How to Easily Add UK Public Holidays to Your iPhone Calendar – A Simple Step-by-Step Guide

Hello everyone, I am your dedicated public holiday assistant. Recently, a little friend consulted me about the topic of how to get UK holidays on iPhone calendar. Now I will summarize the relevant problems, hoping to help the little friends who want to know.

So, you’ve got an iPhone, and you’re living in the UK – or maybe you just need to keep track of UK public holidays for work, travel, or family reasons. Either way, you want all those bank holidays, Easter dates, and random royal celebrations to show up right in your iPhone calendar without manually typing each one. Good news: it’s super easy, and I’m gonna walk you through it step by step. No fancy tech skills needed, just a few taps. Let’s jump right in.

First things first, you gotta know that iPhone’s built-in Calendar app can grab public holiday calendars from Apple’s system. But for UK-specific holidays, you might need to subscribe to a special calendar or turn on a certain setting. Here’s the deal: Apple actually provides a default calendar for UK holidays in some regions, but if you’re not based in the UK or your iPhone isn’t set to that region, you can still add them manually. Let me break it down.

Method 1: Add UK Holidays via iPhone Settings (Easiest Way) – Open the Settings app on your iPhone, scroll down to “Calendar,” tap it, then look for “Time Zone Override” – yeah, that’s not what we need right now. Actually, you want to go to “Accounts” under Calendar, then “Add Account,” and choose “Other.” From there, tap “Add Subscribed Calendar.” You’ll need a URL – which I’ll give you in a sec. But hold on, there’s a simpler built-in option. If your iPhone region is set to “United Kingdom,” go to Calendar > Calendars (bottom of the screen) and you should see a list. Look for “UK Holidays” or “British Holidays” under “Public Holidays.” If you see it, just check the box. That’s it! If not, don’t worry, here’s another way.

Method 2: Use a Public Calendar Subscription URL – Sometimes Apple’s built-in list doesn’t pop up, especially if your iPhone is set to a different region. No problem. You can grab a free subscription link for UK public holidays. A popular one is from the website Office Holidays (they’re legit). Just Google “UK bank holidays iCal subscription” and you’ll find a link that ends in “.ics” – that’s the file format for calendar data. Copy that URL, then in your iPhone Calendar app, tap “Calendars” at the bottom, then “Add Calendar” > “Add Subscription Calendar.” Paste the URL, give it a name like “UK Bank Holidays,” choose a color, and hit “Add.” The holidays will appear automatically and update each year. No need to do it again. Sweet, right?

But hey, I’ve seen people get stuck because they don’t know the right URL. So for your convenience, here is a trusted link you can use directly: (Just type in your browser) www.gov.uk/bank-holidays.ics – yes, the UK government itself provides a live feed. Once you subscribe, your iPhone will sync those dates automatically. Bookmark that for future use.

Quick Tip for Multiple Devices – If you also use a Mac or iPad, subscribing to the same calendar on your iCloud account can sync it across all your devices. Just make sure you’re signed into the same iCloud account on each device, and under Calendar settings, turn on “Public Holidays” for the UK if it’s available. If not, the subscription method works everywhere.

Now, I know some people ask: “Will these holidays show up in different colors?” Yes! You can assign a separate color to your UK holidays calendar so it’s easy to spot among your personal events. Just tap the “i” icon next to the calendar name in the list and pick a color – red for royal occasions, blue for bank holidays, whatever floats your boat.

Questions related to how to get UK holidays on iPhone calendar

Q: Why can’t I see UK holidays in my iPhone calendar even after turning on “Public Holidays”? – This happens when your phone’s region is set to a country like the US or Canada. In Settings > General > Language & Region, change “Region” to “United Kingdom.” That will make the built-in UK holiday calendar appear. But be aware – this might also change your date format, measurement units, and some app defaults. If you don’t want that, just use the subscription method instead.

Q: Can I add multiple holiday calendars like Scotland or Northern Ireland only? – Absolutely. The UK government feed includes a master calendar for England and Wales, plus separate ones for Scotland and Northern Ireland. Just look for their own ICS links (e.g., “scotland.ics”). Or you can find specialized subscription calendars online for just the dates you want. That way you’re not overwhelmed with every single bank holiday if you only need some.

To sum it up, getting UK holidays on your iPhone calendar is a no-brainer once you know the trick. Either change your region to UK for the built-in list, or subscribe to a free government ICS feed. Both methods take less than two minutes and you’ll never miss a bank holiday again. Whether it’s planning a trip, knowing when the shops are closed, or just scheduling your days off, this little hack will save you time and headaches.

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