ics-file-cleaner

An AppleScript Mail rule handler that cleans .ics calendar files sent from Outlook before importing them into Calendar (iCal) on macOS.

What it does

Outlook-generated .ics invitations often include ORGANIZER, ATTENDEE, and PARTSTAT fields that cause import errors or duplicate attendee noise in macOS Calendar. This script:

1. Detects .ics attachments via a Mail.app rule
2. Saves them to ~/Downloads/<rule-name>/<timestamp>-<filename>.ics
3. Strips ORGANIZER, ATTENDEE, and PARTSTAT lines using grep
4. Normalizes Windows CRLF line endings with perl
5. Opens the cleaned file in Calendar.app and auto-confirms the import dialog
6. Removes temporary files

Requirements

• macOS (tested on Snow Leopard and later)
• Mail.app
• Calendar.app (iCal)
• Accessibility permissions for System Events (for UI scripting)

Installation

1. Copy the .scpt file to ~/Library/Application Scripts/com.apple.mail/
2. In Mail.app, create a rule that matches messages with .ics attachments and runs this script as the action

Notes

• The script is localized for French macOS (the import confirmation dialog button is "Ajouter"). If your macOS is in English, change "Ajouter" to "Add" in the script.
• The ~/Downloads/ folder must exist before running.

Author

Philippe Dewost

License

Apache License 2.0 — see LICENSE.