The annoying bug of 2019 is back on Google Calendar: how to fix it once and for all

The problem it does not seem (at least for the moment) to be as widespread as between the end of August and the beginning of September 2019, when practically anyone’s agenda was invaded by spam and tutorials appeared online to fix the situationbut definitely the annoying Google Calendar bug is back.

What is happening is that the popular Big G app is creating non-existent events that clog the mailboxes of the various days of the various months, starting from spam and phishing emails, which is not only annoying but also potentially dangerous. It’s partly Google’s fault (the events are created even if the email is in the Junk Mail box) and partly the fault of those who prepare these emails, knowing they exploit a potential vulnerability.

Why the bug exists in Google Calendar

The point is that events are created automatically thanks to a (usually) useful Gmail automatism: if you receive a plane ticket, a train ticket, a hotel booking confirmation via e-mail, and in general if there is a date in the e-mail, Calendar creates the corresponding event. However, it shouldn’t do it in an apparently random way, though emails blocked by the spam filter or who invite you to “Take advantage of the sale on February 15th” or “click here for the offers on January 27th”.

The problem is known to Google, e after the events of 2019 (illustrated here by the company) the page created to collect new reports he returns periodically to flood with comments.

How to fix the bug in Google Calendar

There solution it is simple but not very simple. And unfortunately it has a contraindication. First of all, from the desktop version of Calendar (obviously after logging in) it is necessary to click on the gear icon at the top right, access the Settingsscroll down to Events from Gmail and deselect the box Show events automatically created by Gmail in my calendar.

Two advice not known to all concern the management of Event settings (above on the same page as Settings of Calendar), which can be narrowed down to Only if the sender is known or a When I reply to the invitationand the deactivation of Smart features in Gmail Settings (here, almost at the bottom)which prevents all of these smart automatisms.

A further shrewdness, which in 2019 proved to be necessary and decisive, is that of repeat the procedure also on the Calendar app for the smartphone: click on the hamburger menu at the top left, scroll to Settings e the voice Events from Gmail (image at top of page) it’s right there in the foreground. For added security, you can also uncheck Show rejected events.

And the contraindication which? It is that by doing so, all these features (which are very useful and in the vast majority of cases do not cause problems) are deactivated and are no longer available. What to do then? Our advice is do without it for a while, just a couple of weeks to give Google time to fix the bug, and then roll them back. Hoping I don’t have to turn them off again in a few years.

@capoema