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Connect Email Calendar

Receive calendar invites via email

What's an Email Calendar?

An Email Calendar is a unique way to sync calendars by forwarding calendar invitations (.ics files) via email. This is perfect for calendars that don't have API access or when you want to keep certain calendars completely separate.

How it works: When events are created in your source calendar, SyncMyDay sends email invitations to a special address. Those invitations automatically show up as blocker events.

When to Use Email Calendars

✅ Great For

Calendars without API support
Legacy email clients (Thunderbird, Lotus Notes)
Receiving blocker invites in your email inbox
Simple one-way synchronization
Maximum privacy (events via secure email only)

⚠️ Consider Alternatives If

You need real-time sync (email has delays)
Your calendar supports API access (Google, Microsoft)
You need two-way synchronization
You want automatic acceptance (email calendars require manual actions)

Two Ways to Use Email Calendars

Receive Blockers via Email

When you have events in Google/Microsoft calendar, SyncMyDay sends email invitations to any email address you specify. You can accept these invitations in your email client (Outlook, Thunderbird, etc.) and they'll show up in your calendar.

Forward Invites to SyncMyDay

Get a unique email address from SyncMyDay (like abc123@syncmyday.com). When you receive calendar invitations at this address, SyncMyDay automatically creates blocker events in your other connected calendars.

Setup Guide

Go to Calendar Connections

Navigate to Calendars in the menu, or go to the Calendar Connections page.

Dashboard with Calendars menu highlighted

Go to the Calendar Connections page

Click "Connect Email Calendar"

Find and click the Email Calendar button with the envelope icon.

Calendar providers with Email Calendar option

Click the green "Email Calendar" button

Choose Your Setup Method

You'll see two options:

Option A: Receive Invitations

Enter an email address where you want to receive calendar invitations. This email should be connected to a calendar application (Outlook, Thunderbird, Apple Mail, etc.).

Example: mywork@company.com

Option B: Get a Unique Address

SyncMyDay generates a unique email address for you (like abc123@syncmyday.com). Forward calendar invitations to this address, and we'll process them automatically.

No email input needed—just click "Generate Address"

You can use both methods! Create one email calendar for receiving invites and another for sending invites to SyncMyDay.

Give It a Name

Enter a friendly name for this email calendar, such as:

Work Email Calendar
Thunderbird Calendar
Outlook Desktop

This helps you identify which email calendar is which if you create multiple.

Save and Connect

Click "Connect" or "Save". Your email calendar will appear in your connections list.

✅ Email Calendar Connected!

If you chose Option A: You'll receive email invitations at your specified address when events are synced
If you chose Option B: Copy the unique address and set up email forwarding (next step)

Your email calendar is successfully connected and active

Setting Up Email Forwarding (Option B)

If you chose to get a unique SyncMyDay address, you need to forward calendar invitations to it:

Gmail

Go to Gmail Settings (⚙️ → See all settings)
Click the "Forwarding and POP/IMAP" tab
Click "Add a forwarding address"
Enter your SyncMyDay address (e.g., abc123@syncmyday.com)
Gmail will send a confirmation code to that address (check with us!)
Once confirmed, set up a filter to forward only calendar invitations

Outlook / Microsoft 365

Go to Outlook Settings (⚙️ → View all Outlook settings)
Navigate to Mail → Forwarding
Enable forwarding and enter your SyncMyDay address
Save changes
Optionally, create a rule to forward only emails with .ics attachments

📧
Other Email Clients

Most email clients support forwarding rules. Look for:

Filters or Rules in settings
Create a rule: "When message has attachment with .ics extension"
Action: "Forward to your-syncmyday-address@syncmyday.com"

Creating Sync Rules with Email Calendars

Once your email calendar is connected, you can use it in sync rules:

As a Target (Receive Invites)

Example: Google Calendar → Email Calendar

Source: Your Google work calendar
Target: Email calendar with personal@example.com
Result: You receive email invitations for all work events at your personal email

As a Source (Forward Invites)

Example: Email Calendar → Google Calendar

Source: Email calendar with unique address
Target: Your Google work calendar
Result: Calendar invites sent to your unique address appear as blockers in Google

How Email Calendar Sync Works

The Process

Event Created in Source Calendar

An event is created in your source calendar (e.g., Google Calendar)

SyncMyDay Detects Change

We receive a webhook notification (for API calendars) or poll for changes (CalDAV/Email)

Email Invitation Sent

An email with a .ics attachment is sent to your email calendar address

Event Appears in Email Client

Your email client (Outlook, Thunderbird, etc.) receives the invitation and shows it in your calendar

Common Questions

It depends on your email client settings. Most email clients can be configured to automatically accept calendar invitations. Check your calendar settings for "Automatically accept meeting requests" or similar options.

Email delivery is usually fast (within minutes), but it depends on email server delays. If you need instant synchronization, consider using Google Calendar or Microsoft 365 which support real-time webhooks.

Yes! You can create multiple email calendars that all send to the same email address. This is useful if you want to receive blockers from different source calendars in one place.

Check these potential issues:

Email caught in spam folder
Email forwarding rule disabled or broken
Email calendar connection inactive (check Connections page)
Sync rule paused or deleted

Next Steps

Create a Sync Rule

Set up your first synchronization using your email calendar.

Check the FAQ

More answers to common questions about SyncMyDay.

iCalendar Format (RFC 5545)

Email invitations use the iCalendar (.ics) format:

Standard MIME type: text/calendar
Contains VEVENT components with event data
Includes VTIMEZONE for timezone information
Uses METHOD:REQUEST for invitations

Email Sending

Outgoing email invitations:

Sent via Laravel Mail system (SMTP, Mailgun, SendGrid, etc.)
From address: Configured in .env (MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS)
Reply-to: noreply@syncmyday.com
Attachment: event.ics file

Email Receiving (Inbound)

For unique SyncMyDay addresses:

IMAP polling: Checks mailbox every minute
Webhook support: Mailgun, SendGrid, Postmark
Parses .ics attachments
Extracts token from recipient address (e.g., abc123 from abc123@syncmyday.com)

Event Processing

Parse .ics file for VEVENT components
Extract DTSTART, DTEND, SUMMARY, STATUS
Convert to internal event format
Check sync rules and create blocker events
Mark email as processed (move to "Processed" folder or delete)

Security

Unique addresses are cryptographically generated tokens
Token validation prevents unauthorized access
Email content is sanitized before processing
Only .ics attachments are processed