This article explains how to stop receiving calendar spam on your iPhone and provides information on removing spam invites or spam calendars.

What to Know

  • Problem: An unwanted calendar that sends frequent notifications or the calendar notifications seem like phishing attempts.To adjust, go to Settings > Notifications > Calendar > and make sure the slider for Allow Notifications is off (not green).

How Do I Stop iCloud Calendar Spam and Junk?

Spammers are clever, and it didn’t take them long to figure out they can send random calendar invites to iPhone users to facilitate a phishing scam or other nefarious tasks. And thus, calendar spam was born. The question now is, how do you get right of it?

You may not be able to stop calendar spam entirely, but there are certainly a few strategies you can use to reduce the level of spam you receive on your calendar.

First, you should know how to deal with spam calendar invites. It’s natural to want to open them and click the link to deny the invite, but don’t do it. When you click any response button or link in a calendar invite, you’re notifying the spammer the email address they used is active. Then suddenly, the spam level in your calendar and your email double or triple because your information is put on an “active” list and sold and resold. So, if you get an invite you don’t recognize, delete it immediately.

Next, if you’re getting so many automatic calendar notifications they’ve become intrusive, you can turn off notifications. Of course, doing so also turns off legitimate calendar notifications, so it’s something to keep in mind. But if you do want to turn off those notifications, you can go to Settings > Notifications > Calendar > and make sure the slider for Allow Notifications is grey (green means On).

Another way to turn off notifications for a calendar is in the calendar app:

  • Tap Calendar at the bottom of the screen.
  • Select the Information icon to the right of the specific calendar for which you don’t want to receive notifications.
  • Scroll down and make sure the Even Alerts toggle is grey.

Other Tips for Getting Rid of Spam Invites

You can also try faking out spammers by using a disposable email address or a honey-pot address to sign up for everything. It’s an email address you use when you’re signing up for newsletters, free downloads, and other marketing-type products or services. The address won’t be your primary one, and you probably won’t check it very often. It’s also an address you don’t connect to any email application on your phone, so you don’t receive notifications, calendar invites, or other communications unless you choose to open the email box. Any free email service provider is suitable for this option.

Tap Calendar at the bottom of the screen.

Select the Information icon to the right of the specific calendar for which you don’t want to receive notifications.

Scroll down and make sure the Even Alerts toggle is grey.

How Do I Unsubscribe From Spam Calendars?

If you’ve accidentally subscribed to a calendar that is nothing but spam, you can also wholly unsubscribe from that calendar to stop the notifications from being sent to you. To do so, open Calendar and tap the unwanted calendar event, then tap Unsubscribe from this Calendar at the bottom of the screen. You may also need to tap Unsubscribe to confirm you want to unsubscribe from the calendar.

Another option is to delete the Calendar from your listings. To delete a calendar, follow these instructions:

  • Go to Settings on your iPhone.
  • Tap Calendar.
  • Tap Accounts.
  • Select the account you want to delete.
  • Tap Delete Account.
  • The tap Delete from My iPhone to confirm you want to remove the calendar account from your iPhone. This will not remove the calendar from other connected accounts (such as iPadOS or macOS).

How Do I Remove a Virus From My iPhone Calendar?

It may seem like you have a virus in your calendar when you keep getting spam invitation notifications, but it’s doubtful you have a virus. Instead, it’s more likely just a notifications issue. Or it’s possible spammers have gotten hold of your email address and are repeatedly sending calendar invites. In either case, there is no virus you need to worry about removing. Instead, following the instructions above to turn off calendar notifications, unsubscribe from unwanted calendars, or delete unused calendars should fix the problem you’re having.

Go to Settings on your iPhone.

Tap Calendar.

Tap Accounts.

Select the account you want to delete.

Tap Delete Account.

The tap Delete from My iPhone to confirm you want to remove the calendar account from your iPhone. This will not remove the calendar from other connected accounts (such as iPadOS or macOS).

How Do I Unsubscribe From iPhone Calendar Events?

If you have accidentally accepted a calendar invite from someone for an event you don’t want to attend, you can delete the calendar by opening it up and selecting the Delete Event option. In rare instances, you may not be able to delete the event. If that’s the case, all you can do is ignore it, but be cautious that you don’t accidentally accept or decline the invitation or click any links within the invitation.

  • Why does my iPhone Calendar get so much spam?
  • Unless you have a virus, you can only get spam from calendars you subscribe to, so unsubscribe to any calendars that bombard you with invites. Avoid subscribing to suspicious calendars with vague descriptions.
  • How do I report spam invites in my iPhone calendar?
  • In the calendar app, open the event and tap Report Junk. Apple will review the calendar to see if it is indeed spam. Either way, you’ll no longer receive event invites.
  • Why can’t I delete an iPhone calendar event?
  • Some spam calendars can’t be deleted in the Calendar app. Go to Settings > Passwords & Accounts. Under Accounts, select the calendar and tap Delete Account. If you still can’t delete it, you might have a virus.

Unless you have a virus, you can only get spam from calendars you subscribe to, so unsubscribe to any calendars that bombard you with invites. Avoid subscribing to suspicious calendars with vague descriptions.

In the calendar app, open the event and tap Report Junk. Apple will review the calendar to see if it is indeed spam. Either way, you’ll no longer receive event invites.

Some spam calendars can’t be deleted in the Calendar app. Go to Settings > Passwords & Accounts. Under Accounts, select the calendar and tap Delete Account. If you still can’t delete it, you might have a virus.

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