You need to know how to share Google Calendar. It's great for business and productivity. It's one of Google's many free tools. Using it effectively means you don't have to spend money on another calendar application.
Google provides many excellent and free services and products, including Gmail, Analytics, Google Meet, Drive, Keep, Forms, Maps, Translate, and many more. They also have a fairly robust calendar that is worth using if you need to keep track of events, schedule meetings, and stay productive.
Google Calendar can be challenging to master, especially if you want to share your Google Calendar with others. In a business environment, seeing each other's schedule (Free/Busy) or event details can be incredibly valuable for operational efficiency.
This how-to will review the steps to share your Google Calendar with others and help you understand some of the sharing permissions and settings for calendar sharing. Let's get started.
#1 Sign in to Google Calendar
Navigate to Google Calendar using your browser. The link to Google Calendar is https://www.google.com/calendar. You'll need to be signed in to access the Google Calendar app.
Assuming you are not already signed into a Google account, sign in to Google Calendar by entering your email address and password in the sign-in box.
If you don't have a Google account, click “Create account.” Then follow the instructions to set up your new account. Once you're signed in, you can start using all of Calendar's features. For example, you can create and edit events, invite friends and colleagues to events, and add events to your personal calendar or a shared group calendar.
You can also use Calendar to keep track of your schedule, set reminders for upcoming meetings, and view your agenda for the week. It's a very handy tool once you know how to use all the features. But you want to know how to share google calendar, so let's stay on track.
#2 Click the “Settings” Gear Icon and Select “Settings”
By default, only you can see the events on your calendar. If you'd like to share your calendar with others, follow these steps to change the access permissions: first, click the “Settings” gear icon and select “Settings.”
You should see a panel within settings similar to the one below.
#3 Click on the Calendar You Want to Share
You won't see the ability to share yet, you actually need to click on the calendar you want to share before any sharing settings present themselves. Scroll down to the “Settings for my calendars” section. Click on the calendar you want to see the access permissions for. Once clicked, the settings will display.
In the middle panel, you'll see the settings for that particular calendar. You can name the calendar, provide a description, make it public, export it, and share it with specific people.
#4 Choose Your Permission Settings
When you scroll to the Share with specific people section, you'll see your information in the first row, and anyone else you've shared with beneath. The button to “Add people” will also be present.
Press that button and enter the email addresses of the people you want to share your calendar with in the “Add email or name” field. You can also adjust permission settings for how you want the event details to display. The options are See only free/busy (hide details), See all event details, Make changes to events, and Make changes and manage sharing.
Let's step through these in a bit more detail
- “See only free/busy” means that someone will only be able to see that you're booked during a particular time, but not any of the details. This is effective to maintain privacy when you only want people to know when you are available for meetings.
- “See all event details” means that you want people to know exactly what you are up to and what you've put into your calendar for meetings and events. They will basically see what you see.
- “Make changes to events” means they can control your calendar on your behalf and make changes to the meetings and events listed in your calendar. This can be useful for people who have personal assistants and want someone to handle their schedule for them.
- “Make changes and manage sharing” means that you've essentially given full control of your calendar to the person you shared it with including the ability for them to edit events and reshare your calendar with others. This is advantageous for group calendars, committees, and other use cases where everyone needs access permissions.
Once you've chosen your permission settings, click “Send.” Your calendar will now be shared with the people you specified. If you need to stop sharing your calendar with someone, simply remove them from the “Share this calendar” list by pressing the “x” next to the person's name.
#5 Sharing with Someone Who Doesn't Have a Google Account
If you are trying to share a Google Calendar with someone who doesn't use Google Calendar, there are a few options available to you.
Let's review the options for accessing via a web browser, embedding a calendar into a web page, and sharing it in iCal format.
1. Accessing via a web browser
If you want people to be able to see a calendar via a web browser you can do that quite simply by selecting that option within the settings. Google Calendar provides a shareable link to paste into a new browser window or tab.
Once you've done that, you can simply copy the Public URL to the entire calendar and put it into a web browser and it will display.
2. Embedding a calendar into a web page
Using the second option, you can embed a calendar into a website or web page. This allows for calendars that have public events to be displayed within a website where users might need to reference dates and times.
You can customize the look and calendar display features before embedding by pressing the Customize button and working through the settings. You can customize what is shown, colors, and other more finite details.
3. Sharing it in iCal format
Lastly, if you want to share your Google Calendar with specific people who do not have a Google account, you can provide them with the iCal link, which is more universal across calendar apps. Keep in mind that you will have to change your calendar to be public to share in this manner, which might not be ideal for some.
Read Also
- How to Delete a Facebook Account
- How to Delete a Gmail Account
- How to Delete a LinkedIn Account
- How to Delete an Instagram Account
How to Share Google Calendar Wrap-up
Google Calendar is a great way to keep track of your schedule and share it with others. Following these simple steps, you can easily share your calendar with whomever you choose. There are many other dynamic features to Google Calendar to familiarize yourself with to get the most benefits from the application.
Whether you need to integrate calendar sharing, manage multiple calendars, share all your events, or just some events, Google Calendar is great. Within a few clicks, you will be ready to share your Google Calendar with the world.
