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Widgets

BusyCal includes a set of widgets you can add from macOS’s widget gallery. Widgets are designed for quick “at a glance” viewing of your schedule and tasks, and most widgets open BusyCal when you click them.

note

Widget appearance (Light/Dark/Automatic) is controlled by the system. Widgets follow your macOS appearance and cannot be forced to a different mode from within BusyCal.

Widget Sizes​

BusyCal widgets are available in different sizes depending on the widget:

  • Small — quick glance (single day / single item)
  • Medium — more detail (more items or a wider calendar grid)
  • Large — the most detail (multi-day lists or multi-week grids)

Common Widget Options​

Depending on the widget you choose, you may be able to configure options such as:

  • Show events, tasks, or both
  • Show weather (where applicable)
  • Calendar display style (for example: heat map vs dots)
  • Highlight weekends / current week, show week numbers
  • Font size and title wrapping

Widgets​

Upcoming Widgets​

These focus on “what’s next” and near-term schedule details.

  • Current & Upcoming (Small) — shows today’s date (and optional weather), what’s happening right now (or that you’re free), plus your next upcoming item.
  • Up Next (Small, Medium) — shows a compact list of upcoming items starting with your next event or task (with an optional date/weather header).
  • Up Next + Calendar (Medium) — shows “Up Next” alongside a compact month calendar grid for added context.
  • Events List (Medium, Large) — shows today’s date (and optional weather) plus a list of upcoming items. This widget also shows “banners” (such as birthdays and holidays). The Large size includes a calendar grid above the list.
  • Agenda (Large) — an agenda-style list of upcoming days, grouped by date, including events, tasks, and banners.
  • Two Days (Medium, Large) — shows today and tomorrow together.

Calendar Grid Widgets​

These show your schedule in a more “calendar-like” grid.

  • Calendar (Small, Medium) — a month calendar grid. The Small size shows one month; the Medium size shows two months (current and next). Activity can be shown as dots or a heat map.
  • Three Days (Medium, Large) — a compact multi-day grid view.
  • This Week (Medium, Large) — a week-at-a-glance grid.
  • Two Weeks (Medium, Large) — a two-week grid for a wider planning horizon.
  • Three Weeks (Large) — a three-week grid for longer-range planning.

Task Widgets​

  • Tasks (Small, Medium, Large) — a task-focused widget that shows upcoming (incomplete) tasks.

⚠️ Troubleshooting​

If your widgets appear blank, fail to update, or show "Please launch BusyCal", try the following steps:

1. Check Background Permissions​

Widgets rely on background processes to fetch data. Ensure BusyCal is allowed to run in the background:

  1. Open System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions.
  2. Under "Allow in the Background", ensure BusyCal is enabled.

2. Reboot Your Mac​

macOS manages widget updates, and sometimes the system's widget service can get stuck. A simple restart of your Mac often resolves blank or non-updating widgets.

3. Launch BusyCal​

If the widget says "Please launch BusyCal," open the main app once to allow it to refresh the cached data used by the widgets.

4. Interactive Widgets​

You can complete tasks or switch months directly from the widget without opening the app. Note that Interactive Widgets require macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later. On older macOS versions, clicking a widget will simply open BusyCal.

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