Written by Jennifer Walsh. Reviewed for technical accuracy by Shubham Dixit, Independent Expert in Email Forensics and Data File Conversion. Updated 18 September 2026.
Shubham is an independent external reviewer and not an employee of PCDOTS.
Quick answer. A PST holds your Outlook mail, contacts and calendar, and ICS, or iCalendar, is the universal calendar file. So converting PST to ICS means saving the calendar events from the PST as a .ics that Google, Apple and Thunderbird calendars open. In classic Outlook you use Save Calendar, and a tool exports the calendar in bulk without Outlook.
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What does converting PST to ICS do?
A PST is Outlook’s file, and it holds three things, your mail, your contacts and your calendar. ICS, short for iCalendar, is the universal calendar format defined by the RFC 5545 standard that other apps read.
So converting PST to ICS pulls the calendar out of the PST, the appointments, meetings and events, and saves them as a .ics file. Google Calendar, Apple Calendar and Thunderbird all open it. Your mail and contacts don’t go into an ICS, since ICS is a calendar-only format.
People do this to back up an Outlook calendar or move events to a phone or another calendar app. The steps below cover the free Outlook route first, then a bulk one.
Only the calendar from the PST becomes an ICS, which any calendar app opens.
“The first thing to say is that ICS is only the calendar, not the mail or the contacts, so this is about moving your appointments and meetings. In classic Outlook it’s a clean job, open the calendar and use Save Calendar, and the one setting people skip is under More Options, choose Full details or the descriptions and locations get stripped out. New Outlook won’t do this yet, so you stay on classic Outlook or use a tool. And for several PST calendars at once, a converter that reads them without Outlook and writes the ICS files is the quicker path.” Shubham Dixit, Data File Conversion reviewer (draft, pending approval)
How do you convert PST to ICS for free in Outlook?
You convert PST to ICS for free in classic Outlook with the built-in Save Calendar option. Open the calendar from your PST and save it as iCalendar, and you have a .ics. No extra software is needed.
Here are the five steps.
- In classic Outlook, open the Calendar and select the calendar from your PST in the left pane.
- Click File, then Save Calendar.
- Select More Options, set the Date Range and choose Full details so descriptions and locations are kept.
- Confirm the type is iCalendar Format (*.ics), name the file, then click Save.
- Import the .ics into Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or any app to check it.
I always choose Full details in Save Calendar, or the descriptions and locations get stripped out. One heads-up, this Save Calendar option lives in classic Outlook. New Outlook and Outlook on the web can’t save a calendar as .ics, which Microsoft confirms, so you use classic Outlook or the tool below.
On the new Outlook you have two workarounds. Forward a single event and it attaches as an .ics, or publish the calendar from Settings to get an .ics link that other apps subscribe to. A published link is a live feed that keeps updating, while a saved .ics is a one-time snapshot that stays as it was.
Open the PST calendar, Save Calendar with Full details and save the .ics.
What carries into the ICS, and what doesn’t?
An ICS keeps the core of every event, but a few Outlook-only extras drop. Knowing this up front saves surprises after the import.
In an ICS export
- Carries. Event titles, dates, times, time zones, locations, descriptions with Full details and recurring events as recurrence rules.
- Drops. Categories, colour labels, attachments on events and attendee responses, since these are Outlook-only.
How do you batch convert PST calendars to ICS without Outlook?
You batch convert PST calendars to ICS without Outlook by using a converter. It reads the calendar from every PST and exports the events to ICS in one pass, so there’s no opening Outlook and no doing them one at a time.
PCDOTS PST Converter loads one or many PST files and exports the calendar to ICS, with no Outlook and no manual Save Calendar. It runs on Windows with filters to export only the events you want, and the free trial exports a sample first. Follow these four steps.
- Install and run PCDOTS PST Converter, then open the menu.
- Add your PST files or a folder.
- Open Export and select ICS.
- Select a destination and save, then import the .ics into any calendar app.
The tool route, calendars from many PST files exported to ICS at once.
Here are the same four steps with the screens.
Step 1. Install and run PCDOTS PST Converter.
Step 2. Add your PST files or a folder.
Step 3. Open Export and select ICS.
Step 4. Browse to a destination and save.
Related reading, our guides to convert a PST file to CSV and import PST to Yahoo Mail. To read a file first, the free PST viewer opens a .pst without Outlook.
How do you import the ICS into a calendar?
Once you have the .ics, importing it takes a minute in any calendar app. The events land alongside what’s already there.
- Google Calendar. Open Settings, then Import and export, then Import, then select the .ics file.
- Apple Calendar. Open the Calendar app, click File, then Import, then choose the .ics.
- Outlook. Double-click the .ics to add the events, or use File, Open and Export, Import.
Every calendar app has a one-step import for an .ics file.
Which method should you use?
Use Outlook’s Save Calendar for one calendar, and a converter for several PST files or when Outlook isn’t set up.
| Method | Best for | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Outlook Save Calendar | One calendar | Free, classic Outlook, Full details |
| PST Converter | Many PST files, no Outlook | Windows, bulk, filters |
Key takeaways
- ICS is the universal calendar file, so a PST to ICS export moves only the calendar, not mail or contacts.
- In classic Outlook, use File then Save Calendar and choose Full details to keep descriptions and locations.
- New Outlook can’t Save Calendar to .ics, so use classic Outlook or a converter.
- A converter exports the calendar from many PST files to ICS in one pass, without Outlook.
Frequently asked questions
Does converting PST to ICS include my emails?
No. ICS is a calendar-only format, so it holds appointments, meetings and events. Your mail and contacts stay in the PST and are not part of the .ics.
How do I convert PST to ICS for free?
In classic Outlook, open the Calendar, select the calendar from your PST, then click File and Save Calendar and save it as iCalendar Format (*.ics).
Why can’t I save a calendar as .ics in new Outlook?
New Outlook and Outlook on the web don’t have the Save Calendar option. Use classic Outlook, or a converter that exports the PST calendar without Outlook.
Will recurring events and reminders survive?
Recurring events carry over as rules, and times and time zones are kept. Categories, colour labels and attachments on events don’t travel, since they are Outlook-only.
How do I convert calendars from several PST files at once?
Outlook saves one calendar at a time. For many PST files, a converter reads them and exports the calendars to ICS in a single run.
How do I open the ICS afterwards?
Import the .ics into Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Thunderbird or Outlook. Every calendar app has an import option that reads the file.
So how many calendars are you moving?
Converting PST to ICS is about the calendar, so once you know it’s the events you’re after, the choice is easy. For one calendar, classic Outlook’s Save Calendar with Full details is free and quick. For several PST files, a converter reads them and writes the ICS files without Outlook. Every route gives you a .ics that Google, Apple and Thunderbird calendars open, so which fits, one calendar by hand, or a batch of PST files at once?
