Technology has revolutionized every aspect of our lives, including the way we handle our commitments. If up to a few years ago pocket calendars and gadgets were the main method of annotating an event or event, today things have changed dramatically and, in fact, an increasing number of users write their commitments in the electronic agendas offered by the giants of the Web: Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc. These virtual agendas not only allow you to record your commitments directly from your smartphone, tablet, or PC, but even allow you to sync your events on all your devices and share them with other users.
Since you’re already here, what do you know if I’m telling you how Google Calendar works ? As you probably already know, this is an integrated service in the Google ecosystem, which can be used to handle your commitments in an easy, fast and intuitive way. It’s completely free, the only requirement that you need to use is a Google Account, so if you do not have this account yet, just follow the steps in my guide on how to create a Google Account .
So, are you ready to start? Perfect, then get handsome comfortable and focus on reading this tutorial. As you can see at the end of this reading, using Google Calendar is easy and, thanks to this service, managing your commitments will be much easier and, why not, a bit more fun.
The first step you need to learn how to make the best use of Google Calendar is to create an event . To do this, sign in to your Google Account by clicking here , then click on the (+) symbol and, in the menu that appears on the screen, enter the description of your commitment in the Add Title (eg Lunch with Luca or Visit by the doctor ). Then select the day that the event you are creating, the time , its duration , etc. using the buttons that are displayed on the screen (just under the “Add Title” field).
If you want to enrich the event by entering additional details, use the commands under the Event Details entry : click on the Add Location field to enter the place where you will be required to participate in the event; add a notification to the event by clicking the commands located next to the bell symbol ; add an attachment by clicking on the staple symbol and / or add a description using the editor that is displayed on the screen.
In the Invited section , instead, enter the name or e -mail address of the users you want to invite to the event: this will all receive a message containing the invitation. If the invitation is accepted, you will receive a notification via e-mail. When you’ve finished setting up all these parameters, click the Save button to save the event you just created in Google Calendar.
The procedure I’ve just described can be performed on both a PC and a mobile device using the Google Calendar app for Android and iOS . By following the procedure from mobile, however, you need to make a step further to create an event: press the symbol (+) , then press the Event entry in the menu that appears and finally create the event by filling out the fields displayed on the screen.
Share the calendar with other users
Google Calendar lets you easily share your calendars with members of your family, friends, colleagues, and any other user of the service. At this time, however, this operation can only be performed by a PC.
To share a calendar with other users, first open Google Calendar by logging in with your Google Account credentials and locate the My calendars section on the left (if you do not see your calendars, click the arrow symbol to expand the menu). Next, click the symbol (…) next to the name of the calendar you want to share and, in the menu that opens, click the Settings and Sharing item .
On the page that opens, locate the Share with specific people section (located a little further below), click the Add People button, and, in the box that appears, enter the email or the person’s name want to share the calendar. Then click on the Send item to invite a user to accept your calendar sharing invitation.
Once you have shared a calendar with a user, click the arrow symbol that is located at your name and select one of the available sharing settings: See only available / busy (hide details) to allow the user to view only some shared calendar information; See all the details of the event so you can see all the information about the calendar; Make changes to events to allow the user to modify events or Make changes and manage share options, to allow the user to change the events and allow him to manage the available sharing options.
Synchronize Google Calendar with your devices
Would you like to sync Google Calendar with your devices, but do not know how to proceed? Nothing is easier. Download on your Android or iOS device the official Google Calendar app and then sign in with your Google Account credentials .
- Click here to download Google Calendar on Android .
- Click here to download Google Calendar on iOS (iPhone, iPad or iPod touch).
After downloading Google Calendar on your device, open the app, scroll through the information pages that appear when you start it, and tap the OK button . Then sign in by entering your credentials in the appropriate fields and clicking on the Sign In button (if you’ve already downloaded some Google apps to your device and signed in with your credentials, the app may automatically access you) .
When you log in, all the events on your Google Account will automatically sync to your Android or iOS device. Is not it fantastic?
If you have an iPhone or iPad available, and you want to see Google Calendar events in the ” Standard ” installed calendar application on all “clamshell” devices, go to the iOS Settings (the gray-shaped app on the Home screen), tap on Accounts and Passwords> Add Account> Google and enter your Google credentials in the fields that are displayed on the screen.
Once you have logged into your Google account, move on ON the switch lever located next to the entry Calendars (it should already be moved to “ON” by default) and you tap on the item Save , which is situated at the top right .
Then open the Calendar app , tap the Calendars entry , and, as you can see, in the application, all the events in Google Calendar have been added and synced.
Export and import events in Google Calendar
Do you want to import the events you’ve saved in your calendar on Google Calendar? Well, in that case, you must first export events from the calendar (eg Apple Calendar or Outlook Calendar) and then import them to Google Calendar. Now I’m telling you how to do it.
First, open the calendar application in which you saved your events and look for the option to export files from the calendar app that you are using (eg if you use the MacOS Calendar app that you’re going to File> Export> Export … ). Files should be automatically saved in CSV format (if you remember I mentioned CSV files in a tutorial) in the path you choose.
Once you save the CSV file containing the events you want to import to Google Calendar, you can go to the next step and then actually import your events. Then, go to Google Calendar from your PC (currently you can not import events from mobile), click the gear icon located at the top right, and in the menu that appears on the screen, click Settings .
On the next screen, click the Import and Export item that is located on the left and, in the submenu that appears, click Import . Then click the Select File From Computer button , choose the CSV file you’ve just exported and saved to your computer, select the calendar to import events by clicking the Add to Calendar menu , and then click Import item located at the bottom right of the “Import” pane.
As with “magic,” the files you imported will be displayed in Google Calendar and, specifically, in the calendar you selected during the import phase. Nothing is easier.
If you use Microsoft Outlook (the PIM included in the Office suite), you can synchronize Google Calendar events with your PC by following the directions in my tutorial on how to sync Google Calendar with Outlook .
If you’re in trouble or have any doubts, do not hesitate to visit the Google Calendar Help page that the Mountain View giant has set up on your web site: there you’ll find a lot of controversial information about which you can resolve any issues or doubts.
The Google Calendar Help Center is divided into 7 sections, each of which addresses a specific topic: how to use the Google Calendar app to solve any problems in synchronizing calendars or importing or exporting them.
If your Google Support page does not even resolve your doubts, contact Google through one of the many available support channels. In that regard, you should read the tutorial where I explain you in detail how to contact Google . I’m sure you will find this reading very useful as well.