Do the events repeat?

No. Each event is a single one-hour meeting in UTC with its own UID.

What is the MIME type of an ICS file?

The MIME type is text/calendar. The file extension is .ics.

Is a sample ICS file the same as a dummy or example ICS file?

Yes. Sample, test, dummy and example ICS files are different names for the same thing: an ICS file with known contents that stands in for a real one. Any file on this page will do wherever a tutorial or a test plan asks for a dummy ICS file.

Free ICS sample files

Calendar events in the iCalendar format, as used by meeting invitations and calendar subscriptions. Download valid ICS test files in 4 exact sizes, from 1 KB to 1 MB, each with a checksum.

Extension: .ics
MIME type: text/calendar
Kind: Text
Category: Email & Calendar

ICS files by size

Every file below is a valid iCalendar file file of exactly the stated size. Open a file's page for its checksum and contents, and to preview it in your browser before downloading.

ICS sample files by size
File	Size	Contents	Download
1 KB ICS samplesample-ics-1kb.ics	1 KB1,024 bytes	Events: 2	Download ICS
10 KB ICS samplesample-ics-10kb.ics	10 KB10,240 bytes	Events: 29	Download ICS
100 KB ICS samplesample-ics-100kb.ics	100 KB102,400 bytes	Events: 300	Download ICS
1 MB ICS samplesample-ics-1mb.ics	1 MB1,048,576 bytes	Events: 3,075	Download ICS

What is an ICS file?

An .ics file describes calendar data as text. A VCALENDAR object contains components such as VEVENT, each with properties for the start time, end time, summary and a unique identifier.

It is the format behind meeting invitations and "add to calendar" links, and it is understood by every major calendar application.

How to recognise an ICS file

No signature bytes. ICS files are identified by parsing their content.

Extension	.ics
MIME type	text/calendar
Standard	RFC 5545
Line endings	CRLF
Line folding	Lines longer than 75 octets continue on the next line after a space
Time	UTC, floating, or with a time-zone identifier

What to test for

These are the behaviours that most often go wrong when software handles ICS files.

Time zones and recurrence rules are where calendar software fails. The samples use UTC and non-recurring events, so they work as a known-good baseline.
Importing the same UID twice should update an event, not duplicate it.

Strengths of ICS

Imported by every major calendar application.
Plain text that is simple to generate from code.

Limitations of ICS

Time zones and recurrence rules are complicated and often mishandled.
Strict rules on line endings and line length that tools frequently break.

Typical uses of ICS test files

Testing calendar import and subscription
Checking time-zone handling
Testing invitation processing

Software that opens ICS

Google Calendar, Outlook and Apple Calendar
ical.js, icalendar (Python) and ical4j

Specifications

RFC 5545: Internet Calendaring and Scheduling Core Object Specification (iCalendar)

ICS sample files: questions

Do the events repeat?: No. Each event is a single one-hour meeting in UTC with its own UID.
What is the MIME type of an ICS file?: The MIME type is text/calendar. The file extension is .ics.
Is a sample ICS file the same as a dummy or example ICS file?: Yes. Sample, test, dummy and example ICS files are different names for the same thing: an ICS file with known contents that stands in for a real one. Any file on this page will do wherever a tutorial or a test plan asks for a dummy ICS file.