07-28-2011, 10:04 AM

I don't know why this keeps happening but iCal keeps getting so bloated with repeated entries that it won't open anymore. Right now there's about 2000 reminder messages in there & I only have 4 things to remember.
Somehow it's syncing between my iPad and iPhone and just going loopy.

How do you perform a factory reset and completely wipe out the iCal database, so ya can start from scratch again?

07-28-2011, 10:27 AM

Originally Posted by Schmange

I don't know why this keeps happening but iCal keeps getting so bloated with repeated entries that it won't open anymore. Right now there's about 2000 reminder messages in there & I only have 4 things to remember.
Somehow it's syncing between my iPad and iPhone and just going loopy.

How do you perform a factory reset and completely wipe out the iCal database, so ya can start from scratch again?

It sounds to me like you may be double-syncing in iTunes and via MobileMe. This happened with my wife. If so, stick with MobileMe syncing since that's completely wireless. Here's what to do to stop the iTunes syncing also.

1. Connect your iPhone to your computer.
2. Open iTunes.
3. Select your iPhone.
4. Click on Info (up near the top).
5. De-select the sync options for iCal Calendars, and anything else that is being handled by MobileMe. There will be a message at the bottom of each saying "this is being synced with MobileMe… this may result in duplicated data…".
6. Once done, hit apply and wait for everything to re-sync.
7. Once that is done, disconnect your iPhone, then manually force a MobileMe sync from the syncing icon in your menubar (select Sync Now).

Now, what you need to do is kill the duplicates. Go through iCal and remove all your dupes. Once done, hit "Sync now" once again up in your menubar item. This should fix it once and for all.

08-09-2011, 10:22 AM

So anybody?
I still can't get iCal to open.
I just need a simple way to reset iCal back to factory settings (ie, no calendar events or alarms)
Is there a database somewhere in the Library?

08-09-2011, 10:44 AM

Originally Posted by Schmange

So anybody?
I still can't get iCal to open.
I just need a simple way to reset iCal back to factory settings (ie, no calendar events or alarms)
Is there a database somewhere in the Library?

Go to:
yourhomefolder/Library/Calendars
Delete the contents, or move them to a backup folder elsewhere.

08-09-2011, 01:27 PM

Originally Posted by lifeisabeach

Go to:
yourhomefolder/Library/Calendars
Delete the contents, or move them to a backup folder elsewhere.

Awesome!
Many thanks!

08-12-2011, 01:08 AM

argh and blah....

I just opened iCal on my desktop Mac and it's done it again.
All my calendar and reminder entries have multiplied to thousands of entries.
iTunes isn't synced to anything and I haven't even synced up my iPad or iPhone in several days. MobileMe sync is also off.

I don't get it.

08-12-2011, 09:56 AM

Ok. That's very odd. Do you have it set to repeat? Double-click on one of those and tell me what the "Repeat" settings are.

08-12-2011, 10:37 AM

Typically, when I've seen this occur it's been due to "completing the sync triangle." A computer can sync data with MobileMe over the cloud. iOS devices can also sync data to MobileMe over the cloud. iTunes can sync data to iOS devices when connected. The trick is to choose two of these, not all three. Your data is going to sync either through iTunes or through the cloud, but not both. There's a pretty good explanation at How To Stop Duplicate Calendar Entries in iCal, MobileMe, iPhone & iPad. I know you just said you haven't synced and MobileMe is off, but I'd double check those settings - the data came from somewhere, and odds are it's still syncing with the cloud.

08-12-2011, 10:24 PM

Aha!! Success at last.
It was the stupid 'Calendars' button on the upper left of iCal. I had 'Entourage' checkmarked, which I'd stopped using when I updated to Lion. I guess it was syncing up my old calendar from Microsoft Office.
I unchecked it and all the multiple entries disappeared.
Thanks for all the help!!

08-13-2011, 04:46 AM

Thanks for posting your fix - can only imagine that had to have been a pitb!