Stop spam events in your calendar

Applies to: Timepage on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

If you see fake webinar invites, “prize” notifications, or other junk events in Timepage, the spam isn’t coming from Timepage — it’s in your calendar account. Timepage displays whatever’s in the accounts you’ve connected (Google, Outlook, iCloud), so anything added there shows up here too. The fix is a setting in your calendar service: only accept invitations from people you know. Change it there and the spam stops in Timepage and every other calendar app, usually in a couple of minutes.

Why spam events appear

Some calendar services automatically add event invitations from email to your calendar — even ones that landed in your spam folder. It was meant to be a convenience, but spammers abuse it. Because Timepage reads from your calendar accounts, those events appear alongside your real ones. Fixing it at the source clears it everywhere.

Stop new spam

The main change is the same everywhere: accept invites only from known senders.

Google Calendar

In a browser: open Google Calendar, go to Settings > Event settings > Add invitations to my calendar, and change it from “From everyone” to “Only if the sender is known” (or “When I respond to the invitation email”). While you’re there, you can uncheck “Show events automatically created by Gmail.”

On iPhone or iPad: go to Settings > Calendar > Accounts, tap your Google account, then Sync > Events, and under Add invitations choose “Only if the sender is known.”

Outlook

Open Outlook, go to File > Options > Calendar, and under Automatic accept/decline disable automatically adding events from email. When you delete a suspicious invite, use “Do not send a response” so you don’t confirm your address is active.

Apple Calendar (iCloud)

Apple Calendar doesn’t auto-add email invites the way Google does, but check for unwanted subscribed calendars:

• On iPhone or iPad: Settings > Calendar > Accounts > Subscribed Calendars, then delete any you don’t recognize.
• On Mac: System Settings > Privacy & Security > Calendars lets you control which apps can access your calendars.

Remove the spam events you already have

• Google Calendar: open the event, choose More actions (the three-dot menu), then Report as spam.
• Outlook: report the sender as junk, then delete the event without clicking any links or attachments (use “Do not send a response”).
• Check for subscribed or additional calendars in your calendar service and unsubscribe from any you don’t recognize — this stops attackers adding more events.

If events keep coming back after you delete them, it’s syncing: remove them from your calendar service, then from each device, and finally from any subscribed calendars. It also helps to give your trusted calendars distinct colours in Timepage, so anything suspicious stands out.

Secure your calendar account

Because Timepage syncs your calendar accounts, keeping those accounts secure protects your Timepage data too:

• Turn on multi-factor authentication on your Google, Microsoft, or Apple account.
• Use a strong, unique password you don’t reuse elsewhere.
• Review third-party app access and remove anything you don’t recognize — Google Account > Security > Third-party apps; your Microsoft account’s app permissions; or System Settings > Privacy & Security > Calendars on a Mac.

For the setting Google recommends, see Google’s help article on adding invitations from known senders.

Related:

• Set up your calendars
• Sharing calendars
• Sync Timepage with Google Calendar
• Events aren’t syncing between your devices