How To: Use Google Calendar With Outlook

Before joining the workforce, I never ever used calendaring software.  I didn't have a smartphone, and PDAs without internet access were a horrible value proposition for me.  I think life would have been a little different if I had Google Calendar when I was in high school.  Like many of you, I use Microsoft Outlook for work and Gmail for personal email. 

I've been poking my nose in some new products that Google has been offering such as Google Calendar to see how it works.  I was pleasantly surprised that calendaring solutions from HotMail, Live, Google and Yahoo have come along way in terms of functionality and UI.  Even more impressive is that most of the consumer calendaring web apps play nice with each other meaning my friend, a Hotmail fanatic, can send me a calendar request to my GMail account, I can accept it and it will mark my calendar with all the detail.

But what about work?  Some organizations frown upon using Google or other consumer technology in the workplace.  Some even have the tenacity to block these types of sites.  How can you calendar your personal and business life effectively?

The Procedure

You can subscribe to your calendar posted on Google Calendar. An Internet Calendar Subscription keeps your Outlook copy of your Google Calendar updated. Outlook periodically checks the Google Calendar for updates, and if any are found, they are downloaded to the calendar copy in Outlook.

  1. Log on to your Google Calendar account.

  2. In the left column, under Calendars, click the arrow button next to the calendar that you want to add to Outlook as an Internet Calendar Subscription.

  3. Select Calendar settings.

  4. Under Private Address, click ICALICAL button 

  5. Select the Internet Web address that appears, and then press CTRL+C to copy the selected text to the Windows clipboard. image

  6. Note   Do not click the link. If you click the link, the calendar will be opened in Outlook as a Calendar Snapshot which is not updated.

  7. In Outlook, on the Tools menu, click Account Settings.

  8. On the Internet Calendars tab, click New.

  9. Paste the Internet Web address you copied in step 5, by pressing CTRL+V.

  10. Click Add.

  11. In the Folder Name box, type the name of the calendar as you want it to appear in Outlook, and then click OK.

 

Note:   To make changes to your Google calendar, you must use Google Calendar. Changes made in Outlook are not sent to your Google Calendar.