Creating & Managing Calendars

Adding Calendars Back to top

The calendar sidebar provides three ways to add calendars to your view. Click the Add Calendar dropdown button at the top of the sidebar to see all options:

• Create — build a new calendar from scratch with full control over event sources, event types, and permissions. Opens the Create Calendar dialog with four configuration tabs.
• Add Existing — add a calendar that was already created by another user to your sidebar. This does not duplicate the calendar; it simply makes it visible in your view.
• Add Calendar Subscription — import an external calendar from Google Calendar, Outlook, Apple Calendar, or any service that provides an ICS feed URL. Events are read-only and refresh automatically.

Create Calendar Dialog Back to top

When creating a new calendar, the dialog provides four tabs to configure every aspect of the calendar.

General Tab

Set the calendar's name, color, and optional description. The color is used throughout the UI to distinguish this calendar's events from others. A live Preview shows how the calendar name and color will appear in the sidebar.

Events Source Tab

Choose what data populates the calendar. Four source types are available:

• Basic — a standalone calendar with only custom events (no Jira issues). Ideal for team schedules, holidays, or company-wide events.
• Project — display Jira issues from one or more selected projects. Choose which date fields to use (due date, created, updated, sprint dates, custom date fields) and which issue types to include.
• JQL — write a custom JQL query to define exactly which issues appear. This is the most flexible option and supports any valid JQL expression.
• Filter — use a saved Jira filter as the issue source. The calendar shows all issues returned by the filter, using your chosen date fields.

Configure Date Fields Mapping to set the Start Date Field (required) and optional End Date Field. Under Display Options, toggle whether to show issue status and assignee on calendar events.

Event Types Tab

Configure the calendar's timezone — when creating events, times will be interpreted in this timezone. Leave empty to use each user's Jira profile timezone.

Define custom event type categories (e.g., Event, Meeting, Holiday, Travel). Each type can have a reminder configured. Click + Create to add new types. When users create custom events, they select from these types.

Permissions Tab

Control who can view, create events in, and administer this calendar. Add users, groups, or project roles with one of three access levels: Admin, Use, or Read Only. The creator is automatically added as an Admin owner and cannot be removed.

See Permissions & Roles for what each level can do and how to change a role, and Sharing Calendars with Users for the full sharing workflow (including how recipients pick up the shared calendar).

The Export section includes a "Disable export for this calendar" checkbox — when checked, this calendar cannot be exported via ICS, JSON, or embedded links.

Calendar Subscription Back to top

Calendar subscriptions import events from external calendar services via ICS URLs. The subscription dialog is a simplified version of the create dialog with two tabs: General and Permissions.

On the General tab, provide:

• Calendar Name — a display name for the imported calendar
• ICS URL — the subscription URL from your external calendar service (Google Calendar, Outlook, Apple Calendar, etc.)
• Color — choose a color for the imported events

The Permissions tab works identically to regular calendars, letting you control who can see the imported events. Once created, the subscription fetches events immediately and refreshes automatically every 5 minutes.

Calendar Sidebar Back to top

The left sidebar lists all calendars in your view. Each calendar entry provides quick controls:

• Visibility Toggle — click the colored checkbox next to a calendar name to show or hide its events on the calendar view. Hidden calendars remain in your sidebar but their events are not rendered.
• Collapse Button — collapse the sidebar to maximize the calendar view area. Click again to expand it.
• Dropdown Menu — hover over a calendar name and click the edit icon (pencil) to access the per-calendar action menu.

Calendar Dropdown Actions Back to top

The per-calendar dropdown menu provides the following actions (availability depends on your permissions):

• New Event — quickly create a custom event in this calendar
• Issue List — view all Jira issues associated with this calendar in a list format
• Quick Filters — apply or manage quick filters to narrow displayed events by assignee, status, priority, or custom criteria
• Edit — open the calendar settings dialog to modify name, color, event sources, event types, or permissions
• Delete — permanently remove the calendar and all its custom events (Jira issues are not affected)
• Remove from Favorites — remove the calendar from your sidebar without deleting it. Other users who have added it are not affected.
• Copy URL — copy a direct link to this calendar view for sharing with teammates
• Export Settings (admin only) — open the export configuration panel for this calendar. Only visible to calendar administrators and only when exports have been enabled globally.

Permissions & Roles Back to top

Every calendar has its own permission list. Access is granted to users, groups, or project roles, and each entry is given one of three access levels. Permissions live on the Permissions tab of the calendar dialog (same dialog as Create — reopened via the calendar dropdown → Edit).

The three access levels

Changing a user's role

The access level is shown as a clickable colored lozenge in the Permissions tab (purple = Admin, green = Use, grey = Read Only). To change a role:

1. Open the calendar dropdown menu (pencil icon on the sidebar entry) and choose Edit.
2. Switch to the Permissions tab.
3. Find the user, group, or role in the list and click the access lozenge. Each click cycles to the next level: Admin → Use → Read Only → Admin.
4. Click Save to apply the change. Until you save, changes can be discarded by closing the dialog.

Removing access

Click the × icon at the end of a row to remove that user, group, or project role from the calendar. The change takes effect when you click Save. The creator row has no remove button.

Defaults

• Creator — automatically added as Admin when the calendar is created.
• Newly added user / group / role — defaults to Use. Lower it to Read Only or raise it to Admin by clicking the lozenge before saving.
• Users not on the list — have no access. They will not see the calendar in their Add Existing dialog and cannot open it directly.

Sharing Calendars with Users Back to top

Sharing a calendar in Calendar for Jira is a two-step process:

1. The calendar Admin grants access to a user, group, or project role on the Permissions tab.
2. The recipient adds the shared calendar to their own sidebar via Add Calendar → Add Existing.

Step 1 — Grant access (Admin)

1. Open the calendar dropdown menu in the sidebar and choose Edit. (You must already be an Admin on the calendar to manage its permissions.)
2. Switch to the Permissions tab.
3. Click the Users, groups, roles picker and start typing. The picker searches across three subject types in one unified list:
   • Users — individual Jira users (matched by display name or email)
   • Groups — Jira groups (e.g. jira-users, confluence-administrators)
   • Project roles — Jira project roles (e.g. Administrators, Developers) — access is then evaluated per project membership
4. Select an entry. It is added to the permissions list with the default access level Use.
5. (Optional) Click the access lozenge on the new row to change it to Admin or Read Only — see Changing a user's role.
6. Repeat the picker for additional users, groups, or roles. The picker clears itself after each selection so you can add multiple subjects without reopening it.
7. Click Save to commit the new permissions.

Step 2 — Recipient adds the calendar

Each recipient picks up the shared calendar on their own side:

1. Open Calendar for Jira.
2. In the sidebar, click the Add Calendar dropdown and choose Add Existing.
3. The dialog lists every calendar the user has access to but does not yet have in their sidebar. (Calendars already in the user's sidebar are filtered out so the list stays clean.) Each row shows the calendar name, its color, and a Users count indicating how many people currently have it pinned.
4. (Optional) Use the search box at the top of the dialog to filter by calendar name.
5. Click the calendar to add it. It appears in the recipient's sidebar immediately with the level of access granted on the Permissions tab.

What the recipient can do depends on their role

• Admin — sees the calendar in Add Existing, and once added gets the full dropdown menu (Edit, Delete, Export Settings, etc.). See Permissions & Roles.
• Use — sees the calendar in Add Existing, and once added can create / edit / delete custom events but not edit calendar settings.
• Read Only — sees the calendar in Add Existing, and once added can only view events. The New Event button is hidden on this calendar for them.

Removing yourself vs. losing access

• Remove from Favorites — available in the calendar dropdown menu. This only removes the calendar from your sidebar; other users are unaffected. You can always add it back via Add Existing.
• Permission removed by an Admin — if your name, group, or role is removed from the Permissions tab, the calendar disappears from your sidebar on the next reload and is no longer listed in Add Existing. There is no email notification — admins should communicate the change directly.

Export Settings per Calendar Back to top

Calendar administrators can configure export feeds for individual calendars via the Export Settings option in the calendar dropdown menu. This opens a panel with three export format cards.

Each card allows you to generate and manage a feed URL for that format:

• ICS Feed — generate a subscription URL for Google Calendar, Outlook, or Apple Calendar. Configure which fields to include, availability status (Busy/Free), and the time period covered by the feed.
• JSON Feed — generate an API endpoint that returns calendar events as JSON. Useful for custom dashboards, automation, and third-party integrations. Configure fields and time period.
• Embedded Calendar — generate an embeddable URL or iframe snippet to display a read-only monthly calendar view on websites, wikis, or team portals. Configure which fields are visible.

For detailed instructions on each export format, see the Export & Import documentation:

• ICS Feed — subscribe in Google Calendar, Outlook, or Apple Calendar
• JSON Feed — programmatic access for integrations
• Embedded Calendar — public calendar for websites
• PDF & Excel — download events as reports