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Calendar or Contacts prompt doesn't appear

Last updated Checked against NoteOwl 1.0.0

macOS shows the Calendar or Contacts prompt only when you click the button in NoteOwl that asks for it: Connect on the Calendar screen, or Grant in Settings → General. If you declined before, macOS won't ask again, so turn NoteOwl on in System Settings → Privacy & Security instead.

Why doesn't the Calendar or Contacts prompt appear?

Because NoteOwl never asks on its own, and macOS asks each app only once. The prompt appears right after you click Connect or Grant in NoteOwl. If you declined it before, NoteOwl offers Open System Settings or Open Settings instead, because only System Settings can change your answer.

What does NoteOwl use Calendar and Contacts for?

Both are optional, used by NoteOwl Pro features, and read only on your Mac. NoteOwl never changes your calendar or your contacts.

PermissionWhat NoteOwl does with itWhere you see it
Calendar (in System Settings: Calendars)Reads the next two weeks of events from the calendars set up on your Mac, such as iCloud, Google and Exchange, so you can prepare for meetingsThe Calendar screen, meeting prep and Review
ContactsFills in company, job title and phone on People profiles, by matching names to your contactsPeople

Connect your calendar

  1. Open NoteOwl and click Calendar in the sidebar. Until you connect, it shows Connect your calendar.
  2. Click Connect.
  3. When macOS asks, allow NoteOwl full access to your calendars.
  4. Your events for the next two weeks appear on the Calendar screen.

You can also click Grant beside Calendar in Settings → General, under Privacy & Access.

If Connect your calendar isn't there and the screen says Calendar access is turned off, you declined the prompt before. Turn access on in System Settings (below).

Turn on Contacts

NoteOwl asks for Contacts in one place only.

  1. Open NoteOwl and click Settings in the sidebar, then the General tab.
  2. Under Privacy & Access, click Grant beside Contacts.
  3. When macOS asks, allow NoteOwl access to your contacts.
  4. Click People in the sidebar. Profiles whose names match a contact now show the contact's company, title and phone, unless you typed your own.

If the button beside Contacts reads Open Settings, you declined before. Turn access on in System Settings (below).

Turn on access in System Settings

Do this if you declined the prompt before, or if NoteOwl shows Open System Settings or Open Settings instead of asking.

  1. Open System Settings from the Apple menu.
  2. Click Privacy & Security, then Calendars or Contacts.
  3. Turn on NoteOwl. For Calendars, NoteOwl needs full access, which lets it read your events. macOS may ask for your password.
  4. Go back to NoteOwl and open Calendar or People again. If your events or contact details still don't appear, quit NoteOwl from its menu bar icon with Quit NoteOwl and open it again.

NoteOwl's Open System Settings button on the Calendar screen, and Open Settings beside the permission in Settings → General, take you straight to the right pane.

If NoteOwl says Calendar access is restricted, or its settings say Restricted by policy, your Mac is managed, for example by your employer. Only the people who manage it can change this.

What if Calendar is connected but shows no events?

Then the Calendar screen says why, in place of your events:

  • No calendars selected: every calendar is switched off in NoteOwl. Click Choose calendars and pick the ones to read.
  • Nothing coming up: there are no events in the next two weeks on the calendars you chose.
  • No calendar available: this Mac has no calendar for NoteOwl to read. Add your accounts in macOS Calendar first.

Still not working?

Email support@noteowl.ai with your macOS version and what the Calendar screen or Settings → General shows beside Calendar or Contacts.

Common questions

Does NoteOwl change my calendar or my contacts?

No. NoteOwl only reads them. It reads the events on the calendars set up on your Mac, such as iCloud, Google or Exchange, and matches names in your contacts, all on your Mac. It never adds, edits or deletes anything in Calendar or Contacts.

Do I have to connect Calendar and Contacts to use NoteOwl?

No. Both are optional. Without Calendar, NoteOwl's Calendar screen doesn't show your events, and everything else works as usual. Without Contacts, People profiles are built from your conversations, and you can type a person's company, title and phone yourself.

Why did NoteOwl not ask for Calendar when I opened it?

NoteOwl never asks for a permission on its own. It asks for Calendar only when you click Connect on the Calendar screen or Grant beside Calendar in Settings → General, so the macOS prompt appears right after your click.