Create a Calendar Event From an Email in Mac OS X Mail

OS X Mail makes it easy to add events found in emails to Apple Calendar. With a little setup, you can send dates and times from the Mail application to your Apple Calendar automatically.

Create a Calendar Event From an Email in Mail

When Mail detects date and time info, along with words like "on," next, or "due," it makes that part of the message a link that you can use to add an event. Here's what to look for and how to use it.

1. Open the Mail app and click the message with the event information.

2. When you mouse over the relevant text, a box will appear around it with an arrow on the right side.

3. Clicking the arrow opens a menu with a Calendar event. Select Details to see more options.

   macOS prioritizes dates over days of the week in the case of a disagreement.

4. In the Details pop-up screen, make changes to the event

   • Add or edit the event name, date, and time.
   • Add an alert, specify travel time, or set an event to occur periodically.
   • Add a location under the Event name.
   • Add a note or attach a file.
   • Choose a different calendar.

5. Select Add To Calendar to accept the event suggestion with your modifications.

6. Mail adds a link to the email message in the Calendar entry. Select Show in Mail in the expanded Calendar entry to open the original email.

Send Events From OS X Mail to Calendar Automatically

To have Mail automatically add events to Calendar for you:

1. Open Mail and go to Mail > Preferences.

2. Select General.

3. Click the Add invitations to Calendar automatically checkbox.

Microsoft Exchange

If you use Microsoft Exchange, add events to your Apple Calendar using the buttons in the banner above the email message. When you select Accept, Decline or Maybe, OS X Mail notifies the sender and updates your calendar on the Exchange server. The change is reflected in your Apple Calendar the next time it syncs with the server.

As an alternative, Mail2iCal turns emails into calendar items as well.