How to Share (And Stop Sharing) a Google Calendar

To share your Google Calendar, navigate to the Google Calendar website, access the calendar settings you want to share, and select the option to whom you want to share it. After choosing the recipients, send the invitation.

Finding a time when everyone’s free can feel nearly impossible these days.

We’re all juggling busy schedules, and let’s be honest—when you promised your friend to meet up “soon,” you’re not exactly sure when that’s gonna be. 🫣

Whether you’re trying to plan a hangout or schedule a work meeting, being able to quickly share when you’re available would make life so much easier.

That’s where Google Calendar comes in. 🗓 It’s a useful tool that lets others see your availability, making it a breeze to lock in a time that works for everyone.

If you’ve been wanting to share your Google Calendar but weren’t sure how, we’ve got a simple guide to walk you through it.

💡Note: You can’t share your Google Calendar directly from the mobile app (whether Android or iPhone) at the moment. But there are still a few easy ways to share it.

Below are the best ways to share your Google Calendar with others:

How to Share Google Calendar

A 2023 report by Owl Labs revealed that 33% of employees have over five meetings weekly, with 10% having more than 11 meetings per week. Coordinating schedules amidst such busy agendas can be challenging.

To share your Google Calendar with others and easily communicate when you’re available and when you’re not, here’s a simple guide to get you started:

1. Open Google Calendar on your web browser.

Sharing Google calendars on your iPhone or Android through the app is not supported. To share calendars, open Google Calendar using a web browser through your laptop, computer, or mobile device to manage calendar sharing.

2. Navigate the settings of the calendar you want to share.

On your Google Calendar page, go to the left navigation and look for the name of the calendar you want to share. Hover over the calendar and tap on the Options represented by the vertical ellipsis (⋮) to the right of the calendar name. Then, click on Settings and sharing.

3. Choose whom you want to share the calendar with.

You are allowed to share your calendar with a specific person or group, everyone in your organization, or the public.

To share with a specific person or group:

1. Scroll down until you find Share with specific people.
2. Tap on Add people and groups. 
3. Then, type in the email address of the people or group you want to share the calendar with.

If you want to use Google Calendar as a bill tracker and share it with your family or roommates, you can do so with Cushion.

This app makes syncing bills into your Google Calendar easier than ever, simplifying the process of sharing and keeping everyone informed about crucial due dates.

By setting up bill reminders with Cushion and sharing them with specific people, you can ensure timely payments and integrate your financial obligations seamlessly.

To share with everyone in your organization: 

1. Keep scrolling down until you come across Access permissions for events.
2. Check the Make available for your organization.
3. Instruct users to subscribe to the calendar or share it with individuals or groups.

To share with the public:

1. Keep scrolling down until you come across Access permissions for events.
2. Check the Make available to public box.

4. Customize permission access.

When you give someone access to your calendar, you can customize what they can see and decide if they’re allowed to modify anything, like creating or updating events.

When you see the permissions box, click the Down arrow and select your preferred permission setting to control access. Here are the settings you can choose from:

Note: Events imported from Gmail with the “Only me” visibility setting remain invisible to individuals you’ve shared your calendar with, regardless of their access level (including Make changes) unless you modify the sharing settings for the specific event or adjust the default setting for Gmail events.

5.  Send your invite.

To send out your invite to your calendar, simply click Send. The recipients will receive an email notification containing an Add to calendar link. They must click this link and then Add calendar to ensure the calendar appears in their list.

How to Share a Google Calendar Event

Your events automatically inherit the same access permissions as your calendar, but you can still customize the visibility settings for each event. Here’s how you can share a Google Calendar event and modify permissions:

1. Open Google Calendar.
2. Locate and open the event you wish to modify.
3. Click on Default visibility and select the desired privacy setting for the event.
4. Press Save to save your changes.

How to Share Google Calendar with Outlook

You can view your Google Calendar alongside other calendars in Outlook by importing a snapshot of it into the Outlook Calendar View. Here’s how to share your Google Calendar with Outlook:

1. In your Google Calendar account, navigate to My Calendars and click on the vertical ellipsis (⋮) to the right of the calendar name.

1. Choose Settings and sharing, then scroll down to Integrate Calendar.
2. When you see the Secret address in iCal format box, click on the Copy To Clipboard.

1. Switch to your Outlook calendar.
2. Under the calendar grid on the left, click Add calendar, then choose Subscribe from web.
3. Lastly, paste the copied URL into the address bar, then select Import.

How to Unshare My Google Calendar

You might want to stop sharing your Google Calendar with someone if you no longer want them to have access to your schedule or events. Follow these steps to do so:

1. Open Google Calendar.
2. Locate the calendar you wish to unshare in the My calendars section on the left. If necessary, click the downward-facing arrow to expand this section.
3. Hover over the calendar you want to unshare, then click Options as represented by the vertical ellipsis (⋮) to the right of the calendar name.
4. Next, select Settings and sharing.
   1. If you want to stop sharing publicly: Navigate to the Access permissions section and toggle off Make available to public.
   2. If you want to stop sharing with your organization: Under Access permissions, toggle off Make available to everyone in my organization.
   3. To stop sharing with specific individuals: Under Share with specific people, click Remove next to the name of the person you wish to remove.

Other Ways to Maximize Google Calendar

Google Calendar has been around since 2006. It remains one of the top-rated productivity tools, boasting a rating of 4.6 out of 5 in both the App Store, with about 114,000 reviews, and the Google Play Store, with about 2.7 million reviews. But more than just facilitating collaboration and appointment scheduling, Google Calendar is a powerful tool that can help you stay on top of your monthly bills, expenses, and payments.

By adding your bills and subscriptions to your calendar, you can ensure that you never miss a payment deadline. Set reminders for payment deadlines and create recurring events for regular bills such as rent, utilities, and car payments. As Google Calendar allows you to customize the visibility settings for each event, you can keep your bills and payments private or share them with trusted family members or roommates who might benefit from seeing them.

To make the process even simpler, you can use Cushion.ai. This app syncs your bills, subscriptions, and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) payments into your Google Calendar and gives you real-time updates. Cushion organizes your finances in one easy-to-view calendar so you can see all your upcoming bills and payments at a glance.

Related article: 10 Effective Google Calendar Tips and Tricks

Summary

Sharing and managing access to your Google Calendar is essential for effective collaboration and organization.

By following the simple steps outlined above, you can share your calendar with colleagues, friends, or family members, and improve your coordination and communication.

Conversely, understanding how to stop sharing your Google calendar ensures privacy and control over your schedule.