These Google Calendar tips and tricks will smarten up your daily itinerary from custom views to hidden settings.Google Calendar sits at the center of so many other Google productivity apps, from Google Keep and Google Tasks to Gmail and Google Meet. They all integrate into your Calendar, and keeping it up-to-date and organized is the key to staying on top of your work schedule.
While it's easy to use without much guidance, Google Calendar has plenty of hidden depths that make it much more effective — that's why it tops our list of the best calendar apps for Android. Whether you prefer the mobile app or the browser-based version, we have plenty of Google Calendar tips and tricks that apply to either or both. From keyboard shortcuts to add-ons and integrations, here are our favorite obscure tools to master Google Calendar.
Tip 1: The basics of creating a Calendar eventLet's start with a simple step-by-step on creating a Google Calendar event and what mistakes to avoid, either in-app or in Chrome. Calendar veterans can probably skip this section, but there's nothing wrong with brushing up on the essentials.
Click or tap the multicolored + sign to create an event. In Chrome, another option is to click any time slot to create a default 1-hour event starting at that time or tap directly below the date (right above 12 a.m.) to start an all-day event. With the app, you can do the same by tapping a particular time slot.You'll see many customization options for your event — more if you swipe up in-app or click More options next to the Save button. For example, you can set the event to repeat at intervals; determine how many notifications arrive before the event in either alert or email form; decide whether the event means you're busy or can still be contacted; or (most importantly) change which calendar to which this event will be added.Most importantly, you'll add your Gmail contacts to the event. In Chrome, inviting someone will make "busy" periods from Gmail appear on your calendar, so you know if there's a time conflict; in Android/ iOS, you'll have to tap View Schedules to double-check. Once you've settled on a time, you can schedule a Google Meet meeting in Google Calendar or add a physical meeting room as the location.
Google recently added the option to let you RSVP either remotely or in-person, so when people accept the invites, you'll see how many plan to actually turn up or log in from home.
Once you've added someone, tap the person icon next to their name to make the invite optional. You can modify guests' permissions, deciding if they can modify the event time, invite others, or see the guest list. Calendar enables options 2 and 3 by default.
Tip 2: Best settings updatesGoogle Calendar has some pretty robust Settings for both the app and browser versions that could make your experience with it much better than before. There are also many obscure tools that won't matter to most people, so we've cut through the clutter to point out the Google Calendar settings you'll get real use out of.
(Note: to find your Settings, click the Gear icon on your computer or the Sandwich icon > Settings on mobile. Some of the Settings below are only available in browser settings or app settings).
Change the default event duration from 60 minutes to as little as 15 or as high as 120. You can set different durations for different Gmail accounts; I personally use 30 minutes as my work email default and 120 for personal.View options: Instead of the default day/week/month view, you can customize the default number of visible days; set Custom View to as little as 2 days or as high as 4 weeks. I also like to reduce the brightness of past events so I can see at a glance in Week View which events I still must attend. And I set my Week View to start on Monday instead of Sunday. Those are the kinds of customizations you can make.Enable working hours: Set some work-life boundaries and "warn people if they try to invite you to a meeting" outside of when you're officially on the clock. You can set specific work hours for each day of the week.Change your "Snooze" settings: you can now snooze Google Calendar notifications from the Chrome browser, so they'll reappear closer to the actual event. That linked guide takes you through the steps to enable Calendar notifications; assuming yours are already enabled, go to Settings > Notification Settings > Show Snoozed Notifications, and you can make them appear anywhere from 0 to 5 minutes before the event starts.(mobile only) Your Theme will match your phone's global Theme of Light or Dark, but you can permanently make it one or the other regardless of global settings.Tip 3: Subscribe to a new calendarMaybe you want to add your calendar from another Gmail account, or you and your partner want to share calendars to know when you have conflicting Meet events. Or maybe you just want to add the start times for your favorite sports team! Regardless, it's pretty easy to add someone else's calendar to yours.
On Android, you only can accept a Google calendar invite shared with you. Tap the Add this calendar link in your email; it'll take you to the app, where you can select Yes to add it to your list of calendars. Then you can find that calendar by tapping the Sandwich menu and scrolling down to it; you can uncheck it if you no As for proactively requesting someone's calendar, open Google Calendar on your computer and go to the Settings. On the left-hand menu, open the Add calendar menu and choose Subscribe to calendar. Insert the relevant person's email; you'll see a message "You don't have access to X@gmail.com's calendar." Add an optional message, then click Request access. That person will then have to approve your request through Gmail.If you want to add a sports team's schedule or holidays from a different country than your current home, select Add calendar > Browse calendars of interest; you'll find a variety of pro and amateur teams, plus holidays related to specific countries or religions. And again, if your calendar gets crowded with sporting events, you can always uncheck them, so they aren't visible while still receiving reminder notifications for them.
Otherwise, your work organization may have a unique URL for its calendars. Copy that URL, go to Add calendar > From URL, and paste it there.
