Yes: a spare Raspberry Pi can turn an HDMI monitor or TV into a wall-mounted calendar. The clearest routes are to run Google Calendar in a Chromium kiosk, following the community Calendar Pi project, or install MagicMirror² and use its calendar module. The first aims to show a calendar in a browser; the second is a display platform built for customization. Either way, plan for the screen, network connection, power, mounting, and account privacy—not just the software.
What you need for a Raspberry Pi wall calendar
The basic setup is a Raspberry Pi connected over HDMI to a monitor or TV, with power, network access, calendar software, and a secure way to mount the display. A keyboard and mouse are useful during initial setup, though they need not remain connected once the system is configured.
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The Calendar Pi guide lists a Raspberry Pi 3 B as the author’s hardware, plus a 2.5A USB power supply, short HDMI cable, HDMI television, wall mount, USB hub, SD card of at least 8GB, Wi-Fi or Ethernet, and setup keyboard and mouse. That is the guide’s historical bill of materials, not a current minimum specification or a guarantee that its software setup works with today’s Raspberry Pi OS. Check that your own board, power supply, storage, and display are compatible before building around those examples.
Plan the physical installation
Before buying a mount, check the monitor or TV’s VESA pattern, size, and weight against the mount’s supported range. The project guide names a TV wall mount but does not specify a model or compatibility standard. Measure the HDMI cable route and make sure the Pi and its power connection can sit safely behind or near the display without putting strain on the connectors.
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Choose the calendar software
| Approach | What it displays | Setup and customization |
|---|---|---|
| Chromium kiosk with Calendar Pi | Google Calendar in a browser, launched as a kiosk display according to the project guide. | The community guide describes an installer and automatic browser startup. Its age and historical OS references mean compatibility with current software is not established by the guide. Calendar Pi project |
| MagicMirror² calendar module | A calendar module within the MagicMirror² screen interface. Calendar module documentation | MagicMirror² is designed for a Raspberry Pi connected to a screen. Its official docs identify manual installation as the only officially supported method; third-party scripts are used at your own risk. The docs also describe MagicMirrorOS as an option for a default setup on a Raspberry Pi OS-based image. Installation and usage documentation |
Choose the browser kiosk route if your goal is to leave a calendar webpage on screen and you are comfortable verifying whether the older project guide still fits your system. Choose MagicMirror² if you want a display designed around modules and are prepared to follow its official installation documentation. The available documentation does not establish a controlled comparison of setup effort or performance.
Set up the Raspberry Pi and display
The Calendar Pi guide describes installing Raspberry Pi OS on an SD card with Raspberry Pi Imager, connecting the Pi to the TV by HDMI, arranging power and any USB hub, then completing initial language, keyboard, time-zone, password, and network setup. It then offers either a local installer or remote Ansible setup, and says the browser display starts automatically. These are the guide’s steps, not verified instructions for current releases.
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- Prepare the Pi: Use Raspberry Pi Imager to write an appropriate Raspberry Pi OS image to an SD card, following current Raspberry Pi documentation for your model.
- Connect the hardware: Attach the Pi to the monitor or TV with HDMI, connect power, and use a keyboard and mouse for first-run configuration if needed.
- Complete first-run setup: Set the time zone and network connection so the calendar can load and display the correct local time.
- Install and configure one software route: For MagicMirror², follow its current official installation documentation and calendar-module instructions. For the Calendar Pi kiosk, review the project’s installer instructions and confirm compatibility before running them.
- Test before mounting: Confirm that the display loads the intended calendar and can reconnect after a restart. Then secure the display and Pi using hardware appropriate for the screen and installation location.
Account access and network security
The Calendar Pi guide instructs users to sign into Google on the Pi. Treat that as an account-access decision: a wall display may expose event details to anyone who can see the screen, and a logged-in browser can retain account access. Decide which calendar information belongs on a shared display and secure the device accordingly.
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Calendar integrations do not all use the same authorization flow. A separate Raspberry Pi Magazine appointment-reminder project describes Google Calendar API authorization, but that is not the same software as the Calendar Pi kiosk or MagicMirror². Do not assume that its steps apply to either wall-display route. Raspberry Pi Magazine’s appointment-reminder project
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MagicMirror²’s official documentation warns against exposing the system directly to the internet. For remote access, it recommends a properly configured reverse proxy with authentication, HTTPS, and strict network access controls. A local-only wall display does not need to be made publicly reachable just to show a calendar. MagicMirror² installation and security documentation
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What to verify before committing to the build
- Whether the chosen software and installer support your Pi model and current operating-system image.
- Whether the monitor accepts the Pi’s HDMI output and has a mount that matches its VESA pattern, size, and weight.
- Whether the calendar account can be used on a device intended to remain visible in a shared space.
- Whether the system can recover its display after a power interruption or network loss; the cited project guide does not establish reliability under those conditions.
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