Sync Google Calendar with Outlook

Copy Google Calendar's URL

1. Log into your Google account and click Calendar on the Google bar.

   If you are logged into your Gmail account, then you will need two clicks instead of one. As you probably know, about two months ago Google rolled out the new update and all of a sudden the Calendar button disappeared from the G-mail page's task bar. Anyway, click on the Apps launcher icon and select Calendar from the list of apps.

2. Hover over the needed calendar in the calendar list at the left-hand part of the screen, click the drop-down arrow that appears to the right of the calendar name, and then click Calendar settings.

   This will open the Calendar details page.

3. If your google calendar is public, then click the green ICAL icon next to Calendar Address. If it is private, click the ICAL button next to the calendar's Private Address.
4. Copy the calendar's URL. Now you can paste this URL into any other application that supports the iCal format (.ics) and access your Google calendar from there.

Synchronizing with Outlook

Method 1:

1. Open your Outlook and switch to Calendar > Manage Calendars ribbon group.
2. Click Open Calendar button and choose "From Internet…" from the drop down list.
3. Paste your Google calendar's URL and click OK.

Method 2:

1. On the File tab, select Account Settings twice.
2. Switch to the Internet Calendars tab and click the New… button.
3. Press Ctrl + V to past the Google calendar's URL, and then click the Add button.
4. Click Close to close the Accounting Settings dialog.
5. In the Subscriptions Option dialog box, type the folder name for the imported calendar and make sure the Update Limit checkbox is selected. If you want to transfer the attachments within your Google Calendar events, select the corresponding option too and then click OK.

That's it! Your Google calendar has been added to Outlook and you can see it under "Other Calendars".

SynqYa - free web service to synchronize calendars and files

You may consider using this free service as an alternative way to handle your Google and Outlook calendar synchronization. A really nice feature is that it allows two-way syncing, i.e. from Google to Outlook and in the reverse direction. Synchronizing between Google and iPhone is also supported, which adds one more argument in favor of SynqYa.

The sync process is pretty straightforward and requires just two steps:

• Sign up for a free synqYa account.
• Authorize access to your Google calendar.

Wrapping up, this service seems to be a decent alternative if you don't have the admin rights on your computer, or if you are reluctant to install any Outlook add-ins, or if your company has a strict policy with regard to installing third-party software in general and free tools in particular.

SynqYa Pros: no client software, no installation (admin rights are not required), syncs Outlook, Apple iCal and other calendar software with Google Calendar.

SynqYa Cons: more difficult to configure (based on our blog readers feedback); syncs with one calendar only; no option to check for duplicates, meaning if you have the same appointments in Outlook and Google, you will have these entries in double after syncing.

Calendar Sync for Outlook and Google - free 1-way and 2-way syncing

Calendar Sync is free software to sync Outlook appointments with Google events. It supports one-way syncing either from Outlook or Google as well as 2-way syncing by last changed appointments/events. It also lets you delete duplicate items in Outlook and Google calendars. Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2016 are supported.

The following screenshot demonstrates how to configure the syncing settings:

Calendar Sync Pros: easy-to-configure, allows 1-way and 2-way syncing, a portable (zip) version is available that does not require admin rights and allows using the proxy settings.

Calendar Sync Cons: Free version allow synching appointments / events only within a 30 day range.

Outlook Google Calendar Sync

Outlook Google Calendar Sync is another free tool for syncing Outlook and Google calendars. This small tool doesn't require admin rights, works behind a proxy and supports the following versions:

• Outlook -> Google syncing (Outlook 2003 - 2016)
• Google -> Outlook sync (Outlook 2010 and 2016)

I have to say that I did not try this tool personally, but the manufacturer warns that this project is currently undergoing a lot of development and therefore bugs are inevitable.

CompanionLink for Google

This application can synchronize calendars, contacts and tasks between Outlook and Google and lets you select the categories to be synced. Also, it does support syncing of multiple calendars, which is a big plus. The tool works with all versions of Outlook 2016 - 2000.

The configurations process is very straightforward and you will hardly need any guidance. I will just point out a few key steps and features below.

To start configuring, you can click on the Settings icon in the CompanionLink group on the Add-ins ribbon tab in Outlook, or click the CompanionLink icon on the desktop, or find it in the programs list.

1. First off, select what devices you want to synchronize (naturally this is Outlook and Google in our case):
2. Now you choose what items (calendars, contacts, tasks) you want to sync and whether it shall be one-way or two-way syncing. To do this, click the Settings button under Microsoft Outlook and you will see the following options:
3. Clicking the Settings button under Google will display the "Google Settings" dialog where you enter your Gmail credentials and choose what calendars to sync - the default one, selected, or all.
4. And finally, you can click the Advanced button in the lower-left corner of the Settings window, switch to the Auto Synchronization tab and select the time when you want to have the items get synchronized automatically.

You are all set now. Of course, you can switch between other tabs and play with other settings if you want to. For example, you can set the Category Filter on the corresponding tab.

The Mac version of CompanionLink is also available that supports 2-way syncing between Mac and Google.

If you are interested to try the CompanionLink syncing tool, here is the product's page - CompanionLink for Google. A trial version is not publically available, though, and you would have to provide your email address to get it. I personally hate this practice, but they probably have some reasoning behind it. Currently CompanionLink offers two pricing models - one-time license for $49.95 or 3-month subscription for $14.95.

CompanionLink Pros: feature-rich, easy-to configure; supports 1-way and 2-way manual or automatic syncing of calendars, contacts and tasks; can sync multiple calendars; the company provides free phone support.

CompanionLink Cons: only paid version is available, complicated procedure to get a trial.

gSyncit - software to sync Outlook calendars, contacts, notes and tasks with Google

gSyncit is an add-in for Microsoft Outlook purposed for syncing calendars (as well as contacts, notes and tasks) between Outlook and Google. It also supports synchronization with Evernote, Dropbox and some other accounts and lets you edit Google calendar events imported into the Outlook calendar.

The gSyncit tool has a free and paid version. Both versions allow 1-way and 2-way syncing of calendars, tasks, contacts and notes. A while ago, this was one of the most popular free tools with just 2 significant limitations - syncing just one calendar and a pop-up appearing on Outlook start with a 15 second delay. However, the changes introduced in version 4 have made an unregistered version almost useless:

• Synchronizing one Google and Outlook calendar;
• Synchronizing 50 entries only;
• Does not sync deletes for contacts / notes /tasks entries;
• 2 popups on Outlook start, one after the other, which will make you wait for 15 seconds and 10 seconds respectively;
• Automatical syncing is disabled in the free version.

So, currently an unregistered version of gSyncit can be used for evaluation purposes only, alas. If you want to remove the above limitations, you will have to buy a registered version.

Importing a calendar from Google into Outlook

1. Copy the Google Calendar's URL as described above (Steps 1 -3).
2. Click the calendar's URL that shows up.
3. When the basic.ics file is downloaded, click on it to import the calendar into Outlook.

The imported Google calendar will open side-by-side with your Outlook Calendar and will be available under Other Calendars.

Exporting Outlook calendar to Google

1. In Outlook Calendar, select the calendar you want to export to Google to make it the active calendar in the view.
2. Switch to the File tab and click Save Calendar.
3. Type a name for the iCal file in the File Name field.
4. Click the More Options button to specify the date range and detail level.

   Tip: Click the Advanced button for two more options: 1) whether to export private items and 2) whether to export attachments within your Outlook calendar items. If you choose the latter, be aware that this might significantly increase the size of the iCalendar file.

5. Click OK to close the More Options dialog and then click Save.

   That's it! You have performed all needed steps in Outlook and now let's finish the process on Google Calendar's side.

6. Log on to your Google Calendar account.
7. Click the little black arrow next to My calendars and choose Settings.
8. Under Calendar, click the Import Calendar link.
9. Click the "Choose File" button and browse for the .ics file you have created earlier and click Open.
10. In the drop down box next to Calendar, choose the Google Calendar where you want to import your Outlook appointments.
11. Click the Import button to finish the process.

    Note. Similar to Importing a calendar from Google into Outlook, the transferred calendar is static and won't update along with the changes you make in Outlook. To get the recent version of your Outlook calendar, you need to repeat this procedure.

Well, in this article we've covered several tools and techniques that will hopefully help you sync your Google calendar with Outlook. Once your calendars are synchronized, you can easily share your Outlook calendar with your colleagues and friends.