Import large calendar into Google Calendar

Question

I tried to import a calendar file (.ics file) into Google Calendar, but it gave me an error message:

Processed 0 of 0 events

The file you tried to import is too large

How do I import it?

I tried reading the Google Calendar Help page discussing problems importing, and read the entry relating to the above error message, but it contained no useful information. https://www.dirtydandydesign.com/post/155808218272/export-heavy-calendars-ics-more-than-1-mb-to mentions splitting the .ics file into multiple parts but does not contain detailed instructions on exactly how to do that.

Answer 1

Apparently there is a file size limit, of about 1MB or 1.5MB on import files. The solution is to manually split up the .ics file into multiple parts.

Basically, the format of an .ics file is

BEGIN:VCALENDAR
calendar settings
BEGIN:VEVENT
event stuff
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
event stuff
END:VEVENT
...
END:VCALENDAR

To split it up into multiple parts, you need to keep the BEGIN:VCALENDAR and calendar settings and END:VCALENDAR, and split up the VEVENTs into multiple files. So, you can create a file 1.ics that has

BEGIN:VCALENDAR
calendar settings
<first half of VEVENTs>
END:VCALENDAR

and another file 2.ics that has

BEGIN:VCALENDAR
calendar settings
<second half of VEVENTs>
END:VCALENDAR

Now import 1.ics, then import 2.ics, and you'll be good. You might need to split up into more than 2 files; split it up into files that are each smaller than 1MB.

See https://www.dirtydandydesign.com/post/155808218272/export-heavy-calendars-ics-more-than-1-mb-to for details.