How to Export Your Phone Calendar to Google Calendar

I recently switched phones from my old HTC Sensation 4G to my new Google Nexus 5. Migrating my contacts and app information were easier than I had anticipated, thanks to syncing and the cloud.

However one of the challenges I had was the transfer of my calendar entries which I had accumulated since 2011 - many of which were birthday reminders and future appointments (the valuable entries). I tried to find out how I could sync the HTC calendar with Google calendar but I didn't find a solution (Not too sure if there is such a function). After much Googling, I tried out one of the suggestions in a forum thread and it worked! So here it goes:

1. Download and install this awesome app on Google Play - iCal import/Export 2.2 (Free). It enables you to import, export and edit your calendar. The premium version allows you to have planned import and export functions.
2. Open the app and select 'Export'. There are a number of options available - Email, Internal/External memory, Ftp, WebDAV. I'm only familiar with the first two and my purpose was to export it to a different phone, so I chose the 'Email' option.
3. Enter a file name. I had a slight difficulty here where I couldn't attach the ics file to my email, but the app creator had replied my email enquiry within hours and instructed that the file name shouldn't have a space in it (he said this would be resolved in the next app update). So I named my file "htc.ics" for ease.
4. Click 'Start Export'. The app will start processing all your calendar entries and writing it to an ics file.
5. When the export has finished, click 'OK' and select which app you'd like to complete the action with. I selected 'Gmail' to email the file to my other email address. You could try adding it to Dropbox or sending it via Bluetooth to another device.
6. The ics file will be attached to your email and you can email it to yourself or elsewhere.
7. On your PC, download the attachment from your email.
8. Open Google Calendar.
9. In the 'Other Calendar' tab on the left verticle bar, click the arrow (the one with the box around it) to expand the options.
10. Select 'Import calendar' and choose your file (mine was "htc.ics" in my Downloads folder) and click 'Import'.
11. And you're done! Wait for Google Calendar to add all your entries in and to sync with your phone's Google calendar app.

Lesson learned: It is much easier to sync all your stuff on Google (although you might be more vulnerable to exposing your data to unwanted eyes) but I don't have any top secret information that could end the world or earn me millions of bucks, so I'm good with having the convenience! ;)