A calendar subscription is only on your Mac: check its Location
A subscription saved On My Mac is a local subscription setup, not an instruction to put it on your other devices. Apple’s subscription Location menu determines whether the setup belongs to iCloud or the computer. Check that choice before subscribing again on every screen.
Three independent subscription questions
| Question | Relevant control or owner | Evidence to check |
|---|---|---|
| Which devices should have the setup? | Location:iCloud or On My Mac | Same account and subscription on target device |
| How does the feed get checked? | Auto-refresh | Known changed source event |
| Who can change the school events? | Publisher | Subscription remains read-only |
Describe the device requirement
Imagine a fictional school publishes a read-only term schedule. You want it on a Mac and another device configured for the same iCloud account. That is a subscription-location task. It is not a request to make the school’s events editable or to copy them into your personal calendar.
Check the existing subscription’s name and source before adding another. A similarly named import, a manually added phone subscription and an iCloud subscription can be separate arrangements. Record what is already present so the comparison does not create an extra display route.
Choose Location during subscription setup
In Calendar on Mac, Apple documents File > New Calendar Subscription. Enter the published calendar address, click Subscribe, then choose a name and color. In Location, iCloud makes the calendar available on computers and devices set up with iCloud; On My Mac saves it on the computer.
Review the other controls separately: Remove checkboxes concern attachments or alerts, Auto-refresh concerns updates, and Ignore alerts concerns notifications. None of those replaces Location. Click OK to complete the documented setup.
Inspect an existing setup before rebuilding it
Apple says you can later select the subscription and use Edit > Get Info to change its settings. Inspect the offered Location and the intended iCloud account before deciding whether anything must be recreated. If a needed account is unavailable, resolve that account setup rather than distributing private credentials.
Check the other device using the intended Apple Account and iCloud Calendar arrangement. Confirm a distinctive school event in the full calendar and the actual calendar list. A Mac screenshot alone does not establish that the other device received the subscription setup.
Verify without turning a feed into a migration
For the fictional school schedule, record subscription location, source name, the expected event and each device’s observation. If one device remains missing, investigate that device’s account and selection rather than importing the term’s events as a workaround.
The publisher still controls subscribed events; Apple says subscribers cannot edit the subscription calendar. This guide concerns Apple’s setup and does not promise that Cloud Calendars displays every subscription on every version. Compare device availability, feed updates and editing permission as three separate outcomes.
What it looks like
Cloud Calendars overview, using our product images. Provider settings and protocol examples described in this guide are separate from the screens shown here.
What to do
- Find the existing subscription before adding another.
- Inspect Location in the Mac subscription settings.
- Choose iCloud when that matches the intended iCloud devices.
- Verify one distinctive event on each device without importing duplicates.
Questions
- Does On My Mac mean the subscription is in iCloud?
- No. Apple describes it as saved on the computer. iCloud is the separate Location choice.
- Does moving the subscription setup to iCloud make its events editable?
- No. The subscribed events remain controlled by their publisher.