Calendar.app stuck on iCloud sync

Question

My dad¹ recently switched to Mavericks. With it came the loss of calendar synchronisation with his iPhone through iTunes.

I thus added his iCloud account to his Internet Accounts system preference pane for it to sync.

Here is how I proceeded to the best of my recollection:

• Quit Calendar.app
• Launched System Preferences.app and went to the Internet Accounts pref pane
• Added his iCloud account to the list
• Quit System Preferences.app
• Launched Calendar.app again

Calendar.app then displayed a dialog saying it was syncing. For hours, perhaps even days. It still does so every time it is launched, rendering the app unusable. Right now, he makes do with his phone but it’s an uncomfortable situation.

The message reads (approximate translation):

Moving calendars to the

(yep, nothing after the “the”).

I tried removing the account from the System Preferences and moving ~/Library/Calendars out of ~/Library/ but to no avail.

Any other suggestion?

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1. Unfortunately, this means I don’t have first-hand access to his computer.

Answer 1

Uncheck the calendar in system preferences -> Accounts (or delete the whole account, I don't think it makes a difference).

Then delete files associated with the Calendar ~/Library/Calendars ~/Library/Caches ~/Library/SavedApplicationState/com.apple.iCal.savedState

Reboot Open calendar, check if it opens normally. If it does, quit calendar, add the account (or tick for calendar syncing) again, and reopen calendar.

Perhaps use something like Remote Desktop, VNC or TeamViewer if you don't have physical access to the computer.