How to Synchronize Outlook With Google Calendar

Many people use Outlook as an integrated email, calendaring, and tasks application, and Google Calendar for its simplicity and ease of sharing calendar items. This creates difficulties for those who would like to keep the two calendars in sync. While Google does not provide integrated synchronization capabilities, it does allow the importing of Outlook calendars. Beyond that, synchronization is largely a manual affair.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Outlook 2000 or later
• Active Google Calendar

1. Export your calendar from Outlook. Start Outlook, then select "File," "Import and Export," and then "Export to a file." Select "Next." From the list of file types, select "Comma Separated Values (Windows)." Click "Next." From the list of folders, highlight which calendar is to be exported, then hit "Next." Give the file a name and save location, then select "Next." Make sure "Export Appointments from folder: Calendar" is checked. Click "Finish." In the "Set Date Range" dialog, select at most a year's worth of items. For multiple years, repeat the process and give each file a different name. Your calendar items will be exported into one or more .csv files.

2. Check your Google calendar. Make sure that it is active and that you can access its settings. If you have more than one calendar, check the box next to the calendar you wish to import into.

3. Import the calendar items into Google Calendar. Select the arrow next to "Add," then choose "Import Calendar." In Step 1: Select File, click on the "Browse" button and choose the .csv file that you created. In Step 2: Choose "Calendar," and make sure that the correct calendar is selected. In Step 3: Complete Import, click on the "Import" button. Repeat for each .csv file that you created.

4. Keep the calendars in sync. Each time you create a calendar item in Outlook or Google Calendar, create a similar entry in the other calendar.

Resources

• Google website