Import and export
Choose a file format, check the date range, and preserve the recurring events you need.
Import and export move existing events or save a file copy. Importing from a link is a one-time read, not a continuing two-way sync with the source calendar.
Choose a format
Choose based on the destination and whether you need Zentra-specific organization data.
| Format | Best suited to | Limits to check |
|---|---|---|
| ICS | Exchanging events with another calendar | Review time zones, all-day dates, and recurrence rules. |
| JSON | Moving events and organization data within Zentra | Includes categories, bookmarks, countdowns, and settings; it is not a full account or meeting-history backup. |
| CSV | Reviewing or organizing events in a spreadsheet | Do not rely on a spreadsheet to preserve complex recurrence relationships. |
JSON exports preserve recurring series as rules and individual changes as exceptions, rather than flattening every occurrence into a separate event. Export files do not back up Meet chat, attendance history, or meeting management credentials.
Decide what must survive the move
List the fields and relationships you depend on before choosing a format. Moving a title and start time is not equivalent to preserving an entire repeating schedule.
For a recurring event, verify the rule, excluded dates, and individually changed occurrences. For a shared event, distinguish imported participant information from a newly delivered invitation. Importing a record is not evidence that its participants received a new email.
Zentra JSON includes reminder lead times and participant information, but does not preserve every delivery setting or credential. Review email-reminder choices after importing. Check any attached meeting link separately rather than treating a Calendar export as a backup of the meeting itself.
Check the export range
When exporting, Calendar uses only the events currently loaded. “All” in the export panel means all of that loaded collection, not every date in your account history.
On first opening, Calendar preloads roughly two years before and after the current month. Navigating to a more distant date changes the loaded range. Before moving older or later events, confirm they are loaded and inspect the earliest and latest dates in the export. A downloaded file alone does not establish that the migration is complete.
Date filters such as future events or a recent period narrow the loaded collection further. They do not fetch additional history from outside that collection.
If you need records across several distant periods, inspect each exported file's actual coverage. Record the date range alongside the file so you do not mistake one successful download for a complete account archive.
Verify an import
Start with a small set of representative events to check how the file's dates and format are interpreted.
Choose a destination category
Use a recognizable category for the import so you can review its source and identify duplicate records.
Check unusual schedules
Review an all-day event, an event from another time zone, and a recurring series with a rescheduled occurrence. Confirm that exceptions have not become unrelated events.
Verify before changing the source
Check titles, dates, recurrence, and categories. Reimporting the same file is not an automatic incremental sync. Before retrying, check whether the previous import succeeded.
Understand a link import
Importing from a URL reads the source at that time. Later edits at the source do not automatically update the imported records, and edits in Zentra do not write back to the source.
Before importing an updated file again, identify which records already exist. Repeated imports should not be treated as a synchronization strategy or a guarantee of duplicate detection.
Compare representative records
Use a short comparison checklist before relying on a larger migration:
| Record | Compare in the source and destination |
|---|---|
| Timed event in another region | The instant, displayed local time, and date |
| All-day or multi-day event | The first and last occupied dates |
| Recurring series | Frequency, interval, end condition, and later dates |
| Rescheduled occurrence | Its new time and its relationship to the series |
| Deleted occurrence | That the excluded date has not reappeared |
| Categorized event | The intended destination category |
Keep the source available until these checks pass. If an import is interrupted, inspect the destination before repeating it; a lost response does not establish that nothing was created.