How to Add Biblical Feast Days to Google Calendar

01Add biblical feast days to Google Calendar by the right route

Start by asking what the provider gave you.

• A file ending in `.ics` or `.csv` that sits in Downloads is for import. Google copies its events once.
• A public address beginning `https://` and ending in `.ics`, or described as an iCalendar subscription URL, is for subscription. Google adds it under Other calendars and checks the publisher's feed again later.
• A “Download calendar” button may still produce either. Click it once and inspect the result rather than assuming.

Neither route identifies the reckoning. A conventional Jewish-holiday feed generally follows the fixed Hebrew calendar. A sighted-crescent feed may publish provisional dates that change after observation. A 364-day feed may use an equinox anchor that differs from another 364-day calendar. Compare its next Passover with your congregation's published date before copying a whole year.

Put the feasts on their own calendar, not directly on your personal or work calendar. In Google Calendar on a computer, use the + beside Other calendars, choose Create new calendar, name it clearly — “Feasts: fixed Jewish” is better than “Holy Days” — and create it. That separate container supplies the color switch and clean removal you will want later.

02Import a feast-date file once

Google's official import instructions require the desktop website rather than the mobile app:

1. Open Google Calendar on a computer.
2. Select the gear, then Settings.
3. Open Import & export in the left menu.
4. Under Import, choose the `.ics` or `.csv` file.
5. Select the separate feast calendar as the destination.
6. Choose Import and check the reported number of events.

Now open two or three entries. Confirm the year, time zone, all-day status and wording. A feast beginning at sundown may be represented as an all-day entry on the following civil date, an entry on the preceding evening, or a multi-day span. Those are not interchangeable when you set reminders.

An imported file never updates itself. Google says this plainly: imported events do not remain in sync. If the provider corrects Firstfruits next week or publishes next year's sighting, your copied entries stay as they were. Import again only after deciding whether to delete the old set, because importing a revised file can create duplicates rather than merge your intentions. For an Apple-device route, see adding feast days to an iPhone calendar.

03Subscribe to a calendar with an ICS link

For a genuine published feed, follow Google's current From URL instructions:

1. Copy the calendar's public iCalendar address. Do not download it first.
2. On a computer, find Other calendars in the left column and select +.
3. Choose From URL.
4. Paste the published calendar address.
5. Select Add calendar. It appears under Other calendars.

Subscription is read-only in Google Calendar. Edit the source, not an individual feast, if you control the publisher. If somebody else controls it, treat its title and notes as theirs. You can change the display color or hide the calendar, but you cannot make an uncertain observation certain by editing your local copy.

Google's public setup help promises no exact refresh interval and exposes no reliable “refresh now” button for a subscribed URL. A publisher's correction can therefore take time to appear. For a change that affects tonight, check the source directly and communicate with the people attending. A feed is convenient. It is not an emergency notification system.

04Google's built-in Jewish holidays calendar

If you want the standard Jewish dates rather than a specialist feed, Google provides a built-in route. In Settings, open Add calendar → Browse calendars of interest → Global religious holidays, then select the Jewish holiday calendar available for your region. Google's holiday-calendar help also explains how to hide or show religious calendars.

For 2026, those published dates align with mainstream fixed Jewish-calendar listings such as Hebcal: Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on 11 September, Yom Kippur on 20 September, and Sukkot on 25 September. Google does not offer a control there for a sighted crescent, aviv barley or a 364-day year. If your congregation follows one of those reckonings, the built-in calendar is useful for knowing when Jewish neighbors observe, not for replacing your own schedule.

That distinction is why a biblical feast days calendar should state its rule beside its dates. “Hebrew calendar in Google Calendar” is not one universal result.

05Keep the feed useful and fix common failures

Give the feast calendar one color and leave event colors at their default. Google's calendar visibility help lets you click a calendar name to hide or show it and use its menu to change color. When work becomes crowded, one click removes the whole layer without deleting anything.

If nothing appears, open Google Calendar on the web and make sure the new calendar is checked. Then confirm the URL is public and returns iCalendar data rather than a login page. If events are hours early or late, inspect whether they were exported as timed events in the publisher's zone; biblical days beginning in the evening are especially vulnerable to a careless all-day conversion.

If dates appear twice, you probably imported the same file twice or combined Google's built-in holidays with another fixed-calendar feed. Hide each calendar in turn to locate the duplicate before deleting. For household coordination, a shared calendar has different permission questions; sharing a feast calendar with family or a small group keeps that work in its own guide.

Day 4's calendar export is part of its subscription and carries Day 4's own 364-day reckoning. The verified product facts promise an export, not a public Google subscription URL, so treat the exported file as an import snapshot unless the file you receive explicitly supplies a published feed address. Today's sacred date and next Sabbath remain free inside Day 4 without an account. It does not export fixed Jewish or sighted-crescent dates; the broader biblical calendar app comparison covers tools that do.

06Common questions