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Add a YouTube course to your calendar (Google, Apple, Outlook)

Updated 2026-09-22 · 3 min read

A study plan that lives on a web page competes with "later". A study plan that lives in your calendar competes with dinner, which is a fight it can win. This guide shows how to export a playlist plan as a calendar file and import it anywhere.

What you get

On any playlist result page, the planner's Add to calendar (.ics) button downloads a file containing one event per study session:

Long videos are split across sessions ("Lecture 3 · first part", "Lecture 3 · finish") so a 90-minute lecture never quietly turns a 45-minute session into a 90-minute one.

There's also a Google Calendar button that adds just the first session in one click, without a file — useful for a quick "start tomorrow" commitment.

Before you export

  1. Tick anything you've already watched — the plan only includes what's left.
  2. Set your real budget and the days you'll actually watch. Weekdays only is fine; the events land on those days.
  3. Set the session time. Pick the time you'd realistically sit down, not the ideal one.
  4. Choose your playback speed — the session lengths use it.

Change your mind later? Re-open the page, adjust, and export again. Delete the old events first (they're all named "Watch: …", so they're easy to select) to avoid duplicates.

Importing the file

Google Calendar (desktop web)

  1. Open calendar.google.com.
  2. Click the gear → Settings → Import & export (left sidebar).
  3. Select file from your computer → choose the downloaded .ics.
  4. Pick which calendar to add the events to — a separate "Study" calendar is worth creating so you can hide it later.
  5. Import.

The Google Calendar mobile app can't import files. Do the import on the web once; the events sync to the app.

Apple Calendar (Mac)

Double-click the .ics file, or drag it onto the Calendar app, then choose the calendar to add it to. On the confirmation dialog, Add all.

iPhone / iPad

Open the .ics from Files, Mail or the download bar in Safari. Calendar opens with a preview → Add All → choose the calendar.

Outlook (Windows/Mac desktop)

File → Open & Export → Import/Export → Import an iCalendar (.ics) file → pick the file → Import (adds to your calendar) rather than Open as New (which creates a separate, temporary calendar).

Outlook on the web / Outlook.com

Calendar → Add calendar → Upload from file → choose the .ics and a target calendar.

Android (Samsung Calendar and others)

Most Android calendar apps hand .ics files to the account that syncs them. If nothing happens when you open the file, use the Google Calendar web import above; the events sync down.

Adjusting the plan after importing

The events are ordinary events. Move one and nothing else moves — that's calendars, not the planner. If you fall behind by a week, don't drag 30 events; go back to the result page, tick what you've done, export again and replace. The planner re-plans from today with what's left.

Frequently asked

Which time zone are the events in? Your local time. The file uses "floating" times, which every major calendar interprets as the calendar's own time zone — so 7 pm stays 7 pm if you travel.

Can I subscribe to the plan as a live calendar instead of importing? Not yet. A subscription URL would need the plan to live on our servers; today everything is in your browser. It's on the list.

Does it work with the YouTube app? The links in each event open in the YouTube app on phones and in the browser on desktop, with the playlist queued so the next video autoplays.

Why one event per day rather than one per video? Sessions are what you schedule; videos are what you do inside them. Five 12-minute videos are one 60-minute slot, not five entries cluttering your calendar.

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