Sharing Google Calendars

Posted in Calendar | 3 comments

Whether you are managing a calendar for someone else or have multiple Google accounts for yourself, the sharing function of Google Calendar is damn handy. While I don’t have a frequent need to share with others, I find on occasion I have to share a calendar with a client or coworker. Google Calendar makes sharing super easy to share with your other accounts too.

Where To Start

1. The first thing you will need to do (assuming you already have a Google account), is to create some appointments in your Google Calendar.

2. Once you have your appointments and reminders added in, it’s time to share.

How To Share

1. In the left sidebar of the main screen, you will see a list displaying the names of your calendars. To the right of the name is a little triangle or arrow. Click on the arrow.

The pop-up window will display the settings options for that specific calendar.

2. Click on [Share this calendar]. The screen you will see should look something like this.

3. If you want to share with a specific person or persons, all you need to do is (1) type in the email address they use to access their Google or Google Apps account. (2) When you select a name it will add it to the list below. (3) Select the level of authority you want them to have.

What They See

If you haven’t told them you are going to share a calendar with them, they may not notice. Google does send a notification email to let them know. In the email is a link to their calendar.

When they click the link, they will now have the ability to see the calendar you shared with them. If you allowed them to, they can make adjustments. Any changes to days. times and reminders will affect everyone who has access to this calendar.

Non-Google Users

Not everyone uses Google for their calendar, in this case you have a couple options for them. You can send a link so they can view the calendar online, or you can send them an [.ics] file. Calendar apps like Mail (Mac), Outlook (Windows) and Sunbird (Mozilla’s calendar application) can read this type of file.

1. To share your calendar using either of these options, you need to click on the arrow next to the calendar you want to share and go into [Share this calendar] again.

2. Next click on [Calendar details].

3. All the way at the bottom of the page, you will see these options.

Send A Link

To send a link for the recipient to view the calendar as a web page, click on HTML. If you aren’t publically sharing your calendar and just want people you choose to view it, click on the HTML tab in the private address row. You will be given an address. Copy and paste this into an email.

As you can see, this link can also be used to embed this calendar into a website.

RSS Reader

If they want to view your calendar via an RSS feed reader, click the [XML] tab. In the pop-up window, you will see a link for them to subscribe to in the feed reader of choice. For them to be able to use the feed reader option, you must turn on public access. Doing this will make your calendar searchable on the Google.

Send A File

If the recipient prefers to use a desktop client, you can send them a file they can import directly to an app such as Mail or Outlook. To do this, click in the ical button. This will display a link. You can email them the link so they can download and import the calendar file to the desktop client.

With this method, the changes you make to your calendar will NOT be updated for them.

How have you been managing multiple calendars?

image credit keso