Connecting to the Gmail Calendar With Outlook on a Mac

By Andy Walton

Outlook for Mac can also sync with your mail and contacts accounts.
i Siri Stafford/Lifesize/Getty Images

Microsoft's Outlook for Mac program does not allow you to sync your calendar to Google directly. However, it does allow you to sync with certain other calendar applications, such as Mac OSX's built-in iCal program. This creates a workaround if you want to use your Google Calendar through Outlook for Mac because iCal can sync to Google. Configuring iCal to access your Gmail calendar and then syncing Outlook to iCal enables you to give Outlook for Mac direct access to your Google calendar entries.

Step 1

Open iCal and click on the “iCal” toolbar option. Select “Preferences” from the drop-down menu to open the Preferences box.

Step 2

Click on the "Accounts” tab and then click on the “Plus” icon to begin creating a new account.

Step 3

Select “Google” from the “Account Type” menu, and enter your Gmail login details into the Email Address and Password fields. Click “Create” to sync your Gmail account with iCal.

Step 4

Open Outlook for Mac and click on the “Outlook” toolbar option. Select “Preferences” from the drop-down menu to open the Preferences pane.

Step 5

Select “Sync Services” to open the Sync Services window.

Step 6

Check the “Calendar” box in the Account panel, and check the “On My Computer” box in the Select the Accounts to Sync window. Select “On My Computer / Calendar” from the "Outlook Folder to Add New Items To" drop-down menu. This configures Outlook to sync its contents with iCal.

Step 7

Close the Sync Services window, and click “OK” on the following warning box to complete the process and sync your Outlook installation with Gmail.

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