Mailbird Next Calendar is the native calendar experience in Mailbird Next. It lets you view your connected calendars, create and edit events, import .ics files, and keep your schedule close to your emails without opening a separate the need for a separate calendar app.

This article will help you set up the Native Calendar in Mailbird Next, understand which providers are supported, manage events, and troubleshoot permission or sync issues.

⚠️ Note: iCloud, CalDAV, and CardDAV calendars are not supported at this time.

🗓️ Enabling the Native Calendar App

You can enable the Native Calendar app very easily in Mailbird Next. Here's how:

1. First, click the Apps Menu located on the right-hand side of Mailbird Next (i.e. the nine small squares)
2. Search for the word "Calendar" in the search field
3. Toggle the app to enable it.

If you want to also enable our Native Contacts app, simply repeat the process, but search for "Contacts" instead of "Calendar".

🛠️ Setting Up the Native Calendar

After the Native Calendar app is enabled, Mailbird Next adds a Calendar icon to the left-hand menu. This is the quickest way to open your calendar from anywhere in Mailbird Next, without going through the integrations menu each time.

Click the Calendar icon to open the Native Calendar. If no calendar account has been connected yet, Mailbird Next will show a setup prompt asking you to connect one of your calendars, such as the one shown below.

Select Connect calendar, then choose the account or provider you want to use. You may be redirected to your provider's sign-in page so you can approve calendar access for Mailbird Next. Here are the full steps:

1. Sign in to the calendar account you want to connect.
2. Review the permissions requested by your provider.
3. Grant Mailbird Next all necessary permissions so that it can display your calendars and sync events.
4. Return to Mailbird Next after the authorization flow is complete.

💡 Info: If you skip Calendar during setup, or if you want to connect another account to Calendar later, you can do this from Mailbird Next account settings. Open Settings, choose Accounts, select the email account you want to use, then open the Apps & Services tab. From there, enable Calendar for that account by selecting Connect this account, if the option is available.

If the account is supported, Mailbird Next may ask you to approve calendar permissions with your provider. After you return to Mailbird Next, open Calendar again and use Sync if your events do not appear right away.

If your events do not appear immediately after setup, wait a few moments for the first sync to complete. You can also reopen Calendar, use the sync option if available, or restart Mailbird Next to refresh the calendar list.

Once connected, your calendars will appear in the Calendar list. From there, you can choose which calendars are visible, or hidden. Below is a list of calendar types:

• Visible calendars appear in your calendar views.
• Hidden calendars remain connected, but their events are not shown until you make them visible again.
• Read-only calendars can be viewed, but cannot be used for creating or editing events.
• Shared calendars depend on the access granted by the calendar owner.

💡 Info: Your default calendar should be a calendar you have permission to edit. Mailbird Next uses this calendar as the default one when you create a new event from the New event button, or by clicking a time slot, or even by selecting a date for an all-day event.

🔌 Supported Providers

Mailbird Next Calendar currently supports native calendar sync for:

• Google accounts, including Gmail and Google Workspace calendars.
• Microsoft accounts, including Outlook.com, Microsoft 365, and Exchange accounts connected through Microsoft sign-in.

If your calendar is hosted by Google or Microsoft, simply add either account to Mailbird Next to make the calendar available inside of the Native Calendar app.

⚠️ Note: Other email providers will still work for sending or receiving emails in Mailbird Next, but they will not provide native calendar sync in Mailbird Next Calendar. In other words, these calendars won't sync directly with the Mailbird Next Calendar if events or updates have taken place outside of Mailbird Next.

Mailbird Next can also display calendar web app integrations separately, such as Google Calendar. Those are web integrations. Mailbird Next Calendar is the native calendar inside the left menu.

✏️ Creating and Editing Events

To create an event:

1. Open the Mailbird Next Calendar from the left sidebar.
2. Select the New event button, click a time slot, or select a date for an all-day event.
3. Add the event title, date, time, calendar, guests, location, description, and reminders.
4. Save the event.

To edit an event, select it in Calendar, make your changes, and save it again. If you drag an event to another time or day, Mailbird Next Calendar updates the event on the connected calendar when sync completes.

🔐 Calendar Permissions and Troubleshooting

Some calendars are read-only. If you cannot create, edit, move, or delete an event, check the calendar permissions in Google Calendar, Outlook, Microsoft 365, or Exchange. You will need edit/write access to change anything in this sort of calendar from Mailbird Next.

If the Calendar app is not showing expected events or calendars, try the following:

• Make sure the account is still connected in Mailbird Next.
• Open Calendar and select Sync or restart Mailbird Next.

• Check that the calendar is selected/visible in the calendar list.
• Confirm that the calendar belongs to a supported Google or Microsoft account.
• Re-authorize the account if your provider asks for calendar access again.
• If you are using a shared calendar, confirm that the owner granted edit access if you need to create or change events.

You can also import calendar files by using the Import .ics option in Calendar. Imported events are added to the first available writable calendar.

💡 Still Need Help?

If the Native Calendar app in Mailbird Next is not working as expected, please contact our Customer Happiness Team here. Include your email provider, whether the affected calendar is shared or read-only, any error messages, or a detailed description of what's happening.