How to share and sync Outlook calendar with Google

Before syncing Outlook and Google calendars

Before connecting Outlook and Google calendars, keep these important limitations in mind:

• There is no native two-way syncing between Outlook and Google Calendar.
• Calendar subscriptions are one-way: Outlook changes appear in Google, but not the other way around.
• Shared Outlook calendars are view-only in Google: you can view events, but not edit them.
• Synchronization is not immediate. Updates can take several hours or longer to appear, or they may not appear at all.
• Some organizations restrict calendar sharing and publishing for security reasons.
• Available features vary depending on whether you use a Microsoft 365 work account or a personal Outlook.com account.

How to share Outlook calendar with Google calendar

Microsoft Outlook and Google Calendar app are fundamentally different, but they do have one thing in common – both support the iCalendar (ICS) format, a generally accepted standard for exchanging scheduling information between different systems and applications. That means you can subscribe to an Outlook calendar in Google if you have a valid ICS link.

Step 1: Publish Outlook calendar online

The easiest way to share an Outlook calendar with Google Calendar or any other third-party application is to publish it online and then provide the generated ICS link to anyone who needs access.

Currently, calendar publishing is available in the new Outlook app, Outlook on the web (for Microsoft 365 work and school accounts), and Outlook.com.

To publish an Outlook calendar:

1. Open Outlook on the web or the new Outlook app.
2. Select Settings > Calendar > Shared calendars.
3. Under Publish a calendar, choose the one you want to share.
4. Select the level of detail to publish: Can view when I'm busy (default), Can view titles and locations, or Can view all details.
5. Click Publish.
6. In a moment, the ICS link will appear in the same window. Copy the link and keep it handy – you can share it with other people or add it to your own Google Calendar.

From now on, anyone with the link can subscribe to your Outlook calendar without needing a separate invitation.

For additional insights, see How to publish Outlook calendar online.

Step 2: Add published Outlook calendar to Google Calendar

Once you have the ICS link, you can add the Outlook calendar to Google Calendar. To do this:

1. Open the Google Calendar app.
2. In the left pane, next to Other calendars, click the plus (+) button.
3. From the pop-up menu, select From URL.
4. Paste the Outlook ICS link into the URL of calendar box and click Add calendar.

Done. The Outlook calendar will appear in Google under Other calendars.

By default, the subscribed calendar may have a long, cryptic name derived from the ICS link. To give it a more meaningful name, click the three dots next to the calendar, select Settings, and enter the name you want in the Name box.

Share Outlook calendar with certain Google Gmail users

Unlike calendar publishing, which creates a link that can be shared with anyone, this method lets you share your Outlook calendar only with specific Gmail users. Also, it is a convenient way to connect your own Microsoft 365 work or school calendar with Google Calendar.

Step 1: Send Outlook calendar sharing invitation to Gmail users

You can share your calendar from any Outlook application, including classic Outlook 365 – 2016, the new Outlook, and Outlook on the web. While the interface differs between versions, the sharing steps are essentially the same.

To share your Outlook calendar with a Google Gmail account:

1. In Outlook, switch to the Calendar view.
2. In the folder pane on the left, right-click the calendar you want to share and select Sharing permissions.
3. Add the Gmail email address.
4. Choose the appropriate permission level.
5. Click Share.

The Outlook part is done, and the calendar sharing invitation is on its way to the recipient's Gmail account.

For detailed instructions for your version of Outlook, see:

• How to share calendar in classic Outlook 365 - 2016
• How to share calendar in new Outlook and web

Step 2: Add shared Outlook calendar to Google

After receiving the invitation, the Gmail user needs to obtain the calendar's ICS link and add it to Google Calendar.

1. Open the sharing invitation in Gmail.
2. Do not click the Accept calendar button, as it only works for Outlook users. Instead, locate the small "this URL" link near the bottom of the message. This link contains the ICS address for the shared Outlook calendar.
3. Right-click the link and choose Copy link address (or the equivalent option in your browser).

With the ICS link copied, you can add the shared Outlook calendar to Google as described in the previous section.

Note. This method only works for Microsoft 365 business accounts. Although you can technically send a calendar sharing invitation from a personal Outlook.com account, it is not useful for Gmail users because Outlook.com sharing invitations do not include the ICS link, which is required for calendar subscription.

Add Outlook calendar to Google as one-time import

Another way to share Outlook calendar with Google is to export its events. The main limitation of this approach is that it creates a one-time copy of your calendar. In other words, you are importing a static snapshot of the Outlook calendar, so the two calendars are not connected. Any events added, edited, or deleted in Outlook afterward won't sync to Google.

This method can be useful when:

• You want to import a fixed set of events that is unlikely to change, such as a conference schedule or training agenda.
• You are moving from Outlook to Google Calendar.
• You want to archive historical calendar data in Google.
• Your organization does not allow calendar publishing or sharing.

Step 1: Export Outlook calendar as ICS file

To import Outlook events into Google Calendar, you first need to save the Outlook calendar as an ICS file. The steps vary depending on the Outlook version you use.

Download calendar in new Outlook or web

To obtain an ICS file in the new Outlook or Outlook on the web, publish the calendar and then download the generated ICS link.

1. Go to Settings > Calendar > Shared calendars.
2. Under Publish a calendar, choose the one you want to export.
3. Select the level of detail to include.
4. Click Publish.
5. Click the ICS link generated by Outlook and select Download.
6. Save the ICS file to your computer or a cloud storage.

You can now import the downloaded file into Google Calendar or send it to another user for import.

Save calendar in Outlook 365 – 2016

To create an ICS file in classic Outlook, use the built-in Save Calendar feature. Along the way, you can choose which dates to export and how much event information to include.

1. Select the calendar you want to export.
2. Click File > Save Calendar.
3. In the Save As dialog box, type any name you wish in the File name box or keep the default one.
4. At the bottom of the window, Outlook displays a summary of the information to be exported. By default, it exports only the current day and Availability only. To change these settings, click More Options.
5. In the Save Calendar dialog box, configure the export settings:
   • From the Date Range drop-down list, choose Specify dates and enter your own date range, or select one of the predefined options.
   • From the Detail drop-down list, choose the amount of information to export: Availability only, Limited details (availability and subjects), or Full details.
   • Optionally, include private items and calendar attachments.
   • Click OK when finished.
   
6. Back in the Save As window, click Save.

Outlook will generate an ICS file containing the selected calendar events. If you are saving the whole calendar, be aware that the resulting ICS file can be pretty big, and it may take a while for Outlook to save it.

Step 2: Import Outlook ICS file to Google

After exporting the Outlook calendar, you can import the ICS file into Google Calendar. Here's how:

1. Open Google Calendar.
2. Click the Settings icon in the upper-right corner and select Settings.
3. In the left pane, select Import & export.
4. Under Import, click Select file from your computer and browse for the ICS file exported from Outlook.
5. Choose the Google calendar where you want the events to be added. By default, events are imported into your primary calendar.
6. Click Import.

Upon completion, you will be notified how many events have been imported. You can then exit the Settings page and view the imported Outlook events in your Google calendar.

Note. Importing an ICS file is a one-time operation. If new events are added to Outlook later, you will need to export and import the calendar again to bring those changes into Google Calendar.

Two-way syncing Outlook calendar with Google

Unfortunately, none of the methods described above provide a reliable Outlook-to-Google calendar syncing. Even when updates are supported in theory, in practice they can be delayed and inconsistent.

If you need your Outlook and Google calendars to stay in sync automatically, a dedicated third-party tool is usually the best option.

Outlook Google Calendar Sync (OGCS)

One popular choice for two-way syncing is a free open-source desktop application named Outlook Google Calendar Sync.

To get started, install OGCS and authorize it to access your Outlook and Google accounts. Then create a sync profile and choose how you want the calendars to work together:

• Choose the sync direction: Outlook to Google, Google to Outlook, or two-way syncing.
• Select how often updates are checked and transferred.
• Specify how many past and future days to include.
• Choose which event details to copy, such as locations, descriptions, attendees, categories, and reminders.
• Exclude certain event types, such as private, tentative, or all-day appointments.

Once set up, OGCS runs quietly in the background and keeps the selected calendars synchronized according to your settings.

You can download the application and find detailed setup instructions on the Outlook Google Calendar Sync website.

Outlook calendar is not syncing with Google

Though the standard iCalendar format (ICS) is supported by both Microsoft and Google, they seem to have a lot of compatibility problems. From my own experience, a shared or published Outlook calendar that is supposed to sync automatically in reality works just once – when the ICS link as added to Google Calendar. Subsequent changes in Outlook are not reflected to Google, which makes this feature almost useless. My first thought was that I did something wrong, but after a little research I found a lot of similar issues reported to Google Help Desk.

Regrettably, there is no obvious solution to this problem for now. We have to either wait (or rather hope) for a fix or rely on special software.

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