Get rid of calendar spam on your iPhone, iPad or Mac

If you use an iPhone, iPad or Mac, you might have had a few unusual meeting invitations pop up in your Apple Calendar the past few days.

We’ve had a few arrive on our devices for things like Ray-Ban sales and handbags. And while we’d love an affordable pair of quality sunnies, the offers really don’t ring true: they are, of course, spam – fake meeting invitations sent out in bulk to thousands of email addresses at a time.

But unlike spam emails, most of which you never see if you have a good spam filter, meeting invitations are a lot harder to avoid.

Here’s a few ways to deal with them.

Don’t accept, respond or decline the invitation

If the spammer receives any response, they’ll know your address is active and that you’re likely to at least look at what they send.

Stop receiving spam invitations

This takes a few steps, but they’re all pretty easy.

1. Login to iCloud.com on a computer, using your Apple ID and password (the same one you use for the App Store etc)
2. Click on the Calendar icon.
3. Click the settings icon (Gear picture) in the lower left corner.
4. Select “Preferences…”.
5. Click the “Advanced” tab at the top.
6. Set “Invitations” to “Email to…”

You should still receive notifications of meeting requests sent to your work email address, if you have your phone set up to receive them.

Get rid of existing spam invitations

This also takes a few steps, but will get rid of your existing spam invitations without notifying the sender.

1. Open your Calendar app.
2. Tap “Calendars” at the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap the “Edit” button.
4. Select “Add Calendar” in your “ICLOUD” section.
5. Name the new calendar something like “Spam”.
6. Click on each spam invitation (without accepting or responding). Click the “Calendar” line in the invitation. Move the invitation to your new “Spam” calendar.
7. Go back to the main Calendar screen. Tap “Calendars” at the bottom. Tap the “i” icon next to your “Spam” calendar. Then select “Delete Calendar” at the bottom of the screen.

The existing invitations will be deleted without notifying the spammer.