# Calendar or Contacts prompt doesn't appear > macOS asks about Calendar or Contacts only when you click Connect or Grant in NoteOwl. If you said no before, turn access on in System Settings instead. Source: https://www.noteowl.ai/docs/troubleshooting/calendar-or-contacts-prompt · Last updated 2026-09-27 · 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. | Permission | What NoteOwl does with it | Where 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 meetings | The **Calendar** screen, meeting prep and **Review** | | **Contacts** | Fills in company, job title and phone on **People** profiles, by matching names to your contacts | **People** | ## 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. ## Related - [macOS permissions NoteOwl asks for, and why](https://www.noteowl.ai/docs/reference/permissions): The macOS permissions NoteOwl asks for, from Microphone and Input Monitoring to Screen Recording and Calendar, what each is for, and how to turn it on. - [People profiles for everyone you meet](https://www.noteowl.ai/docs/memory/people): NoteOwl's People screen keeps a profile for everyone in your conversations, with their details, a relationship summary, your private notes and a timeline. - [What NoteOwl sends over the network](https://www.noteowl.ai/docs/data/network-use): NoteOwl goes online for a one-time model download, update checks and, for NoteOwl Pro, sign-in and a weekly licence check. Your recordings never leave your Mac.