Uh oh, running into a problem? These are the most common questions we receive. If your question isn't answered here, please contact us. We'll be happy to help.
I get a message that says "Microsoft Outlook could not be detected" when attempting to import, export, or sync with Outlook.
First, make sure Outlook (2003 or later) is actually installed. Outlook is usually included as part of the Microsoft Office installation. This is not the same thing as Outlook.com. It's Microsoft's locally
installed email/calendar program - not the online version formerly named Hotmail or Windows Live, which has nothing to do with Outlook despite the confusing name.
If Outlook is installed, the problem can sometimes occur if Outlook is running before VueMinder is started. Try fully exiting VueMinder (via the Exit command from the task tray icon) and close Outlook. Also, go to the Task Manager and make sure
there isn't any process named "outlook.exe" running. If the process exists, end it via the "End Process" button. Then, start VueMinder with Outlook not running. If it
still doesn't work, try a reboot.
There's a semi-transparent calendar overlaid on my Windows desktop background. How do I get rid of it?
The Desktop Calendar can be hidden by clicking the round X button in its upper-right corner. You can also hide it by right-clicking the VueMinder task tray
icon and unchecking the "Desktop Calendar (Full)" option. If you prefer a smaller desktop calendar, you could also try checking the "Desktop Calendar (Mini)" option instead.
There used to be a semi-transparent calendar on my desktop, but now it's gone. How do I get it back?
Sometimes, the "Show Desktop" command in Windows will hide the Desktop Calendar. To make the Desktop Calendar reappear, right-click the VueMinder task tray
icon and toggle the "Desktop Calendar (Full)" or "Desktop Calendar (Mini)" menu options until the desktop calendar reappears. You can also assign a hotkey for
this operation by going to the Program Options in the main VueMinder window.
I clicked something and my events disappeared.
You most likely unchecked one of the calendars, categories, priorities, or locations in the Calendar Items area of the main window. This causes items to be filtered.
Click the "Show All Events" command on the View menu to reset the filter.
If that doesn't cause the events to reappear, maybe you deleted the calendar. Click the "Undo" command on the Edit
menu or use the "Restore Data" command on the File menu to recover your data.
I'm having trouble importing calendars that were exported from Microsoft Works.
If you're seeing errors or missing events when importing an iCalendar file that was previously exported from Microsoft Works, it's likely the exported file doesn't
quite conform to the iCalendar standard. VueSoft has created a simple and free tool to fix files exported from Microsoft Works, so they will correctly import in
VueMinder and most other calendar programs that can import iCalendar files.
After downloading, unzip it to a folder of your choice. There is no installation necessary. Simply run the executable named ‘FixCalendarFile.exe’ after unzipping. It will prompt you to select an
input iCalendar file, and then again for the output file name.
After selecting the input and output files, the tool will work its magic. This may take a few seconds. When it’s completed, a message will appear saying the file was corrected and asking if you’d like to import it into VueMinder.
If you say yes, then the Import window will automatically appear in VueMinder, and you can import the corrected file.
My calendars aren't syncing with Google Calendar.
First, make sure you're using the latest version of VueMinder by clicking the "Check for Updates" command on the Help menu. Google occasionally makes changes to Google Calendar which require updates to VueMinder. Also, check your firewall settings to ensure VueMinder isn't blocked. Sometimes VueMinder will appear to successfully add a Google Calendar, but nothing will sync. This problem is usually due to a firewall blocking VueMinder from connecting to Google Calendar.
If updating to the latest version of VueMinder and/or configuring your firewall doesn't fix the problem, and if you're using Windows 7 or earlier, make sure you have all the latest Windows updates. Specifically, update KB2468871
is needed. This is an update to the existing .NET Framework 4.0 installation. Syncing won’t work unless this update is installed.
If you're using Windows 8 or 10, or if installing KB2468871 doesn't fix the problem, follow the steps below. Note, these steps assume you're using the latest version of VueMinder.
- Export your calendar to an ICS file using the "Export Events" command on the File menu. This will ensure the events in VueMinder that are missing from Google Calendar are saved.
- Right-click the calendar's name and select "Delete Calendar" from the popup menu. If you sync multiple calendars, delete each calendar. This will NOT remove the calendar from your Google account.
- Click the "Options -> Program" menu command.
- Click the folder button on the right side of the "Data folder" field. The data folder will open in File Explorer.
- Close the Options window and exit VueMinder by clicking the "File -> Exit" menu command.
- Within the data folder, delete any files that begin with the name "Google.Apis.Auth.OAuth2.Responses".
- Double-check your firewall has an exception to allow VueMinder to access the web.
- Open the Google Account Permissions page. Revoke access for VueMinder.
- Restart VueMinder.
- Click the "Add Google Calendar" command on the File menu.
- Type in an account name and click Next. You should be prompted to allow access. Click the Allow button.
- Click each calendar you'd like to sync and then click the "Add Calendar" button to add the calendar to VueMinder.
- Close the "Add Google Calendar" window and wait for the added calendar(s) to finish synicng. The last sync time should refresh on the Status Bar near the bottom of the VueMinder window.
- Import the ICS file that was exported in Step 1. Any events that are not in Google Calendar should sync after importing.
After configuring VueMinder to sync with Outlook, a message frequently appears stating a program is trying to access my email.
This message can appear if your Outlook installation doesn't recognize the antivirus software you have installed (or if you don’t have any antivirus software). Some antivirus programs, such as Microsoft Security Essentials (free), will prevent this message. Just for the record, that’s a very misleading message – VueMinder is not accessing email, it’s just syncing with the calendar data!
Open the Trust Center settings in Outlook and click the "Programmatic Access" group. If Outlook recognizes your antivirus software, you’ll see a label with text "Antivirus status: Valid". Since Outlook knows it is protected, it shouldn't pop up the message saying VueMinder is trying to access email.
If the antivirus status isn't valid, you might need to either switch to a different antivirus solution, or configure Outlook to properly recognize what you are using. You could also click the "Never warn me" option (if enabled), but that might open up Outlook to other security vulnerabilities.
You could also change VueMinder to only sync with Outlook when commanded. On the Outlook tab of the Calendar Properties, change the "Automatically sync every" value to "Never". You can manually sync by pressing the F5 key. You’ll still need tell Outlook to allow access, but Outlook won’t popup the message every few minutes.
