How to fix the Calendar app not working on Mac

In this troubleshooting guide, we list all possible fixes for the Apple Calendar app not working on your Mac, helping you stay on top of your schedule.

Apple Calendar app problems

Based on user complaints across forums like Apple Communities, X, and Reddit, here are some of the main issues affecting the Apple Calendar on Mac:

• The Calendar app crashes when you open it.
• Opening the app keeps showing the rainbow beachball icon for a long time, eventually crashing the app.
• You see a Not Responding label next to Calendar in the Force Quit menu.
• The Calendar app starts using an absurd amount of system memory, like 140 GB, even though your Mac has just 8 or 16 GB of RAM.
• All your existing calendar events are missing now.
• You can’t add new events.
• Recurring calendar events don’t alert you.
• The app freezes generally or when editing an event.
• Edits to an event don’t show throughout the Calendar app.
• Sync issues with iCloud, Google, or Outlook account.
• The app crashes when you move it to the second monitor.
• You see some Terminal errors when trying to use Apple Calendar.
• Invites take ages to show on the calendar.
• Problem with new, declined, and deleted invites.

Below you’ll find the solutions to fix these problems.

Update your Mac

Most of the above Calendar issues appear after updating to early versions of macOS Sequoia. If your Mac is on an earlier build like macOS 15, 15.1, or 15.2, head to System Settings > General > Software Update and get the latest version of macOS Sequoia.

Once updated, restart your Mac—the Calendar app should work fine. If the problem continues, follow the remaining tips.

Force Quit and reopen the Calendar

Force close the Calendar app by clicking the Apple icon  in the top left corner. Then try launching and using the app again.

Quit all apps

If closing and reopening the Calendar app didn’t help, quit everything and open just the Calendar app. If it works fine now, chances are the problem is happening because of a different app. Update all your Mac apps and if that doesn’t help, delete the one causing trouble with Calendar.

Restart your computer

If a temporary system glitch is causing your issue, turning your Mac off and back on should fix it.

Uncheck all calendars and re-check them one by one

Some people were able to successfully fix their Calendar problems by simply disabling their individual calendars and enabling them after a restart.

1. Quit all apps on your Mac and then restart it.
2. Open Calendar, and if it loads normally, uncheck the added calendars from the left sidebar.
3. After you’ve unchecked all calendars, restart your Mac once again.
4. Finally, go to the Calendar app and check the calendars. If you find that enabling a particular calendar causes the app to freeze or triggers further issues, leave it unchecked for now.

Unsubscribe from third-party calendars

A couple of users on the Apple Communities forum solved their calendar issue by unsubscribing from the NFL calendar. If you’ve subscribed to calendars, like ones from FIFA or other such events, right-click on their name in the sidebar and hit Unsubscribe.

Refresh calendars

If you are experiencing calendar sync problems on your Mac, open the app and click View > Refresh Calendar in the top menu bar. Wait for the app to show all your missing events, invites, etc. Also, be sure your computer’s Internet connection is working fine so it can communicate with iCloud, Google, Microsoft, and other cloud servers.

Disable and re-enable the calendar account

This trick has helped quite a few users, so it’s worth a try. Just note that disabling and removing your calendar accounts like iCloud, Google, or Microsoft Exchange won’t delete your events or invites—they’re stored in the cloud. Everything should reappear once you re-enable or sign back in to the account.

1. Open the Calendar app and click Calendar > Settings in the top menu bar.
2. Go to the Accounts tab.
3. Select iCloud Apple from the left sidebar, and uncheck “Enable this account.” Repeat this for other added calendar accounts like Google and Exchange.
4. Restart your Mac.
5. Head back to your calendar account settings and re-enable the accounts one by one. It’s possible that the Calendar app may not work well with one of these accounts. In that case, don’t enable it again just yet—wait until you’ve tried the remaining solutions.

Delete and re-add calendar accounts

If the calendar problems persists, sign out of your iCloud or third-party calendar account and sign back in. When browsing Apple’s forum, this solution seemed to work for a lot of people.

1. Open System Settings and click Internet Accounts.
2. Select one of the third-party accounts for now, click Delete Account, and then hit OK to confirm. If you only use iCloud Calendar, hit the Delete Account button or sign out from Apple Account settings. Remember to skip creating a local copy of your calendar events when you’re prompted; don’t worry, as all your iCloud data will sync once again when you sign back in with your Apple ID.
3. With the added calendar accounts removed, restart your Mac.
4. Head back to System Settings > Internet Accounts and click Add Account. Now, sign in with your first account and remember to keep the Calendar toggle enabled. After signing in, open the Calendar app and see if everything works.
5. Repeat step 4 to add back your other calendar accounts. If you have several events, wait until the app syncs everything, which can sometimes take more than an hour. Don’t make any changes until everything syncs in the Calendar app.

Permanently disable calendar for extra accounts

Let’s say you’ve added iCloud, Gmail, Outlook, and other Internet accounts to your Mac, but only use iCloud or Outlook for the calendar. In this case, go to Calendar Accounts Settings and uncheck “Enable this account” for unneeded accounts. You can also go to Internet Accounts in System Settings, select an account, and turn off the switch for Calendar or iCloud Calendar.

Turn off Mouse Keys

A couple of Mac users shared that turning off Mouse Keys in Mac System Settings > Accessibility > Pointer Control seemed to miraculously fix their calendar problems! So, give it a try.

Use the Calendar app on the main screen

If you use a second display with your MacBook and Calendar stops working on those displays, move the app back to the main display.

Clear the app cache

If the Calendar app refuses to open or freezes instantly, open Finder and select Go > Go to Folder from the top menu bar. Then, head to ~/Library/Calendars/ and delete the files there. Then, restart your computer and try opening the app again.

Alternatives if the problem continues

If the above solutions haven’t worked for you, wait for a new macOS update. In the meantime, you can try the following:

• Use iCloud Calendar, Google Calendar, or Microsoft Exchange Calendar in a web browser or other supported apps.
• Use the iOS Calendar app on your iPhone or iPad. Also note that a few people faced calendar issues on one of their Macs but not the other, even though both computers were on the same version of macOS Sequoia.
• Boot your Mac in Safe Mode and see if the Calendar app works.
• Reinstall macOS without deleting personal data.
• Restore to an older version of macOS, like macOS Sonoma. You can install it on a different partition or restore it from a Time Machine backup if you have one.

Which solution(s) helped to fix your calendar problems on your Mac?

Also, check out:

• How to remove duplicate calendar events on iPhone, iPad, and Mac
• How to get iCloud Contacts, Calendar, and Mail on Windows PC
• How to create a shared calendar for your family on iPhone, iPad, Mac

Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2025/04/07/fix-apple-calendar-app-issues/