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Is the Year 2038 Bug Affecting Your Proton Schedule?
The Current Limitation of Proton Calendar
As an advisor evaluating digital tools for long-term reliability, I must highlight a critical flaw within Proton Calendar’s infrastructure. Users attempting to schedule events beyond December 2037 currently face a hard stop. This restriction prevents the entry of long-term financial commitments, such as mortgage maturation dates in 2040, or essential personal milestones, like passport renewals in 2041.
While Proton positions itself as a premium, privacy-focused alternative to mainstream providers, this functionality gap persists in both free and paid tiers.
Technical Explanation: The Year 2038 Problem
To understand why this occurs, we must look at the underlying data architecture. The root cause is a well-documented computing hurdle known as the “Year 2038 problem.”
Proton Calendar currently relies on 32-bit signed integers to store time values.
- The Mechanism: Systems calculate time by counting seconds elapsed since the “Unix Epoch” (January 1, 1970).
- The Limit: A 32-bit integer has a maximum capacity. It can only count enough seconds to reach January 19, 2038.
- The Failure: Once the clock ticks past this specific second, the integer overflows. Computers misinterpret this overflow, often reverting the date to 1901 or simply crashing the request.
Consequently, any data imported or created that falls outside the 1970–2037 window is treated as invalid by the system and discarded.
Operational Impact on Users
This technical debt creates practical friction for everyday use. The limitation is not merely futuristic; it affects historical data entry today.
- Historical Record Keeping: Users cannot log birthdates for family members born prior to 1970. A parent born in 1957 cannot have their birth year accurately recorded, whereas a friend born in 1989 faces no such issue.
- Long-Term Planning: Retirement planning, annuity tracking, and 30-year mortgage schedules are impossible to visualize within the current interface.
- Data Loss: Users migrating from other platforms risk losing calendar entries. Events scheduled for 2038 and beyond silently vanish during the import process.
Developer Awareness and Response
The Proton team is aware of this architectural deficiency. In October 2025, during community discussions regarding missing birthday entries, Bart Butler from the Proton team confirmed the cause. He acknowledged the use of 32-bit integers and stated that the team intends to migrate to signed 64-bit integers—a standard standard that essentially solves the time limitation for the foreseeable future.
However, the team has not yet prioritized this migration. As of January 2026, despite user reports and the clear necessity for a fix, the infrastructure update remains pending.
The Competitor Gap
This issue highlights a significant disparity in service quality compared to free alternatives. Google Calendar, for instance, utilizes 64-bit architecture, allowing users to schedule events spanning centuries without error. A user can seamlessly set reminders for a grandfather born in 1923 or a bicentennial event in 2100.
For a service that charges a premium subscription based on security and reliability, failing to support standard human lifespans is a notable oversight. The migration from 32-bit to 64-bit systems is a standard procedure in software engineering. Prioritizing this update is essential for Proton to maintain credibility as a robust tool for personal and professional management.