Managing multiple calendars across different devices can be a nightmarish task for busy professionals, entrepreneurs, and individuals with a demanding schedule. Google calendar and Outlook calendars are two of the most preferred calendar applications, used globally by several organizations and individuals for professional and personal use. Sometimes two separate schedules are entered for the same date which can create serious problems for the professionals.
Synchronizing these two calendars can streamline scheduling tasks, enhance productivity, and reduce errors. This article will explore the benefits and methods of syncing Google Calendar with Outlook.
Necessary requirements to keep in mind
Users need to ensure these prerequisites are fulfilled before attempting to sync Google calendars with Outlook.
- Users need to have a stable internet connection for successful synchronization.
- Users need to have a pre-existing Google account and a Google Calendar.
- Users must ensure that the URL of their Google Calendar is in iCal format.
Why sync Google Calendars with Outlook?
There are numerous benefits of synchronizing your Google Calendars with Outlook which make it easier for users to manage their tasks. Some of the most common advantages are:
- Unified calendar view: Syncing multiple calendars into one provides a unified and comprehensive overview of the data which reduces the need to switch between platforms.
- Improved scheduling: By syncing your calendars into one, schedule clashes, overlaps, and double bookings can be avoided.
- Easier collaboration: Users can easily share and collaborate with a single calendar with colleagues, friends, and family across different platforms for planning and task management.
- Multi-device compatibility: Calendar of Microsoft Outlook can be accessed on various devices such as desktop, web, mobile, and tablet and can be integrated with other apps of Microsoft 365.
- Enhanced security: Outlook offers the feature of encrypting your calendars and advanced authentication features for an increased layer of security.
Methods to sync Google calendars with Outlook
Syncing Google Calendars to Outlook is a beneficial process for organizations and individuals alike. Additionally, users can sync their Google Calendars with different versions of Outlook. Below we’ve discussed a few methods to successfully migrate Google Calendars with Outlook.
Sync Google Calendars with Outlook via Outlook web
Users can perform this process via Outlook in a few steps. Just make sure you’ve access to the Secret Address in iCal format of your calendar. Let’s walk through the steps to sync your Google Calendars with Outlook:
- Open Google Calendar on your desktop and you’ll see all your saved calendars in the left panel.
- Choose a calendar that you wish to sync and click on the three dots icon that appears on the right side. Select Settings and sharing option.
- In the newly opened window, go to the Integrate Calendar section and copy the Secret Address in iCal format.
Now we’ll learn the steps to sync Google Calendars with Outlook with the help of this link:
- Open Outlook.com on your default browser and click on Add calendar from the left panel.
- In the newly appeared dialogue box, choose Subscribe from web from the sidebar.
- Paste the iCal URL that was generated in the above steps.
- Enter a calendar name, choose a color and a calendar icon.
- Choose a calendar section where you want to add your synced Google Calendar and click on Import.
- Check to see if your Google Calendar is successfully synced with Outlook’s calendar.
Import Google Calendar to Outlook
Importing Google Calendars to Outlook is a great option if you’re thinking of permanently switching email clients from Google to Outlook or if you’re changing your calendars. However, keep in mind that this method only imports the calendar entries from Google Calendars and doesn’t sync it with Outlook. Any changes made afterwards in the Google Calendars won’t show up in the Outlook calendar. Let’s see how to perform this process.
- Open Google Calendar on your default browser and click on the Settings icon.
- Select Settings from the drop-down menu.
- Click on Import & Export from the left-hand panel and click on Export. A .zip file with the entire data of your Google Calendar will be downloaded locally.
- Now, open Outlook.com on your default browser and click on the Calendar on the left-hand panel.
- Click on Add Calendar and choose Upload from file from the sidebar.
- Click on Browse and upload the exported file from Google Calendar to Outlook. Since it was downloaded as a .zip file, you’ll have to unzip this file and choose the specific calendar that you want to export.
- From the drop-down menu, select the calendar you want to import to Outlook and click on Import.
Use an automated tool to avoid any issues after synchronization
After successfully syncing the data of Google Calendar with Outlook’s calendar, Outlook stores all the calendar data locally in its proprietary OST format which allows the users to access their calendar data while offline. However, OST files are highly susceptible to corruption due to several reasons including virus attacks, system crashes etc. To avoid the uncertainty associated with this file format and to keep your data safe, try converting your OST files to PST format.
Outlook users can convert their OST files to PST with a trusted convert OST to PST automated tool such as Recoveryfix for OST to PST software. This tool is a one-stop solution for all issues related to OST files and is a leading choice amongst its category. Convert multiple OST files to PST format irrespective of the size and save them at the location of your choice with the help of this tool.
Read Also: Extract Calendar from an OST file – Quick method
Conclusion
Syncing multiple calendars into one always proves to be beneficial for enhanced productivity and better management of tasks on hand. This blog goes in detail about the requirements to sync Google Calendars with Outlook and a few practical methods to execute this task. However, to avoid any issue after synchronizing Google Calendars with Outlook, users are suggested to convert OST files containing their calendar data to PST format with a trusted OST to PST converter such as Recoveryfix for OST to PST software.