Sync iCal and Mac Address Book Between 2 Macs for Free Using Dropbox

I have a mac at home.
I have a mac at work.
I want to sync my calendar and address book across the two computers.
I DON’T want to pay $99 a year for MobileMe.

Here is the free solution I used:

(Update: After using this setup listed below for a couple weeks, I finally caved in and signed up for MobileMe. The main reason I caved in was MobileMe is two-fold. First, it enables me to have my phone synced without having to plug it into my computer. Second, it makes sharing a calendar with my wife MUCH easier. While I hate to admit it… rather, I hate to pay for it… MobileMe is a easier and better solution for me than the dropbox hack.)

Please read all these instructions carefully before attempting. If you do this wrong, you can mess up your calendar and address book and (disclaimer) I can’t be held responsible for that. Also, I recommend backing up your calendar and address book prior to attempting this. Better safe, than sorry.

- Calendar Instructions
- Address Book Instructions

Sync You iCal between two (or more) Macs using Dropbox:

1. On your primary computer (the one with your existing calendar) install Dropbox.
2. Once installed, open Terminal on your Mac.
   NOTE: If you’ve never done this before, simply hit Command+Space Bar on your keyboard to open Spotlight. Then type in “Terminal” and click on the Terminal program.

   
   

3. Type in: mv ~/Library/Calendars/ ~/Dropbox/
   

   IMPORTANT: If, when you installed Dropbox, you installed the Dropbox folder somewhere other than in the default location, you’ll need to modify the above command. For example, I installed the Dropbox folder on my desktop. So, my command looked like this: mv ~/Library/Calendars/ ~/Desktop/Dropbox/
   To find out the location of your Dropbox folder, right click the folder and click “Get Info” and look for the location in the “where” section. You’ll only want to include the information after the /User/YourUserName/

   

4. Hit “Enter“
5. In Terminal, now type: ln -s ~/Dropbox/Calendars/ ~/Library/Calendars
   IMPORTANT: Just like the last step, you need to use the exact location of your Dropbox folder. So, my command looked like this: ln -s ~/Desktop/Dropbox/Calendars/ ~/Library/Calendars
   
6. Hit “Enter“
7. You are now finished with your main computer.
8. On your secondary computer (where you want to sync your Calendar to) you need to delete your current Calendars folder from your User Library. To do this, in Finder, click on your user and then go to the Library folder, then drag the Calendars folder to the trash.
9. Once you’ve done this, repeat steps 1-6 on this computer.

Sync You Address Book between two (or more) Macs using Dropbox:

1. On your primary computer (the one with your existing calendar) install Dropbox.
2. Once installed, open Terminal on your Mac.
   NOTE: If you’ve never done this before, simply hit Command+Space Bar on your keyboard to open Spotlight. Then type in “Terminal” and click on the Terminal program.

   
   

3. Type in: mv ~/Library/Application\ Support/AddressBook ~/Dropbox/
   

   IMPORTANT: If, when you installed Dropbox, you installed the Dropbox folder somewhere other than in the default location, you’ll need to modify the above command. For example, I installed the Dropbox folder on my desktop. So, my command looked like this: mv ~/Library/Application\ Support/AddressBook ~/Desktop/Dropbox/
   To find out the location of your Dropbox folder, right click the folder and click “Get Info” and look for the location in the “where” section. You’ll only want to include the information after the /User/YourUserName/

   

4. Hit “Enter“
5. In Terminal, now type: ln -s ~/Dropbox/AddressBook/ ~/Library/Application\ Support/AddressBook
   IMPORTANT: Just like the last step, you need to use the exact location of your Dropbox folder. So, my command looked like this: ln -s ~/Desktop/Dropbox/AddressBook/ ~/Library/Application\ Support/AddressBook
   
6. Hit “Enter“
7. You are now finished with your main computer.
8. On your secondary computer (where you want to sync your Address Book to) you need to delete your current Address Book File from your User Library. To do this, in Finder, click on your user and then go to the Library folder, then the Application Support folder. Now drag the AddressBook folder to the trash.
9. Once you’ve done this, repeat steps 1-6 on this computer.

I’ve gotta give a hat tip to this Wired tutorial. This is where I learned how to do what I outline above. That said, there are some errors on the Wired article, plus I didn’t think it was informative enough for a basic users. Thus, I wrote my own version here.