How to make a calendar invite for Google and Outlook
Create an ICS calendar file plus Google and Outlook links, with the event timezone set on purpose. What all-day dates and daylight-saving changes do to the file.
A date written in an email is easy to misread. “Saturday at 7” does not say which Saturday, which timezone, or whether 7 is the doors or the start. A calendar file answers those questions once.
The calendar invite generator builds an ICS file and a Google Calendar link and an Outlook link. You pick the event timezone yourself.
Timed event or all-day event
Use a start and end clock time for a race, a class, or a sitting with a real duration. Use all-day when the thing occupies dates rather than hours: a market weekend, a festival, a conference that should sit on the calendar as a block.
For an all-day event, the end date you enter is the last day included. A Saturday-and-Sunday market is Saturday through Sunday, not Saturday through Monday. The file then stores Monday as the end, because the calendar standard treats the end date as exclusive. Guests still see both days.
Set the timezone on purpose
The timezone is the place the event happens, not the place you happen to be while typing. A Kuala Lumpur market stays Asia/Kuala_Lumpur even if you build the file from another country. Timed events are converted from that timezone to UTC.
Daylight-saving changes are the awkward part. If the local time does not exist because the clocks jumped forward, the tool rejects it. If the hour happens twice because the clocks fell back, the page shows the UTC time it resolved. Read that line before you send the file.
What to hand to guests
- Download the ICS file and attach it, or host it, when you want one file that Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, and Outlook can import.
- Copy the Google or Outlook link when you want a button. Each link opens a draft in that product. It does not mail the guest and it does not add them as an attendee.
- Put an event URL on the invite only if it starts with https:// or http://. That is a sensible place for the registration page.
A calendar file does not take registrations. When you want a headcount, questions, and a QR code at the door, publish the event and put that page URL on the invite.
Good to know
Which calendars open an ICS file?
ICS is the iCalendar format used by Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, and Outlook. Import behavior still varies by app.
Does a calendar link invite everyone automatically?
No. A Google or Outlook link opens a draft. The recipient chooses whether to save it. The tool does not send email or add attendees.
Why does an all-day event end a day later in the file?
The last day you type is included. Calendar files store the end as the next day, which is how all-day events keep that last day on the schedule.