You can delete a calendar you created, but not the main calendar that comes with your account
Google Calendar lets you remove any calendar you made yourself — a project calendar, a shared team calendar, a calendar for a side business. You cannot delete your primary calendar, the one that arrived with your Google account. If you want to stop using a calendar entirely, you can hide it instead, which removes it from your view without erasing the events inside.
The steps differ slightly depending on whether you are on a computer or phone, and whether the calendar belongs to you or was shared with you by someone else. Deleting a calendar you own is permanent and cannot be undone, so Google asks you to confirm before it removes anything.
Key Takeaways
- You can only delete calendars you created yourself; your primary calendar cannot be deleted.
- Deleting a calendar is permanent and erases all events in that calendar, so confirm you want to remove it before proceeding.
- If you want to keep the calendar but stop seeing it, hiding it is faster and reversible.
- Shared calendars that belong to someone else can only be removed from your view, not deleted entirely.
- On a phone, the delete option lives in the calendar settings menu, not in the main calendar list.
How to delete a calendar on a computer
Open Google Calendar in your web browser and look at the left sidebar where your calendar list appears. Find the calendar you want to delete, then hover your mouse over its name until three dots appear to the right of it. Click those dots to open a menu.
Select Delete calendar from the menu. Google will ask you to confirm — it will tell you that deleting the calendar will erase all events in it and that this action cannot be undone. Click Delete again to finish. The calendar and everything in it will disappear when ready.
If you do not see the three dots when you hover, the calendar may belong to someone else or be your primary calendar. Calendars you do not own show a different menu with options like Unsubscribe instead of Delete.
How to delete a calendar on a phone or tablet
Open the Google Calendar app and tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the top left corner. Scroll down to find the calendar you want to delete under the "My calendars" section. Tap the three dots next to the calendar name.
Tap Delete from the menu that appears. Confirm your choice when Google asks. The calendar will be removed from your phone and from all devices where you use that Google account.
On an iPhone, the process is the same, but the three-line menu icon may appear in a slightly different location depending on your iOS version. If you cannot find the menu, swipe from the left edge of the screen toward the right to reveal the sidebar.
The difference between deleting and hiding a calendar
Deleting removes the calendar and all its events permanently. Hiding keeps the calendar and its events but removes it from your view — you can unhide it later and see everything that was there. If you are unsure whether you want to keep a calendar, hiding is the safer choice.
To hide a calendar instead of deleting it, find it in your calendar list, click or tap the three dots next to its name, and select Hide. The calendar will disappear from your sidebar, but you can bring it back by clicking Show in the same menu. Hidden calendars do not appear on your calendar view, but their events are still stored in your Google account.
What happens when you delete a shared calendar you created
If you created a calendar and shared it with other people, deleting it removes the calendar from everyone's account. The people you shared it with will see it disappear from their calendar list, and they will lose access to all events in that calendar. Google does not send them a warning before this happens.
If you want to stop using a shared calendar but keep it available to others, hide it from your own view instead of deleting it. The calendar will remain active for anyone else you shared it with. You can unhide it later if you change your mind.
How to remove a calendar someone else shared with you
If another person created a calendar and shared it with you, you cannot delete it — only the person who created it can do that. You can remove it from your view by unsubscribing from it. Find the calendar in your list, click or tap the three dots next to its name, and select Unsubscribe.
Unsubscribing removes the calendar from your account only. It does not affect the calendar for the person who created it or for anyone else they shared it with. If the calendar owner shares it with you again later, you will see it reappear in your list.
What to do if you cannot find the delete option
The delete option only appears for calendars you created. If you do not see it, the calendar likely belongs to someone else. Check whether the calendar is listed under "My calendars" (which you own) or under another person's name or "Other calendars" (which you do not own). Calendars you do not own can only be hidden or unsubscribed from, not deleted.
Your primary calendar — the one that came with your Google account and has your email address as its name — also cannot be deleted. If you want to stop using it, you can hide it, but Google will not let you remove it entirely. This is a safety feature to may support you always have at least one calendar in your account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I undo a calendar deletion?
No. Once you delete a calendar, it and all its events are gone permanently. Google does not have an undo button or a recovery option for deleted calendars. Before you delete, make sure you have saved or exported any events you want to keep.
What happens to events in a deleted calendar?
All events in the calendar are deleted along with it. If you need to keep those events, export the calendar to a file before you delete it, or move the events to a different calendar first by opening each one and changing its calendar in the event details.
Can I delete my primary calendar?
No. Your primary calendar is tied to your Google account and cannot be deleted. If you do not want to see it, you can hide it from your calendar list, but it will remain in your account.
If I delete a calendar I shared, do the other people get notified?
Google does not send a notification when you delete a shared calendar. The people you shared it with will straightforward see it disappear from their calendar list. If you want to let them know, send them a message separately.
Can I recover a calendar I deleted by accident?
No recovery option exists for deleted calendars. If you deleted it recently, contact Google Support to ask whether they can restore it, though they may not be able to help. In the future, hide calendars instead of deleting them if you are not completely sure.