Create a ICS File with Thunderbird

Abstract

In this document, we introduce Thunderbird. Although it’s a classical e-mail program, but we use it solely as a calendar. This tutorial shows how to create a calendar, add some entires, and to export its calendar content to a .ics file. This can be helpful, if you want to either test, access certain functions, or play with ics.py.

Installing Thunderbird

Thunderbird is available for Linux, MacOS, and Windows.

Installing on Linux

For most cases, Thunderbird is already packaged for your Linux distribution. This means, you can use the package manager of your system. It could be that your system has an older version, but for this tutorial, this does not matter. To install Thunderbird on your system, you need to become root, the system administrator.

Use the following commands:

• Debian/Ubuntu:

  $ sudo apt-get update
  $ sudo apt-get install thunderbird
  

• Fedora:

  $ dnf install thunderbird
  

• openSUSE:

  $ sudo zypper install thunderbird
  

Installing on MacOS

Follow the article on https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/installing-thunderbird-on-mac

Installing on Windows

Follow the article on https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/installing-thunderbird-windows

Creating a Calendar in Thunderbird

First we need a calendar to attach all entries to it. Proceed as follows:

1. Start Thunderbird.

2. From the menu, choose File ‣ New ‣ Calendar. If the menu is hidden, hit the F10 key.

3. Leave the option On My Computer (default) unchanged. Click Next.

4. Set a name for your calendar and an optional color. You can leave the Email to None.

5. Click Next and then Finish.

Adding Events to Your Calendar

1. From the menu, choose File ‣ New ‣ Event…

2. Enter a title.

3. Make sure that the Calendar: field contains the name of your calendar that you have created in section Creating a Calendar in Thunderbird. This is important as if you choose the wrong calendar, your entry will end up in a completely different location (and is not available in the expected file).

4. Set the start and (optionally) the end date. If needed, add a time or check All day Event.

5. Optionally, you can set a recurring date, a reminder and a description.

6. When finished, click Save and Close.

7. Repeat the above steps as needed.

Exporting All Entries from a Calendar

After you have added one or more entires to your calender, export it to a ics file:

1. From the menu, choose Events and Tasks ‣ Export…

2. In the dialog box, choose the calendar you want to export and proceed with Ok.

3. Choose the file location of the ics file. Make sure you use iCalendar (*.ics) as filter. Click Save to finish.

Your calendar is exported as ics file and can be used.