If you use Canvas for school, you already have a calendar full of assignment due dates, class meetings, and events. The problem is that Canvas lives in a browser tab you probably forget to check. This guide shows you how to get all of that into Google Calendar so it shows up alongside the rest of your life.
How Canvas exports your calendar
Canvas generates a personal iCal feed URL for every account. It's a live link — when your instructor posts a new due date or event in Canvas, it shows up in Google Calendar automatically. You don't have to do anything after the initial setup.
Step 1: Find your Canvas iCal feed URL
- Log in to Canvas and click Calendar in the left navigation bar.
- Scroll to the bottom of the right-side panel. You'll see a small calendar icon labeled Calendar Feed.
- Click that icon. Canvas will show you a URL that starts with
webcal://. - Copy the full URL.
If you don't see the Calendar Feed button, try this alternate path: go to Account → Settings, then scroll down to find the Feeds section. Your calendar feed URL will be listed there.
Step 2: Subscribe in Google Calendar
Google Calendar can't subscribe to webcal:// links directly through the mobile app — you need a desktop browser for this part.
- Open Google Calendar on your computer.
- On the left sidebar, find Other calendars and click the + button.
- Select From URL.
- Paste the Canvas feed URL. If it starts with
webcal://, change that tohttps://— Google Calendar handles both, buthttps://is more reliable. - Click Add calendar.
Your Canvas events will now appear in Google Calendar. Google syncs the feed roughly every 12–24 hours, so very recent changes in Canvas may take a day to show up.
Step 3: Check it worked
Go back to Google Calendar and look for your Canvas events. They'll appear as a new calendar in your list — you can change the color, rename it, or hide it at any time without affecting Canvas itself.
If nothing shows up after a few minutes, double-check that you copied the full URL and that you're signed into the right Google account.
What if my school doesn't use Canvas?
Canvas is common but not universal. If your school uses Blackboard, Moodle, Schoology, or a custom system, the process is similar — look for a "Calendar Feed," "iCal Export," or "Subscribe" option in the calendar section. Many LMS platforms support the same iCal standard.
If your school publishes a calendar as a PDF or posts schedule images on their website, those won't have an iCal feed built in. That's where CalHelper comes in.
Getting a PDF or image schedule into Google Calendar
A lot of schools send home paper calendars, post PDF schedules on their website, or email image attachments with the year's important dates. None of those have a subscribe link — but you can still get them into Google Calendar.
CalHelper lets you upload a photo, PDF, or plain text and uses AI to extract the events. You end up with an iCal feed URL you can subscribe to in Google Calendar the same way you'd subscribe to a Canvas feed.
- Upload the PDF or snap a photo of the paper calendar.
- CalHelper extracts all the events and creates a feed.
- Subscribe to the feed URL in Google Calendar.
Any time the school updates the PDF and you re-import it, you can update your feed. See how it works on the CalHelper schools page.
Staying on top of it
Once your Canvas feed is connected to Google Calendar, you'll get reminders for due dates without ever opening Canvas to check. If you're a parent trying to track your kid's school schedule alongside your own, the same approach works — Canvas accounts for students have the same feed export, and parents with Observer accounts in Canvas also get their own feed URL.
The goal is one calendar that has everything, rather than five apps you have to check separately.