Images
Add images to your events by including image directives or image URLs in your event description.
Image directive
#already:image:<url>The URL is removed from the description and the image is displayed on the event.
If Google Calendar's editor turns the pasted URL into a link, the directive still works: the image URL is read from the link, so paste it as you normally would.
Google Drive images
Use the Drive shorthand to link to a file hosted on Google Drive:
#already:image:drive:<file-id>The file ID is the long string in your Google Drive sharing URL. The file must be publicly shared.
Other image sources
Images are also automatically detected from:
- Image URLs in your description — any URL ending in
.png,.jpg,.jpeg,.gif, or.webp - Google Drive links — URLs like
drive.google.com/file/d/.../vieware recognized and converted automatically - Dropbox links — sharing URLs from Dropbox are recognized and normalized for direct display
- Calendar attachments — images attached via the Google Calendar API with an
image/*MIME type
Display behavior
- The first image is used as the thumbnail in grid and list views, unless
#already:image-shuffleis set (see below) - Multiple images show as a gallery in the detail view with left/right arrow navigation
- Clicking any gallery image opens a fullscreen lightbox with keyboard controls (arrow keys to navigate, Escape to close) and on-screen prev/next buttons
- The lightbox shows an image counter (e.g. "2 / 5") and supports multiple dismiss methods: close button, backdrop click, image click, or Escape key
Shuffle the thumbnail across occurrences
#already:image-shuffleA recurring event has one description, so every occurrence normally shows the same first image on its card. Add this flag to an event with several images, from any source (image directives, image URLs in the description, or attachments), and each occurrence gets its own stable thumbnail from the list. Occurrences need their own ids, which Google Calendar's expanded instances have. The choice is a hash of the occurrence's id, so a given date shows the same photo every time while the dates down the page vary (two occurrences can land on the same photo). The detail gallery starts from the chosen image. Events with fewer than two images are unaffected, and without the flag the first image stays the thumbnail.
A long list of image directives can trip Google Calendar's own "Text too long. Remove text or style to avoid truncation." warning in the description editor (seen with 22 Google Photos URLs), so keep the list short.