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How to Sync Outlook and iCal With Google Calendar

by Thomas Houston on November 30, 2010 at 05:20 PM

google calendar
You've got your calendars organized and spread across multiple devices, but you've still got a few stragglers. The Web-based version of Google Calendar is fine, but it lacks some of the niceties of desktop apps. Today, we'll show you how to sync your Google Calendars with iCal and Outlook. Back in the early '00s, getting your schedule synced across multiple devices was a headache of clunky shareware apps and hacks, and adding a phone to the mix was usually out of the question. Now, Google Calendar can sync your schedule with everything from an iPad or a MacBook to your old work PC.

Outlook

Google Calendar Sync
For Outlook, you'll need to download Google Calendar Sync, install the app, and follow the prompts for your Google log-in information. You'll then be presented with multiple sync options. Of course, you can simply subscribe to a Google Calendar, but you'll be forced to head to the Web interface to make any changes. Two-way sync ensures that any change you make in Outlook will be pushed to Google Calendar, and vice versa. In Google Calendar, click the arrow sitting alongside the calendar you want to sync with Outlook. Select calendar settings, and scroll down until you see the Private Address heading. Click the one that says ICAL, and copy the link in the window that pops up.

In Outlook, navigate to Tools > Account Settings. Under the Internet Calendars tab, create a new calendar and paste in the ICAL address you copied earlier; to name the calendar, just add it to the 'Folder Name' field. If you've got multiple Google Calendars to pull into Outlook, you'll need to repeat the process for each one.

iCal

Fortunately, iCal syncing for Mac users has become significantly easier since Google Calendar launched back in 2006. These days, you can use CalDAV for two-way calendar sync, meaning that any update you make in iCal syncs to Google, and vice versa.

Load iCal (while making sure you're using version 3.0 or later), head to Preferences > Accounts, and create a new account by clicking the + button. Enter your Google log-in and password, and then type the following URL into the Server Options field:
https://www.google.com/calendar/dav/YOUREMAIL@DOMAIN.COM/user
(Don't touch 'user' at the end of the address, but do change YOUREMAIL@DOMAIN.COM to your own e-mail address.)

Click 'Add,' and, under the Delegation tab, select the calendars you want in iCal. (Hit 'Refresh' if you're not seeing anything.) Make sure you add your e-mail address under the 'Add Email' section. This will let you invite guests to events from within the app, and you should be good to go. The system is set to sync every five minutes, and you can change that frequency in Preferences.

Now, if you're running iCal on your home computer and Outlook at work, you'll be able to easily keep everything synced across multiple computers. Tomorrow, we'll show you how to sync all of this with your mobile devices.

Tags: calendar, calendars, google calendar, google calendar sync, GoogleCalendar, GoogleCalendarSync, ical, microsoft outlook, MicrosoftOutlook, outlook, productivity, tips, top

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