How to restore missing Google Calendar events on Android

If you switched to a new device or removed your Google account from the current device for some reason, everything should sync again and all apps associated with your account, including Calendar, should restore. But, as some users reported, that’s not the case. It seems that Google Calendar events are missing for some Android users and that’s most likely a blunder on Google’s side. Nonetheless, it’s worth checking some steps we listed below.

Table of contents:

1. Use a PC to check the Trash
2. Restore backup
3. Enable the Events from Gmail feature
4. Reinstall the app
5. Remove and add a Google account again

Why did my Calendar events disappear on Android

If some events are missing from Google Calendar, restore deleted Calendar events from the Trash, and re-sync your Google Drive by resetting the app. If you have any backups, restore them.

You can also try reinstalling Google Calendar (or uninstalling updates from the app) or removing and adding your Google Account again.

1. Use a PC to check the Trash

After some time, Google decided that’s worth preserving deleted events for 30 days and letting you restore them. You can do this only on a PC at this moment. So, if some of your events are missing, you can look them up in the Trash. If the problem isn’t sync-related, there’s a chance that you’ll be able to locate a missing event there.

If you’re not sure how to do it, follow the instructions below:

1. Open Google Calendar on your PC web browser and sign in with the preferred Gmail account.
2. Navigate to My Calendar on the left side and open the drop-down menu from your Calendar.
3. Click View Trash.
4. There you can find possibly deleted events.
5. Mark preferred events and click on Restore selected events.

Have in mind that Google Calendar stores only 30 days old deleted events. If you’re unable to find these, move on to the next step.

2. Restore backup

It’s a well-known fact that backup is a saver. You should frequently back up everything available in case something goes wrong. The same goes for Google Calendar. There are so many scenarios that can cause data loss, and most of them are not even the users’ fault. Of course, no one ever expects this from a first-party app like the Calendar. So, if you’ve exported Google Calendar timely, now you can restore all missing events and resolve the issue in a few easy steps.

Again, you’ll need to use a web browser on your PC and move from there to import saved calendars to your Google Account.

Follow the instructions below to do so in Calendar Settings:

1. Open Google Calendar in your PC web browser.
2. From the top right side, open Settings.
3. Open the Calendars card.
4. Click Import Calendars.
5. Extract ICS or CSV files from an exported ZIP file.
6. Click Choose file and select the exported file associated with your calendar.
7. Choose Import.

That should help you retrieve the missing events and resolve the problem. Now, once you’ve synced Google Calendar on your Android handset, you should be able to access all events just like before the issue emerged. And if you’re unsure how to export calendars for further use, these are the instructions you should follow:

1. Open Google Calendar in your PC web browser.
2. From the top right side, open Settings.
3. Open the Calendars card.
4. Click Export Calendars.
5. This will initiate an automatic download of your calendars. Calendars will be stored in a ZIP file.

3. Enable the Events from Gmail feature

Not all events are exclusively generic (holidays or birthdays) or manually created (to-do’s), some of them might come from Gmail. And if your issue is related to Gmail imported events, there might be a simple solution. Google Calendar should be able to access those by default but the settings might have changed after re-establishing the account.

Because of that, we advise you to check Settings and see for yourself:

1. Open the Google Calendar app on your Android device.
2. Open the 3-line drop-down menu.
3. Navigate to Settings.
4. Tap Events from Gmail.
5. Enable Add events from Gmail.

In addition, make sure that your device’s time and date are properly set.

4. Reinstall the app

Also, you might want to start from scratch and reinstall the app. This will result in a fresh automatic restore and, presumably, your missing events should be recovered. On the other hand, if the app is mandatorily installed on your device as a built-in tool, you can restore it to factory settings.

Follow the instructions below to reinstall the Google Calendar app:

1. Open the drawer or app menu on your device.
2. Tap and hold on to the Google Calendar app, draw it to the top, and Uninstall it.
3. Restart your device.
4. Open Play Store and search for Google Calendar.
5. Tap Install.
6. After the procedure is finished, check for the missing events within the app.

5. Remove and add a Google account again

Finally, removing and adding your Google Account again should also restore everything, so make sure to give it a go. Once you remove the account, you’ll be automatically signed out of Google apps running on your device. Signing in again will get your data back.

Here’s how to remove and add your Google account on Android:

1. Open Settings.
2. Select Accounts.
3. Select Google.
4. Remove the account.
5. Restart your device.
6. Sign in with your account again.

That should do it. We certainly hope that this was a useful read for you. Don’t forget that you have many alternative clients, so if you have had hard times in the past, you can always try an alternative.

In case you have any questions, suggestions, or even remarks, we’ll be glad to hear from you. Thanks for reading and feel free to visit our Facebook and Twitter pages for additional content on all things Android and iOS.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in June 2017. We made sure to revamp it for freshness and accuracy.