is probably awesome. If you’re using a PC and Apple devices, still lots of awesome. If you’re trying to use Android, staying with Google makes sense. If you do everything like me, well, you probably deserve all the pain that comes your way 
{ 148 comments }
Next Comments →
are you saying that when you enabled calendar for outlook sync in iCloud console, it attempted to merge your existing default outlook calendar with the new iCloud calendar?
when i do this, i get the new iCloud calendar in outlook plus my existing one. the icloud one is empty though.
i guess i have to manually copy everything from outlook into the icloud one then change outlook to use the icloud one as default
Matt, it emptied everything from my default calendar into a new calendar under the iCloud folder in Outlook. In your case, it sounds like it created a calendar but didn’t yet migrate your entries over. Try hitting update iCloud update in Outlook. Also try logging out of Outlook and going back in. You might need to try turning off iCloud and then turning it back on.
Yep, same with Contacts. I was thinking on my MBP, to be able to sync contacts between Gmail, my MBP, and my iPad. No such luck. When I set up iCloud, and checked, ever so ignorantly, the option for syncing Contacts, I was brusquely informed that it would entail turning off Google sync. I thought, just for grins, I’d turn it off just a bit, then turn it back on later. Not worth doing. iCloud damaged my Address book somehow. When I downloaded contacts from Google again, *many* conflicts had to be resolved.
I’d say, skip it.
Good article. I was having the same issues (not necessarily trying to use Google Calendar), but rather experiencing the issue with iCloud wiping out my default Outlook calendar. In fact, it does the same thing for contacts..adds them to an iCloud Group.
When it first happened, my jaw dropped to the floor…my immediate thought was that i had lost EVERYTHING. Turns out, iCloud just hijacked my default Outlook Contacts & Calendar folder and made it its own. And you would think that by turning iCloud off for those services it would give it back….Nooooo! At least it didn’t for me.
After playing with it for few hours, I think I finally got it do what I want. Like you, I really wish iCloud would make use of the existing Outlook default folders vs. creating it’s own and wiping out the Outlook content, but whatever…I’m sure there’s a reason my Apple did it.
Another thing that i found pretty annoying were the color categories. I don’t necessarily use color categories, and to see 4-6 different calendar tabs in Outlook (one for each color) was pretty overwhelming when you used to seeing just one in Outlook, normally.
What I ended up doing was turning on and off one at a time and seeing what I could delete. I didn’t check, but I’m not sure if you could switch the color category in Outlook and have it applied correctly in iCloud. Nevertheless, my first step was to do a cleanup. I’m fine with having everything showing on one color tab/calendar.
Once I got everything the way i wanted…I changed the iCloud “Calendar” tab name to “iCloud Calendar” using the edit feature on iCloud.com. Aside from having different colored tabs (default Outlook Calendar -blue and iCloud Calendar – green) this allowed me to easily select which one I wanted since they were both name “Calender” at first.
You’re right, any event you add in the Outlook default Calendar will NOT show up in iCloud. You’ll have to add the event to the iCloud calendar tab and it will sync, properly across all iDevices. Similarly, if you were to add an event using iCloud.com, or via an iDevice, it will show up in your Outlook Calendar in the “iCloud Calendar” tab. So basically, I have to get used to adding new events to the “iCloud Calendar” in Outllook vs. the default Outlook Calendar if I want everything to sync across all my devices.
Another than was interesting was that if you try to add a new event in “iCloud Calendar” in Outlook and set a reminder, it gives you a prompt saying the reminders aren’t supported in the iCloud folder. Well, I’m not sure what that all “really” means, as the reminder was transferred successfully into iCloud and was activated on-time during a test.
Now, if for some reason you have items (events) in your Outlook default cl group that you’d like to sync, then I’ve found you can simply click and drag the event into the “iCloud Cal” tab in Outlook and it will copy over, no problem.
You can’t; however, try to move the entire default Outlook folder into the iCloud section, as it will still keep them separate and will not sync such items. You have to move events separately, or perhaps, collectively by selecting more than one, then dragging into the iCloud folder.
I guess there may be some advantages to having a default Outlook cal folder and an iCloud version….one sync and the other doesn’t.
Another solution is to NOT use iCloud to “push” the content, but rather do it the old way, thereby keeping your default Outlook contacts and Cal folders. That involves applying updates via sync in iTunes. Under info, check the sync with Outlook Contacts and Cal boxes, and new data will be pushed via sync, vs near real-time. This of course would means, you’d have to sync more often (if your content changes frequently), BUT it will prevent having to sleep atop iClouds. This way, you can also adds events via iCloud.com and have those pushed to your devices. Then during your “sync” it should update Outlook, accordingly.
Lastly, it doesn’t surprise me there’s no iCloud support for Outlook 2011 on Mac. It’s one thing allow your competitor software to run on your OS, but to go another “nine-yards” to help them ride your new system…nah, I doubt it. Maybe I’m wrong, but I would think Apple would want Mac users to use Mail, iCal, and Contacts for Mac and have iCloud “just work”.
Please pardon any typos/grammatical errors.
P.S. Question: So what happens when you turned iCloud OFF on your PC after using it for the first time and having it hijack your contacts and calendar? Is there a way to make everything “go back to normal” and show up the way it was before? Thank GOD, I exported my Cal/Contact data before installing iCloud on my PC.
Also, I’m wondering if the default Outlook Cal/Contact folders are truly blank, or if the content is just being “masked” over. I say this because one of the Cal events I had in my original Outlook Cal had a Reminder and after it was hijacked by iCloud in Outlook (placed in the iCloud Cal folder), the Reminder went off twice, as if once for iCloud, and another for the default Cal folder (although it appears empty). That would be pretty stupid and annoying if I got dual Reminders each time. I pray that’s not the case. If so, I will have to uninstall iCloud on my PC, and re-import all my info to go back to normal.
Really, the only reason why I’m even interested in iCloud on PC, is bc I run boot camp on my iMac 95% of the time. That being said, I’m using adding content to Outlook on the PC side and would like to have all that info pushed (namely, new contacts) to my other iDevices.
Since I primarily use Mac OS X on my MacBook, I’ll just make iCal and Contacts the default apps for simple iCould integration (despite having Outlook 2011 installed).
What’s the reason to work on outlook and sync to google calendar? why not switch to google completely and avoid all this hassle? also have you tried to become a paid google apps member? you will get the sync tool for outlook for about $25 per year.
What you really is a hosted Exchange mailbox. iCloud and Gmail are fine and all, but Exchange is much more robust, and will properly sync everything across all platforms. You could try my old company, Intermedia, or others like 1and1 or Microsoft itself.
I live in Outlook 2011 for Mac and use sync services so that my calendar and contacts are duplicated in iCal and Address book. This was done to sync my iPhone thru iTunes. When I ran iCloud, everything in iCal and Address book was uploaded without a problem. Now everything’s in sync. I don’t see a need for google calendar.
Wont this work for you? dave
This is exactly why the thought of going to the iCloud to sync has me frozen in thought. Apple does a great job marketing these new services but their manuals offer very limited help. I’m reading posts like yours before I take the full plunge, collecting the wisdom of intrepid folks who are giving this a go. Macworld has some good pointers too. I think I’m going to diagram my unique calendar and contacts situation and plot a strategy, then double check with Apple after comparing notes with power users like you.
Google Calendar Sync offers one-way sync between Outlook and Google Calendar (ie. you can copy all items created in Outlook events into Google Calendar, but prevent items created in Google Calendar from being copied into Outlook). This is an important feature for me.
Can this be achieved with Outlook and iCloud?
My first time posting here…
I have this issue with clients all the time. You need to stick to one platform for contacts, email and calendar (forget tasks) that work everywhere. For years it has been Microsoft Exchange. It works great. I have it on my PC, my mac and my iPhone. Automatically everything syncs. No issues. Period. Sticking to one platform is important and making sure it can support multiple OS’s. I have customers that use google apps. I recommend to them to stop using outlook. You are on the internet anyway and you have bandwidth just use a web browser. Now that is cross platform. Then use active sync for Google apps on your iphone or if you have a Blackberry they now support contact, calendar and email syncing all together…happily.
QQ, Google Calendar Sync can also do two way sync. But do you mean is there one way sync offered with iCloud? Not that I’ve seen.
Dave, I’ll look again at iCal. Since I never use it, it didn’t occur to me to think about how Outlook might sync with it.
James, I already use Google completely to sync. You mean why still use Outllook? Doing email for me in Outlook is easier (multiple windows can be open to compose, read) and I like the Calendar feature better. I do already use the paid version of Google.
Danny, seriously consider giving up Outlook for email and calendar and be rid of all these sync issues, as well as the bloated PST file. You think you can’t live without it, but YOU CAN! Going totally to Google services is the best thing you’ll ever do. It may take a couple weeks to “wean,” but it will pay off. Outlook sucks, you’re just not willing to admit it because it’s your security blanket.
Very helpful. I note, however, that one has the option to select iCloud as a default data file in Outlook (via account settings; it bears an “.aplzod” extension). I’m not going to bother experimenting but I find myself wondering if one might be able to sync among Outlook, iCloud and Google calendars if one chose iCloud as a default data file.
I live a similarly complicated “calendar life,” Danny.
A couple folks have suggested using a hosted Exchange server, which is ridiculously cheap these days, and works quite well. I’ll echo that – let there be “one true calendar” and let all the various clients you use communicate with it.
Kathie, I have no bloat issue at all. That’s for another post I’m so long overdue to write, about how I switched from POP to IMAP mail in Outlook. Once I did that, I had all my mail in the Google Cloud for when I wanted to search or find things, but I also had a local backup in case Google loses its mind and more important, one that works far better when I’m on an airplane doing a lot of email. Outlook is actually an elegant nice front in to the Google Cloud or anyone, after you tweak it.
“Why on earth didn’t Apple support Outlook 2011 on the Mac?”
It’s a Microsoft problem, because Outlook doesn’t support iCal or WebCal protocols. Before, Outlook used only SyncServices to synchronise Outlook calendars with iCal, but Apple phased out SyncServices earlier this year, having announced it would do so early last year. Microsoft never got around to keeping up. Even though MS announced they would have a solution within six months after releasing Mac Office 2011, they’ve still not made Mac Outlook compatible with universal calendar-sync protocols.
Well I had the exactly the opposite experience. After installing iCloud with Outlook 2010, (WIN7,64b) I have no additional calendar, every thing is just gone so now I’m trying to export from iCal to my Outlook calender. Wish I could use exchange ….
@Eric: Try to change the default data file in Outlook to iCloud data file, I tried it and you won’t be able to start up Outlook, there will be an error message.
I have one question, if there is a solution it would solve some problems of all of us.
Is there a way (Outlook function or maybe appropriate Add-In for Outlook) to sync between iCloud Calendar and (default) Outlook Calendar (pst)…
If yes, we could create the items in the standard calendar and it would sync ti icloud and icloud would sync it with all of our devices.
If not, I have another question. If you go onto e-mail overview you can have the “duty bar” on the right (sorry, all my programms are in German)… where your next appointments are listed. Logically, it’s empty cause everything is in Outlook. Is there a way to change the default to display the appointments there?
I think a simpler way to go about this would be to disable both iCloud calendar support and iTunes->Outlook calendar syncing.
Then add your Google Calendar directly on your iPhone as either an Exchange account with Google Sync or as a CalDav calendar.
That way your iPhone is kept synced over-the-air with Google and you won’t run into all these conflicts.
where is this Outlook / icloud data file (or what is its typical name?) ? maybe thats my problem its not bringing up the correct data file since I do have some custom fiile setups.
@Robert: In Outlook 2010 go to File, account settings; you’ll see a Data Files tab there listing your *.pst files but also an iCloud file which is not a conventional .pst file. See the comment from @Hannes suggsting my dumb idea won’t work in any event. The solution that works best for me is the one suggested at the outset: don’t use iCloud (or iTunes for that matter) to sync your Outlook info (contact, calendar, mail). Google sync does this seamlessly in a 2-way fashion enabling me to see calendars, mail, contacts on all three of my devices (iPhone, laptop, desktop).
After reading all of the above, I still don’t know what to do. I “lost” all my calender events and tasks, about 1600 because they were my history of things done. I kept them all on Outlook. I did not use Google calendar, because I do not want my confidential data on the web. Call me a prude. Where I am most “damaged” is Outlook Today. It always kept me informed of coming events. It caught my eye every time I checked email. I could easily access the calendar from within Outlook Today. All that is lost. I cannot select the iCloud folders to be displayed. I need to get out of the roach motel that is iCloud and return to the security of Outlook, but I do not see how to do it because I do not have a recent backup Outlook files. I have lost all interest now in buying any more Apple products. They put out products without labeling the risks.
Dennis, open your iCloud control panel. Make sure that Outlook is also open, and that your desktop is clear. Turn off sync for your calendar. It should grind along, then eventually give you a prompt saying that it will restore things to the way it was, and that it will want to shut Outlook to do this. Do that. It should restore what it has pulled out and put it all back. I hope. Good luck.
in reply to my earlier questions, you mentioned “Try hitting update iCloud update in Outlook.”
what is this and where is it?
i’ve turned the sync on and off in the iCloud control panel multiple times but it doesn’t do anything with my default calendar. still there.
and my iCloud calendar is empty.
i can’t see anything related to updating icloud
look in your toolbar, toward the top right. there should be a big button. i’d get more specific, but since I’ve turned it off, I don’t have it anymore.
Danny,
Perhaps, I’m being a dunce, but unchecking calendar in the control panel did nothing. It made me close Outlook and chugged a bit. When I opened Outlook, it was the same. Curiously, I find that my iCloud storage is totally unused. I would have thought that something would have migrated there. And the thing I had hoped to accomplish, getting the tasks into Reminders in iOS 5 and the appointments into the calendar has not worked. Of course, my risk now is that when I next sync in iTunes, it will wipe all my calendar information from the iPad.
This may be of assistance to some folks who are having problems seeing their calendar and/or contacts in Outlook after synching with their iPhone using iCloud -
When I first tried to load iCloud, it kept erroring out and apparently wasn’t performing the necessary changes to Outlook so that it could allow the user to see the new ‘iCloud’ calendar and ‘iCloud’ contacts. The result was that all of my Calendar and Contacts in Outlook disappeared but were OK and complete on my iPhone. You could also check your Deleted Items folder in Outlook for your Calendar and Contacts after this happens.
What solved it for me is to go back and re-install iCloud; when you do this, it gives you the option to Repair or Uninstall iCloud – I chose Uninstall iCloud. When this was complete, I went back and installed iCloud again…this time it worked. When you install the second time, choose ‘Custom’ install rather than install using ‘ALL Contacts and Calendars’ and be sure that you do not check ANY of the boxes for the Calendar or Contacts (assuming that all of your Contacts and Calendar are complete on your iPhone). On 2nd try, the Calendar and Contacts were back in Outlook showing under their respective ‘iCloud’ folders.
right i see it now. there’s a refresh button in the calendar view in outlook for iCloud.
but my calendar is still empty. my icloud one that is.
the outlook calendar is still full.
i seem to have the opposite problem of most people who’s default calendar seems to empty. mine stays full while icloud is empty
I reinstalled the app on top of Outlook after installing SP1 and all my information and the new iCloud cal shows up. However I am going to go with the Google sync because the iCloud app really f’s with the Outlook Today and keeps showing me ‘No Upcoming Events’ to the right next to the tasks.
Too bad this doesnt work, would have been great to have. Must have been not important to develop this product.
iCloud has completed screwed up my Outlook file. Not only am I severely angry that it moved contacts, tasks, and calendar items into new folders without warning me that it was going to do this, but now I cannot access my calendar folder at all. Outlook simply crashes when I click on the calendar. I may be able to go back to a backup file from a few weeks ago, but who knows how many appointments have been lost. This is a real disaster for Apple.
R. Baker,
I have no problem seeing the iCloud calendar in Outlook, but they do not show up in Outlook Today, which I am now discovering I had depended on it a lot. When you uninstalled iCloud, were all your Outlook calendar items and tasks back where they had been before? If so, that is all I need. I just want get iCloud out of my life.
Looking at my merge conflicts for the Outlook calendar and Tasks, I find that many, but not all, of them are emails and contacts that have been flagged for follow-up. Since I have not put the emails and contacts in iCloud, it probably follows that iCloud cannot handle the related reminder.
i don’t understand this at all.
i’ve uninstalled icloud, reinstalled it, deleted all the icloud calendars etc etc etc.
i still end up with a blank icloud calendar and a complete and unchanged default outlook calendar.
why is my experience different to everyone elses?
Ok This is what I have done to get this right:
iCloud sends the contents of the outlook calendar and the outlook contacts to the delete folder but they at least on my outlook 2010 don’t get automatically deleted. If you want to restore your entries in your calendar anywhere. Just change view to list. Ctrl A all your entries and drag them back to the outlook calendar. Same is true for the outlook contacts that are
really in the deleted folder under the folder tab. The issue as I see it is to make the iClound the default task, contact, and calendar folder so that when you use outlook automated functions like to make an appointment they end up in the icloud files and sync to the phone.
Now anytime you want to start over just open the control panel and uncheck the item you want to play with this will restore the original if not just paste from the deleted folder. Once you get the hang of this you never lose your data. I have been just deleting the stuff in the iCloud and starting over because my real data is in outlook and I want it to appear in the phone and on icloud correctly and without all this hassle.
so my question is there anyway to make the default for tasks, calendar, and contacts the appropriate iCloud folders. Otherwise this is half a solution which requires copy and paste to get a true sync.
Hi < Until this is solved I want to remove ICloud from my work PC or mopre to the point from Outlook (2010) on work PC , any idea how ?
Thank you for the helpful article and warning. I have no intention of bothering with iHassle and I’m glad I didn’t screw up my Outlook calendar!
I have successfully removed iClod from my computer and restored everything in Outlook, but it took four hours of work. Firstly, Outlook kept crashing whenever I tried to view the calendar. After an hour or so, and after I had worked on some other things, it mysteriously let me view it again.
I dragged all my contacts, appointments, and tasks back into their original folders. Then I uninstalled iCloud from my PC. At that point I discovered that when you uninstall it you get the option to restore all your data to Outlook, but I didn’t know whether to say yes or no. I said yes, to be on the safe side, but ended up with duplicates of every appointment! I then went through the laborious process of deleting duplicates (by sorting by “date modified” in list view).
Next I went back to syncing via iTunes. Of course, iTunes then tried to create duplicates of everything. I noticed this in time and cancelled. I then chose the advanced option to do a one-time transfer from Outlook to the iPod. Now everything seems sorted.
… And I’m going back to Google Calendar sync and Toodledo sync, and will never touch iCloud again. It’s unpardonable of Apple that they messed with the data structure of Outlook (without even warning us).
I hope that all of us reporting problems are giving Apple some feedback on the Outlook issue. The least they can do is give a FAQ on the issues and work-arounds. That does not seem to be Apple’s style. They assume everything is intuitive and that they are offering the perfect pathway. That sense of perfection may give many pause before they buy other Apple products, no matter how cool or beautiful they are.
Hi
Yep Tom W took me about 4 hiurs as well to get data back via export / import etc , iCloud Cal still in Outlook but I am not using iy , I have disabled the add on but it still shows.
I know Apple wants to rule the world and stop people using google ultimately but for a new iOS where people obiously use other hands sets etc apart from apple this stinks !
Good article! I have tried iCloud but switched back to google sync afterward, actually I am okay for apple to move all my content from default calendar to a newly created iCloud calendar, but as someone mentioned previously, it makes my outlook today become empty which is COMPLETE UNACCEPTABLE, I just wonder if we have any chance to redirect the iCloud calendar’s content to outlook today page, if so then great!
Help – It took me forever to install ios5 and icloud and was excited to do so as I have had numerous googlesync issues in the past and my ultimate goal was to get my outlook calendar and contacts showing and working correctly on my iphone and ipad.
After many hours – I did get my calendar on my iphone and ipad….but i noticed it moved the contacts to a new icloud folder but – my main outlook calendar is gone. Where is it? Specifically, I found the new Icloud contacts but don’t see the calendar anywhere as my old calendar is completely empty. I need to accept calendar appointments and include attachments to emails and outlook calendar was good for managing my life. I’m not certain how to do this now – as I can type way faster on my pc vs. my ipad- help!
A. – how do I see my calendar on outlook? and can i still use it and will it move entries to the icloud and then my iphone/ipad?
B. – can I make local backups of my calendar and contacts going forward in case the iCloud disappears or has issues like RIM does from time to time?
I’m exhausted from this whole process and have no IT person for my small business – need any and all help from forums like this. I thought this was going to be a good change and its now a headache….
Big Mistake….
DO NOT DEPLOY iCLOUD IF YOU USE OUTLOOK
You will be VERY sorry you did.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16370801
I have been using Exchange for about 3 years now and it’s been able to sync to my PC on Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010, now my new MacBook on Outlook 2011, iCal, Contacts and Mail, 2 different iPhones and my iPad.
It has been brilliantly reliable and with so many choices I’ve always been able to work when one or other option has been giving trouble.
I just want to make sure when I go for iCloud (for music and media) it doesn’t screw everything up. How do I do that?
Vince, you dont want to use iCloud, there is no benefit for you except for online back up of iphone, iMessage and the photo stream back up (this is what I do). As for mail, contacts, and cal … do not use iCloud, exchange is rock solid and syncs everything perfectly, why do you want to change something that works perfectly?? gotta ask what benefit you are going to gain.
I have pulled all my contacts back to Outlook…now trying to pull my calendar back….
Does anyone have advice on that? I have logged out of icloud on my pc….no calendar entries now except for on my iphone and ipad. Tried the tethering from my iphone to pc via itunes to move back my calendar entries…no luck though. Help?
Once I do this can someone point me to a good link for exchange 101 so I can use what sounds like the best solution.
Thanks.
Yeah, I think Apple made some *major* mistakes with iCloud, as you’ve all described. A major philosophical one is that iCloud should have no right to destroy (or probably even alter) data on the client machine. iCloud should be a servant, not a master.
In our case, we discovered that one AppleID would not suffice for our needs. We need one for app/iTunes purchases between two iPads/two MBPs. But that won’t do for sync: we each have separate contacts, bookmarks, calendar, documents…and on, and on. I had signed up with one AppleID for all (including calendars, as you’ve discussed). I decided to signoff iCloud, sign up with a new AppleID for sync purposes, and have done with it. I noticed, calender zapped, gone, nil, nada. I had to sign back on the old AppleID, export .ics files, sign out, sign on the new AppleID, and import .ics files to rebuild.
I’m beginning to wonder the wisdom of using iCloud at all. I’d thought it a necessity for sync between MBPs and iPads (especially trivialities such as browser bookmarks, but also downloaded purchased iBooks and mags), but I see some of you talking about using iTunes for the same thing. So I may rethink my strategy.
Related: interesting article by Marco Arment on “Cleaning…” http://bit.ly/nh4UkM
Great posts. Thanks, google, for finding it. It is hard to ‘reply’ to some of the questions (Chrome, here) but here are my notes:
Summary:
My components: Windows Vista, Outlook 2007, a couple of iDevices, iTunes, WiFi, POP/IMAP accounts only):
I added iCloud sync of everything after testing to confirm that iDevices and iCloud client to not mix or duplicated content.
I use iCloud’s Contacts and Tasks/Reminders as my new default. It is great to have any Task/Reminder sync option (I don’t share task assignments these days).
I am keeping Google Calendar Sync and gmail calendar as default.
I continue to use iTunes sync for Notes.
iTunes WiFi since is great, but a bit flakey.
I sync Bookmarks but to IE, which is not my primary Windows browser.
Photosynth works well (only images, not videos)
I sync a new me.com mailbox with IMAP notes, but will use it only for special needs.
iMessage is excellent since it works for iPod/pads with no cellular!
I am still not going to pay for a personal Microsoft Exchange domain account (used to be $10/mo/mailbox)
I was never going to go back to Blackberry services (BIS, BES) for an individual device – this Apple stuff works on iDevices with no cellular plans.
Comments:
The iCloud Calendar, Tasks, and Contacts cannot become Outlook’s default folders, though it is not hard to use them manually – Outlook displays mulitiple calendar folders really well.
Default calendar and task folder is important: invitations/meetings and task assignments in or out will only have proper function in the default Outlook calendar.
Therefore I am sticking with the calendar in my Personal Folder. Google Calendar Sync syncs that default calendar and the iDevice gmail calendar works really well. Google Calendar Sync client has issues with suspend/resume for me, but is has never currupted my calendar data.
Apple will change defaults at iDevices but you *can* change them! You can choose a “Default Calendar” and “Default Account” for Contacts on iDevices. Check all your iDevice “Default Account” for Mail, too. (Settings: Mail,Contacts,Calendars)
You can use both Google Calendar and iCloud. Windows will run both sync’s and not merge or duplicate content.
iCloud does not merge or duplicate content between current and new Calendar, Contacts, or Tasks. iDevices will show Accounts or Groups for each source.
iCloud *has issues* with its automatic movement of items with attachments, appointments with other attendees, and probably with Tasks that are assignments. iCloud installation moves the original content with issues to new “errors” folders but this did not mean it that the items were not also copied to the iCloud folders. This was a pain. I had the best experience first emptying my Calendar, Tasks, Contacts before letting iCloud migrate, then manually moving content to iCloud folders (this way I could see what worked, what was duplicated, what failed).
If you get content moved to iCloud and then want to remove it, then use Outlook! Don’t simply uninstall iCloud. Outlook will allow you to do things like change view to “All Appointments” and then Select All to Move/Copy/Delete… iCloud and i[Devices] do not have any Select-All function for edit or cleanup of cloud data.
iDevice time zones still acts in undesireable ways, depending on which app/device originated/accepted the appointment.
I shall leave time zones OFF and continue to make sure appointments are relevent to the time zone I am going to be working from.
I am not excited about the me.com mail. It is another IMAP account. I enabled it only to try the Notes function but changed iPhone/Pad/device defaults back to my other mail.
iCloud Notes sync is very good for iDevices but not good in Outlook or at iCloud.com. iCloud notes are like Gmail.com notes: IMAP folders. They are not readily editable like iDevice Notes or Outlook Notes. It is safe to try it without losing or duplicating content. Turn on Notes sync by enabling Mail sync – welcome to the me.com domain. I am keeping Outlook Notes as my primary notes repository.
Detail:
- In order to change Outlook 2007 default Calendar and default Tasks to iCloud, the iCloud data repository would have to be assigned as default for everything including Mail. iCloud’s data repository cannot be used because it has no Inbox.
- iCloud will make iCloud Contacts to be Outlook’s default source for address book lookups. You can change this at Tools: Address Book menu item then Tools: Options in the Address Book window.
- WiFi sync is great but not reliable for me: devices disappear and require iTunes restart to reconnect/reappear (Bonjour?).
- I the iPhone 3GS is has performance loss. Maybe it has too much syncing to do.
- BEFORE the iCloud iOS5 rollout iTunes 10.5 gave me new sync errors for Notes and Contacts. I had to work around these by moving content out and back into folders to re-sync. This sort of forced me to try out iCloud sooner than I might have otherwise.
- Do a Copy if not also a manual backup of Calendar, Contacts, Tasks before messing with the iCloud for Windows client. I do manual updates at key times like this (in addition to automatic .pst file backups) by creating a new password-protected .pst and copying the folders.
- Know how to change your Outlook Views to list all content so it can be selected (eg: change Calendar view from Day/Week/Month to All Appointments). This is helpful for auditing changes, manual copy/move of content, seeing if folders are really empty
- Know when you are Copying vs Moving content. This will come in handy for dealing with error files and changing your favorite folder without having duplicates everywhere!
- Know that iCloud will take your Calendar, Tasks, and Contacts from your default .pst Personal folder and move them to a new iCloud data file. This new iCloud storagewill NOT be the new default Calendar, Tasks, and Contacts for Outlook. Outlook Today shows only the default calendar and the “New” button in the Appointments view will not be adding iCloud content.
- The iCloud storage is created at: %userprofile%\appdata\local\[foldername 36 character unique aphanumeric].aplzod (find your by viewing Outlook – Tools: Account Settings: Data Files tab)
- Outlook Notes do not sync to iCloud. iCloud uses labeled IMAP content much like Google Notes does. They look great and natural on your iDevice but only like message threads in Outlook. Only new Posts in your IMAP Notes folder are synch’d but not Outlook’s “Post In Folder” content. I am synching this but leaving it for future use.
I too live in in Outlook 2011, running on Win7 on a MacBook Air. I use hosted Exchange to sync email, calendar, and contacts across multiple computers, an iPhone, and an iPad. Exchange works really well on all these devices – even on OSX using Mail.app and/or the Mac version of Outlook.
I agree that Outlook users should steer clear of iCloud and use Exchange for hosting, sync, and web access (via outlook web access).
-jj-
Am wrestling with iOs5 and iCloud since yesterday. Keep on turning off calendars, iTunes turns them on again? Lost ALL my Outlook contacts after deleting the iCloud plugin, had to reinstall it so at least I have the iCloud contacts back. I want back to the old situation and I will never, ever try these ‘wonderful’ Apple gimmicks again! Stick to Google and Outlook and I will buy an Android phone after this. Bleuh!
Not too surprised about the lack of iCloud Outlook 2011 sync. I’m not such a complicated gal. I’ll be happy to drop Outlook and go all Apple, all the time, but there’s a catch. Can some of you PC Outlook users tell me if the “fixes” for PC Outlook users receiving iCal meeting invites have really fixed the problems? This is a make or break issue for me; my clients whine if they have to take extra steps to add meetings to their Outlook calendars. Seriously. It’s not pretty, and I do like to keep them happy.
I certainly plan to stick with Exchange. I wanted to compare iClloud with GoogleDocs and Evernote before deciding whether any of them were better than a self-hosted cloud store formdocuments and other materials.
Mainly though I want to benefit from media (mp3, photos, video) and I thought iCloud would do this for me including iTunes match for my collection of old (pre-iTunes) music.
Is it safe to do this or will my calendar, contacts and mail be hijacked?
Great article Danny!
I am using WP7, Outlook 2010 and iTunes. I have never been able to sync the calendar to my iPhone (via iTunes) since I upgraded to Outlook 2010 (the other versions were not an issue). I didn’t fancy the many workarounds to get the calendar onto the phone (mobileme, google calendar etc.) so I wrote appointments down the old fashioned way, when visiting customers.
The introduction of the iCloud seemed to answer all my problems however, the emptying of the default calendar (thus removing the calendar and tasks ‘at a glance’ column on the right of the Outlook screen) made me frown again.
Good News though – I have deleted my iCloud account and I can now sync contacts, calendar (hooray), notes, tasks etc. via WiFi within iTunes!
Copy your iCloud Calendar to a ‘Temp Calendar’ and also copy iCloud Calendar back into your default Calendar first though.
Every Cloud has a silver lining eh?
Neil
Till now, nobody said something about making iCloud as default file for Outlook that you can see your appointments and tasks in the “front view”? Is there any solution if you want to stick with iCloud and not change to Google Sync?
Hi Hannes,
ThomasM’s post number 51 explains why you cannot assign iCloud as the default…
So is it right that if I would like to have the overview in Outlook today (my daily appointments) I would have to use either Google Sync or Google Sync with iCloud together?
I do the same thing sync google calendar and icloud and it is almost seamless? How? Simple. I use an exchange server to sync my desktops, laptop, android and iphone. On one desktop I sync with Google as well and on the other desktop I sync with iCloud as well. No conflict, no losses and everything so far seems to work!
I installed iCloud and at first it seemed to be working okay for me. My tasks and calendar were all in the iCloud section in Outlook and I could view them and update them there and it would update on my iPhone. This was great! Now however, I can not access my calendar or tasks in Outlook. They are still on my iPhone and still in iCloud. When I try to click on the iCloud tasks or calendar in Outlook, I am now getting a message that says “The set of folders cannot be opened. The information store could not be opened.” Is anyone else having this problem? Please help!
>I installed iCloud and at first it seemed to be working okay for me. My tasks and calendar were all in >the iCloud section in Outlook and I could view them and update them there and it would update on my >iPhone. This was great! Now however, I can not access my calendar or tasks in Outlook. They are still >on my iPhone and still in iCloud. When I try to click on the iCloud tasks or calendar in Outlook, I am >now getting a message that says “The set of folders cannot be opened. The information store could not >be opened.” Is anyone else having this problem? Please help!
I have the same issue using Outlook 2011 for Mac and was not able to resolve it. For now, I am using the Apple applications (iCal, Addressbook and IMail) even so I prefer the more advanced Outlook functionnalities. It seems that the iCal/Addressbook and Outlook 2011 is not working/syncing well at all.
The address book is quite poor vs Outlook. It is very hard to add contact categories. Also harder to maintain. It is almost easier to do it on my Iphone with ContactsXL app.
I hope that there is a solution??
My issue seems to be fixed for the time being. Someone else suggested uninstalling and reinstalling iCloud on my computer so that is what I did and it has been working fine since then. I don’t shut my computer down a lot so I’m wondering if that is when it initially stopped working…I haven’t shut my computer down since reinstalling!
Q: PC OUTLOOK will NOT synch with iCloud for CONTACTS and CALENDAR – any available fixes known?
- I have tried alternatives, to no avail, iCloud is holding my CONTACTS and CALENDAR and communicates just fine wih iPHONE, but no synch operation will transfer to my OUTLOOK on my PC
- Am i stuck or just stuck waiting for the untimely fix to come?
- Went to APPLE STORE and genius bar help was clueless to issues.
Teddy, mine was doing the exact same thing yesterday! I uninstalled and reinstalled iCloud on my PC and then it started working again. I’ve yet to shut down my computer since doing this so I’m not sure if it will break again when I do…
I’m so happy to run across this article, because I had nothing but problems with the iCloud/Outlook sync.
I finally got my calendar back the way it needs to be (in the process, it also doubled & tripled calendar entries), but my contacts, while all present, are no longer sorting correctly.
They used to be by Company first, then first name/last name. Now, EVERYTHING is Last name, first name, and the company names aren’t even showing.
when I go into the contact itself to change the way it’s listed, it’s correct. The main contact options on the menu options haven’t changed, either.
How can I put things back the way they were, short of deleting & starting over?
I went thru this issue when MobileMe first went to the Calendar in a separate section of Outlook. Same problem now only worse as tasks, contacts and reminders are all moved to iCloud. Essentially, you can only sync with your iphone. I use Salesforce and it will not sync with the icloud folders -
I’m back to syncing with a cable so that my contacts and schedule sync with the pst file in outlook.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3109623?start=0&tstart=0
Outlook Calendar has good functionality on the PC, but with Apple’s iCloud calendar added to Outlook (rather than using Outlook’s default calendar), the built-in functionality in Outlook is quite diminished – too bad.
BACK UP FIRST ! ! ! As Danny said, DEFINITELY back up you calendar (and everything else) in Outlook before you try to sync with iCloud. I lost calendars, tasks, and frankly it’s been a real chore getting it to work right. And still, it’s far from perfect.
Also a shame that Outlook for Mac can’t sync with iCloud – or vice-versa. Outlook for Windows has been my main stay for years and hard to let go of, I was hoping that Outlook for Mac could replace it, but alas, without good syncing it’s pretty much useless.
after much work, i have abandoned icloud. for outlook 2010 PC users, there are way too many icloud problems. I love my iphone, but I NEED my outlook sync working perfectly for my contacts and calendars – iCloud is not there yet for us Outlook users. i am back to the manual sync. Be careful backing out. be sure to copy your outlook.pst file, then you have a quick restore.
I am also one of the above Outlook for Mac 2011 users that lost calendar information after getting iCloud. After much work (I’m certainly a novice), iCloud is working if I use iCal. What’s weird is that Outlook still syncs with iCal when I enter an appt in Outlook, but iCal does not sync that appt with iCloud. Also, nothing syncs back to Outlook. How can I get the appt from Outlook that synced to iCal to sync with iCloud?
Here is a potential fix for people using Windows outlook.
1. Goto Account Settings
2. Data Files
- find the iCloud and set it as the default.
This will allow you to sync email, calendar and contacts.
Hope this helps!!
Sorry to disagree Israel Denis, but you cannot set icloud as the default data file because it does not have an inbox.
Please see ThomasM post 51 for explanation.
Hi Danny, I use iPhone, MacBook Pro and iMac. I recently updated to iCloud and contacts and calender are in sync across all three devices via Address Book and iCal. I use Outlook for Mac 2011 on MBP and iMac, emails are in sync across my three devices as they are IMAP. However! Since changing to iCloud, Outlook for Mac doesn’t sync contacts with Address Book (previously via MobileMe I think), so I have no contacts in Outlook for Mac. This means that whenever I want to write an email I have to copy and past email addresses from Address Book, a complete pain when i have > 1000 business contacts and sending emails with multiple cc etc. Any ideas to sync contacts into Outlook for Mac (on both MBP and iMac)? Thanks, Mark.
I sure have trouble with my Google Calendar since the iOS5 updates. My iPhone 3GS and iPad2 do not reliably update the gmail calendar. I also make changes to my calendar, verifiy the change, then find the changes undone a short time later. I cannot reliably pin down the weakest or strongest point, but I think the 3GS is least likely to get or give Calendar updates while Outlook 2007 via Google Calendar Sync is most likely to make changes successfully. (I also think that typing on iPad2 and 3GS is less accurate after iOS5). Hmmm
A new observation about the iCloud data folders in Outlook 2007: Microsoft’s Index (Vista) cannot search this content. This means that when searching “All Contacts” or “All Tasks” or “All Calendar Items” you will not be finding what was moved into iCloud. You can search iCould content directly but not while also using Outlook/Microsoft to search all your other content folders.
Your iDevice will search and find the content if it has it , I believe.
Thomas M has a good point – the inability of Outook 2010 (in Windows 7 at least) to index the iCloud contacts folder means not only that they are a pain to find (no search function) but also that, once found, email addresses need to be copied and pasted into new messages.
I tried rebuilding the index and specifically including the iCloud data file location but no luck.
One other issue: while iCloud seems to do a reasonable job of keeping calendar and contacts wirelessly synced between our three PCs in different locations running outlook, my wife’s and my iPads and my iPhone, my wife wants to stick with her blackberry. The blackberry desktop manager cannot see the new iCloud folders in Outlook and therefore can’t sync… I have fudged this by deleting all in the default contacts etc and copy and pasting from iCloud, but this somewhat lacks the dynamism I was hoping for! Better persuade her to get that iPhone. I assume this is what Apple were trying to achieve – I am now toying with moving to an all Apple set-up when my old PCs die.
I have gone a completely different calendar route. I use the HD Informant app to sync with my Outlook calendar. It has a beautifully displayed calendar AND it syncs my Outlook categories (a must for me with 3 kids) which nothing else I found could do. I purchased their $5 syncing app for my PC and have never looked back. My calendar updates automatically over my Wifi. Now, a realize this doesn’t help those of you with computers at multiple locations or calendars with multiple users; however, for those of us simply trying to sync our Outlook calendars from a PC to an Apple device, it is a nice solution.
My work calendar is Outlook 2003 and i’m not aloud itunes or any of these 3rd party programmes on my work pc. To put my work calendar entries onto my iphone involves the cumbersome process of exporting my calendar to a csv file and e-mailing it to my personnal e-mail address, then downloading to my home PC and then importing into the outlook running on my home pc. I then use itunes to sync the calendar across to my iphone. Surely there must be an easier way??
Re: Paul
It sounds like deliberate policy to prevent business content from being used on personal devices or computers. If they don’t let you download Mail from your business mail account to home to personal devices then they might be upset to hear you are emailing your calendar around.
On the other hand, if they let you use Exchange client from home or iphone over Internet or VPN then you could sync the calendar at those platforms. If the company uses gmail or yahoo for business mail then these services have calendars then can be synced to outlook and iPhone.
A neat workaround for all the tribulations described here would be if it were possible to automatically sync two outlook calendars (the i-cloud one and the regular one) on the same PC and same instance of Outlook.
Does anyone know a tool that synchronizes calendars on the same machine?
DAVID
My less than elegant solution: I’m syncing calendar from legal case management software Time Matters with Outlook but same deal as syncing Google Calandar and Outlook. It puts the new events in default blue Outlook calendar instead of green iCloud Calendar. In Outlook, bring up the blue default calendar, click on “View” at top, then “Change View” icon at far left, then on “List” icon. This puts all new events in a list so you can highlight and drag to the green iCloud calendar, and deletes them from the blue calendar, ready for next time you sync.
i’m OK with the iCloud and Outlook 2007 interactions now that i set it all up and removed duplicate appointments…
but, i can’t double-click to open anything that pops up in the reminder window. that shortcut was nice, but oh well! anyone else have this issue? is it because iCloud is not the default calendar/task list? any way to fix it?
iCloud has ruined my Contacts with duplicates and miss matched numbers with names. The calendar was totally deleted which made my previous management of the calendar in my Google Apps redundant. This was a problem as we share Calendars across the company.
In short iCloud should have given notice of these actions before I said yes. I have now turned off iCloud for all my updates.
Ok. I got them back. Once icloud had hijacked all Calendar entries in Outlook 2010, I needed to get them back in sync with outlook and gmail. I exported the Icloud calender in outlook to a csv. Then I disabled Icloud from outlook. I then imported the .csv into Google and re-synced with Outlook. All good
I have been playing with this also and have now got both icloud and sync to google working. I had to buy a third party software called gSyncit ($20). It works well as you can map any outlook folder to folders in google, you select the folder in each.
I use icloud to sync calendar, contacts , tasks ( to my ipad, iphone) I also map my icloud calendar, contacts, tasks and notes to google / gmail with gSyncit so I have a backup sync going I can access from anywhere. The only bit missing is icloud notes.
@Jeremy, I use gSyncit and was thinking this might solve problems previously mentioned too. I am curious though, were you already setup in Outlook and Google? What process steps did you take to transition to the iCloud file set in Outlook? Did you just point gSyncit to those files after the transition and let the tool take it’s time comparing/syncing data it had originally placed in Google? Seems that might be time consuming, did you have duplication issues?
I think Apple should hold seminars for Microsoft employees so they can come up with better products. IE6 and Outlook… need I say more?
Hi,
I also moved to iCloud. Promissing but with problems. I now have 3 (outlook) calendars: calendar, calendar in iCloud and conflicts in iCloud.
2 questions:
- does anyone know how to solve these conflicts (and why are they conflicts? just about everything seems to be a conflict…)
- in none of the 3 calendars upcoming appointments are shown (when you switch to the e-mail view), I’m getting in all of them the message “The reminder will not appear because the items is in a folder that doesn’t support reminders.” Which folder does support the reminders? and if the upcoming appointments isn’t the same as “reminders” how can i make the “upcoming appointments” reappear?
The more I use i-cloud to synchronize between my IOS5 devices and my main computer’s outlook , the more flaws of this hastily machined piece of software become visible:
- I canot set “i-cloud” as the default calendar. If I try to set i-cloud as the default data file, outlook will not start anymore, because the i-cloud data forma is not .pst format!
- As a consequence, when I accept outlook appointment invitations, they will not appear in my i-cloud calendar, but in the “standard”calendar
- To synchronize both calendars is impossible, because they are based on different data formats. I asked a developer of outlook synchronization software and he said”no chance”
- As a further consequence, I cannot backup my outlook anymore, unless I back up the hilariosuly hidden icloud data files. backing up pst is not working anymore
CONCLUSION: it seems apple DIDN’T WANT to make a good job wiht outlook integration in the first place!
Check this out: http://www.somebytes.net/1-1-Home.html.
I installed the software and it solved most, if not all the problems mentioned here.
Luc, you mean it is possible to synchronize within ouztlook the i-cloud calendar with the regular calendar? Have you tried it?
Yes I’ve tried it. It synchronizes all calendars, notes and contacts with the outlook default. It even seems to have the possibility to synchronize calendars from other persons (or your own) on another computer (this I haven’t tried).
Once you’ve set it up, use only the ICloud calendar and contacts for input, it will automatically synch. the default so all problems gone.
The only thing which is not clear is whether you have to pay (only 20 $) after 30 days or can continue to use the demo as it is without the possibility to synch calendars from other computers.
Anyhow 20$ is cheap to solve evrything. Shame on Apple !!!
In the meantime, and only because I’m curious (after installing this software it doesn’t seem to matter anymore). Does anyone know how to solve the “conflicts” in ICloud and why they are conflicts?
Folks, that was it for me. Luc’s software didn’t work for me.
I deleted the icloud calendar datafile in outlook, set all icloud levers to the off position on my iOS5 devices, and installed GOOGLE SYNC instead, which syncs between outlook, iOS5 and the cloud.
Google sync uses the standard outlook calendar, so I can now sync with my blackberrry (which is my carphone, since there is no iphone4s handsfree car kit available for the next half year)
WORKS LIKE A CHARM!
Shame on Apple!
Dan, like you I use Google Calendar (for a number of reasons stemming from Android) and found it very efficient to run with Outlook. When I first purchased my IPhone 4S I merely sync’d via the PC with Outlook / ITunes and that worked fine and allowed for me to continue to use Google Sync. THIS WAS THE RIGHT ANSWER. Unfortunately, I read everything, your article being the best and on target, and felt I was ready to make the ICloud plunge and I did AND IT DID EVERY THING YOU SAID IT WOULD. So, once if reconstructed my calendar in ICloud I decided to stay there although I morn for my Google Calendar sync and keep looking over my shoulder to see what I am going to miss. UGGG to Apple and less so to Google. I agree, leave our calandar file alone Apple — we know you can as the IPhone recoginzies all calendars INCLUDING GOOGLE!! Hope they fix this soon.
When you load or enable icloud why does it move the contact and calendar without informing you or giving you an option surely that’s a no no? Why not sync with the existing folders like most other applications do? For me this is a complete disaster from Apple is it is them that modified my system without warning or giving me an option. The Iclould idea is great but implementation is very poor come on Apple get your act together. This my make me review using Apple as seems like an attempt to force me to Apple only. Is this not deliberate anti- competitive behaviour and so should be investigated like what happens with Microsoft.
I was so worried from all this… but mine works JUST like I want it to.
I have a pc at work, with a work calendar on exchange, and I wanted to see my personal/family/wife iCloud calendars too in Outlook. So I choose “sync some calendars” in the setup, and unchecked all of the Outlook calendars. It downloaded and add iCloud calendars IN ADDITION TO my Outlook work calendar(s). Turn them all on, have them overlap, and viola!
This has been an excellent thread. Congrats.
I have used Google Calendar for longtime now but with iOS 5.0 and still with 5.01 on iPhone 3GS and iPad2, I have to be VERY slow and careful editing and entering calendar items. If I edit an item on my iDevice, I have to check to be sure the changes are not erased/undone. This is very repeatable on new items and when making edits shortly after item creation. It happens even on the device that created the item. Outlook 2007 changes are still reliable and tend to take precedence through Google Calendar Sync over iDevice changes. ‘Not sure to blame Google or iPhone except that this was not such an issue in iOS 4.x
I figured out a work around, at least one that is working for me.
I set my laptop pc to sync to goole clendar and contacts.
I set my iPhone to sync with gmail galendars/contacts and icloud calendars/contacts.
I set my Ipad to sync with google calendars and icloud contacts.
I set my iMac to sync with google calendar and icloud contacts.
If you start with the PC and follow this sequence with empty files it all seems to work and everything is talking. Not ideal but pretty seemless. When Apple finally sorts the icloud out maybe it will all just play together nice! In the meantime this worked for me.
Next Comments →
Comments on this entry are closed.