Google Calendar - The Productive Engineer

Google Calendar is the most popular calendaring service in the market today. It is a very powerful calendaring application and it can be very easy to get lost in all the features and functionality. The purpose of this guide is to teach you everything you need to know to master Google Calendar and help you use it to maximize your productivity. So, let’s start our tutorial with a very basic question: What is Google Calendar? Google Calendar Google Calendar is a free service that allows you to organize your schedule and share it with other people and applications. In addition to sharing calendars with others and switching between current and previous displays, it offers many useful features. As long as you're signed in to your Google account, you'll be able to access your Google calendar on any computer or mobile device. How Do I Use Google Calendar? To access Google Calendar from your computer, go to https://calendar.google.com. To use Google Calendar, you must be logged in to your Google account. Creating a Google account is easy if you don't already have one. Go to calendar.google.com for Google Calendar. Accessing the Google Apps menu in Google You can find the calendar icon on any Google page if you click the menu button at the top-right corner as shown in the screenshot above. Is there a Mobile App for Google Calendar? Google Calendar apps are also available for a wide range of mobile devices. PlatformLink AndroidGoogle Calendar on Google Play StoreiOSGoogle Calendar on Apple App StoreWebGoogle Calendar on WebLinks to Google Calendar How to Create a New Calendar in Google Calendar? Creating a new calendar in Google Calendar is very straightforward. Click the Plus (+) button to open the calendar dialog menu Go to Google Calendar. In the left panel, you should see a heading marked "Other calendars" with a plus (+) button to the right. Click the plus (+) button. Select "Create new calendar" from the menu to create a new Google Calendar The calendar options menu show appear as shown above. Select "Create new calendar" from the available options. Fill in the new Calendar name and description and click the "Create Calendar" button Next, fill in the name and description of your new calendar as shown in the screenshot above. Click "Create calendar" to finish creating your calendar. New Google Calendar Your new calendar will now appear under "My calendars" in Google Calendar. How To Create An Event In Google Calendar Google Calendar makes it very easy to get started creating an event. To create an event in Google Calendar, do the following: Click the "Create" button to start creating an event in Google Calendar Open Google Calendar to the calendar you want to add the event to and click the "Create" button. Configuring an Event in Google Calendar The configure event window will appear as shown in the screenshot above. Type in a title for your event in the text box marked "Add Title". Next, set a date for your task as indicated in the screenshot above. Optionally, you can configure: adding guests, adding a Google Meet conference, add location, and add description or attachments. Once you have the event configured the way you want, click the "Save" button to save your event to your Google Calendar. an event on a Google Calendar Your event will now appear on your Google Calendar. Alternately, an event can be created by clicking a blank space in the Calendar. You will be prompted to fill out a small box with basic information about the event. After saving, click More Options if you want to provide more information. There is only one piece of information that needs to be entered: the title and time of the event. However, providing more information can also be beneficial to those looking at the event. Notifications can be added to the event so that you're notified before the event begins. You may receive automated emails or browser notifications as reminders. Looking to automate your productivity workflow? You should check out my Guide to the Elgato Stream Deck. Stream Deck allows you to set up actions that can be enabled by a simple push of a button. How to Send an Invite in Google Calendar Suppose you have created an event and now you want to send invites to different people for that event. Google Calendar allows you to do this in just a few simple steps. a calendar event in Google Calendar Open the event you want to share in Google Calendar "Edit event" option in Google Calendar event Click on the "Edit event" button as shown in the screenshot above Adding guests to a Google Calendar event Under "Guests", type in the email address of the person(s) you want to invite to your Google Calendar event Configure guest permissions in Google Calendar Next, set the guest permissions in the "Guest permissions" section and click the "Save" button as shown in the screenshot above Confirming you want to send invitation to guest for Google Calendar event Finally, click the "Send" button when asked whether you would like to send the invitation email to your Google Calendar event as shown in screenshot above. You can also make a guest optional by selecting their icon People. Hover over the guest's name if you don't see the icon. You can save your event once you have finished editing it. Your guests will receive an email invitation when you save your event. How to Set a Reminder in Google Calendar It is pretty easy to set a reminder for an event in the Google Calendar. Enclosed below are the steps required to create a reminder for an event in Google Calendar: Reminders option in Google Calendar Under "My calendars", make sure that "Reminders" is checked as shown in the screenshot above Click the "Create" button Click the "Create" button as shown above Configuring a reminder in Google Calendar Next, Click on the "Reminder" tab as shown in the screenshot above Configuring the time a reminder will trigger in Google Calendar Set the time you want the reminder to trigger and click the "Save" button A reminder in Google Calendar Your reminder is now set in Google Calendar. How to Create a Recurring Task in Google Calendar To create a recurring task in Google Calendar, do the following: Click the "Edit event" button to edit Google Calendar event Open your event in Google Calendar and click the "Edit event" button as shown in the screenshot above the "Does not repeat" drop-down button in Google Calendar Click on the "Does not repeat" drop-down button Select the recurring time in Google Calendar A pop-up menu will appear with some preset recurring time options. Choose one of these or choose "Custom" if you want to set a customized recurring interval for your event Custom recurring schedule screen in Google Calendar If you chose the "custom" option, a new dialog box will appear as shown above. Configure the custom interval and click "Done" Saving recurring schedule for an event in Google Calendar Verify the recurring schedule is accurate as in the screenshot above and click the "Save" button to save your recurring schedule to your event in Google CalendarYour event will now recur based on the recurring schedule you set How to Delete an Event in Google Calendar To delete an event from Google Calendar, do the following: Open Event and Click the trash can icon to delete event in Google Calendar Open your Google Calendar event and click on the trash can icon as shown in the screenshot above Click send to send a cancellation email to guests in Google Calendar If you have guests that were invited to your Google Calendar event, you will be presented with an option to send a cancellation email to them. Click "Send" to send the cancellation email to your guests.Your event should now be deleted from your Google Calendar Whenever you delete a recurring event, you will be asked whether you want to delete all events in the series or a single event. The events can be deleted individually or altogether based on your selection. How to Delete a Google Calendar Sometimes, you want to delete an entire calendar from your Google Calendar. Fortunately, Google makes it very easy to do so. To delete a calendar from Google Calendar, do the following: Click on the ellipsis button to option calendar options in Google Calendar In the left panel under "My calendars", hover over the calendar you want to delete and click on the ellipsis button as shown in the screenshot above. Click "Settings and sharing" to open the calendar settings in Google Calendar Click "Settings and sharing" to open the calendar settings screen Click the "Remove" calendar tab and click "Delete" to delete calendar in Google Calendar Click the "Remove Calendar" tab in the left panel. Then, under "Remove calendar", click the "Delete" button as shown in the screenshot above. Deleting a calendar warning message in Google Calendar A warning dialog box will appear letting you know that you are about to permanently delete the calendar. Click the "Permanently Delete" button to delete the calendar from Google Calendar. Your calendar will now be deleted from Google Calendar. How to Add Attachments in Google Calendar Google Calendar allows you to attach files from your google drive, or you can also upload attachments from your own computer. Enclosed below are the steps to add an attachment to an event in Google Calendar. Open Google Calendar on your computerOpen an existing event or create a new event. You will see an add attachment button at the bottom of the description box. Either choose a file that is already present on your google drive, or you can upload a file from your computer. Open Google Calendar Google Calendar Open up Google Calendar on your computer and log into your account. Open an Existing Event or Create a New Event an event in Google Calendar Determine whether you want to add an attachment to an existing event or a new event and open that event. Click on the Add Attachment Button Add Attachment button in Google Calendar Click on the "Add attachment" button as shown in the screenshot above. Select the Upload Option Add attachment options in Google Calendar Select the upload option you want from the tabs as shown in the screenshot above. There are four options: RecentMy Drive (your Google Drive account)Shared with meUpload For this tutorial, I will choose the "Upload" option. Select a file to attach to event in Google Calendar Click the "Upload" button Uploading a file to an event in Google Calendar Click the "Upload" button as shown above to upload the file to your event in Google Calendar. a file attached to an event in Google Calendar Your file should now be attached to your event as shown in the screenshot above. What does busy and free mean on Google Calendar? When you create an event on Google Calendar, then by default, it sets your availability to busy. It means that Google Calendar is showing others that you are busy with the event times. Setting your availability in an event in Google Calendar If you don't want to be shown as busy, then you can edit the event and select free as shown in the screenshot above. If you share the Calendar with others, you will be shown as available to them. How to Share Your Google Calendar If you want to share your Google Calendar with others, then you need to know that you can only share your calendar via the web client. To share your Google Calendar with others, do the following: Open Google Calendar in your browser. Hover over the calendar under "My Calendars" and click the vertical ellipsisSelect "Settings and sharing"Click the "Add people" button under "Share with specific people.". Email addresses of people or Google groups can be added. You can adjust the permission settings by clicking the dropdown menu. For the recipient to add the Calendar to their list, they must click the emailed link. Open Google Calendar Google Calendar view Open up Google Calendar in your browser. Hover over the Calendar You Want to Share Options ellipsis button for a specific calendar in Google Calendar In the "My Calendars" section, hover over the calendar you want to share. Click the vertical ellipsis as shown in the screenshot above. Select "Settings and sharing" the Settings and sharing option for a specific calendar in Google Calendar Choose the "Settings and sharing" option as shown in the screenshot above to bring up the sharing options for this calendar. Click the "Add People" button Click "Add People" button to add a user to the calendar Scroll down to the "Share with specific people" section. Click the "Add people" button. Add the email address or select from the available people and click Send Type in the name or email address of the person you want to add to the calendar. Click Send to send them an invite to the calendar. The people you add to the calendar will receive an invite to your calendar. They must click the link in the email to be able to view the calendar. Can I have Google Calendar on my desktop? If you want to use Google Calendar, all you need to have is a Gmail account. There is no desktop client for Google Calendar. If you want to use Google Calendar on your computer, you must use the web version or use a third-party client that is integrated to Google Calendar like Fantastical. Do you need a Google account to use Google Calendar As the name suggests, Google Calendar is a product of Google, so you will need a Google account if you want to use this service. So, the answer is yes. Although it is a free application, the only way to access Google Calendar is through a Google account. Can you send a Google Calendar to invite to non-Gmail users? The answer is yes. You can easily send Google Calendar invites to non-Gmail users. All you need to do is, enter their email address in the invites section when you create an event, and they will receive an email notification regardless of which email provider they are using. You can send Google Calendar invites to anyone with a valid email address. How do I know if my Calendar is public? It is possible that you will not see these settings if you are not sharing your Calendar. But if you are sharing your Calendar with others, then you can easily know if your Calendar is public or not. Make available to public setting for a calendar in Google Calendar In the settings menu under "Access permissions for events", check to see if the "Make available to public" option is checked as shown in the screenshot above. If it is checked then all the events in the calendar are public. How do I make Google Calendar private? Setting a calendar to private in Google Calendar Making a calendar is as simple as making it public. Just repeat the same steps that we discussed earlier for making our Calendar public. The only difference here is, you need to ensure that the "Make available to public" checkbox is unchecked as shown in the screenshot above. What is the difference between private and only me on Google Calendar? If your event is set to private, it means that it is not visible to the general public. Only those people that you invite will be able to see the event. Other than that, no one will be able to access or view your private event. If you select the "only me" option, no one else will see this event, and it won't even show as busy. How to change the color of my Google Calendar? Changing the color of a calendar in Google Calendar Navigate to Google Calendar once you are logged into your Google account. Click the "Options" icon (3 stacked dots) to open the options for each Calendar on the left side of the screen. Using the color palette, choose the desired color. A new color is chosen for the Calendar. Does Google Calendar Support Dark Mode? While the Google Calendar apps for iOS and Android support dark mode, at the time of writing, the web version does not support dark mode. How to Copy Events in Google Calendar A Google account allows you to manage multiple calendars at once. Google Calendar events can be copied from one Calendar to another, and you can even merge them all into one schedule. Creating a copy of a Google Calendar that contains all the events requires you to export the Calendar first. To copy events from one Google Calendar to another, do the following: You need to be logged in to your Google account to use Google Calendar. Choose Settings and sharing from the dropdown menu under My Calendars on the left side of the page. You can download a ZIP file of the Calendar by selecting the Export calendar button.Now extract the zip file and copy the ICS file to somewhere on your computer. Open to google calendar and choose the Calendar to which you want to copy those events. Go to settings, and select the import option. Select the ICS file from your computer, and you will see that all the events are copied to the new Calendar. How to restore deleted events in Google Calendar? When you delete an event, it stays in the trash folder for 30 days. So, if you accidentally deleted an event or you want to restore an event that you deleted a few days ago, then you can do restore it. Trash option in Google Calendar Click on the "settings" option from the top right corner and select "Trash" from the menu as shown in the screenshot above. events in trash in Google Calendar Here you will see all the deleted events. If you want to restore an event, then click on the "restore" icon in front of an event as shown in the screenshot above, and it will be restored. Check Out Our YouTube Channel! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NiJEQCAFMc How to Use the Outline Tool in Google Docs