How to share your Google Calendar with others to optimize your scheduling process
- Sharing a Google Calendar is quick and easy, and there are several privacy-level options to choose from.
- All you need to get started is your computer, the appropriate Gmail address(es), and a minute or two to spare.
- In case you should require it, you can always go back in and revoke access to your calendar.
If you're dealing with a jam-packed schedule, finding room for additional appointments can be tricky.
But for Google users, sharing your Google Calendar is a simple solution to help you find a date and time that works for all parties involved without the back-and-forth of scheduling in a never-ending email chain.
Whether you're finding time to fit in a quick one-on-one meeting with a coworker, or you're organizing your roommates to find a final person to fill out your lease, sharing your calendar can be immensely helpful. And for those with Google accounts and their contact's Gmail address at the ready, it's a quick and easy process.
Here's how to share your Google Calendar with others to help optimize your scheduling process.
How to share your Google Calendar with others
1. Open your calendar on your computer by going to calendar.google.com. (Note: the app doesn't currently support this process.)
2. If necessary, expand the "My Calendars" section to view all of your existing calendars.
3. Click on the three vertical dots next to the calendar you'd like to share (this is located on the left side-panel of the screen, below the monthly calendar thumbnail).
4. Click "Settings and sharing."
5. Double check that the time zone is correct to ensure an accurate transfer of your schedule.
6. Scroll down to "Share with specific people" and click "Add people."
7. A pop-up will appear and you'll be prompted to enter your contact's email address (or several, should you require it).
Devon Delfino/Business InsiderChoose sharing permissions for specific people.
8. Once you've added all of the desired email addresses to share your calendar with, click on the "permissions" dropdown and select the appropriate choice. Those are ordered according to how much (or how little) control and access you want to give the person you're sharing the calendar with. Those are:
- See only free/busy (hide details)
- See all event details
- Make changes to events
- Make changes and manage sharing
There are a couple of points you should be aware of before the next step of hitting send button to share your calendar: According to Google, if you share a calendar with a group of people, it doesn't appear in their calendar until they click the link in the auto-generated email that informs them you've shared a calendar with them. And if your contact doesn't have Google Calendar, you can only share the calendar with them by making your calendar public.
9. Click send.
Other calendar options on Google Calendar
In addition to your standard calendar, Google users are also provided with three sub-calendars: Contacts, reminders, and tasks. You can also set up other calendars within your account (see the "Add Calendar" option on the main calendar screen side-panel).
Doing so can help ensure that, for example, only your professional obligations and appointments show up, instead of things like credit card payment reminders and your kid's baseball game. That's even if you give them access to the details, rather than just marking yourself as "busy." And if you start to feel the need for privacy at any point, you can go back in and revoke access to others from your calendar.
Read more of our coverage on Google:
How to make Google your homepage on any major web browser
How you can use the Google Translate app to translate languages offline
How to change the language in your Google Chrome browser