15 Google Calendar Tips to Make Full Use of

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Apply hotkeys, add meeting places and hide private events.

1. Create separate calendars for different needs

By default, Google only provides you with one calendar, which stores all your events. If you actively use it, work tasks and meetings, household chores and personal events will mix and turn into a real dump.

Therefore, it is better to create several calendars for different types of events. To do this, click on the gear icon at the top and go to the settings. There, select the option "Add Calendar" → "Create Calendar". Provide a title and, if applicable, a description. That way, you can keep work to do in one calendar, your workout schedule in another, birthdays in a third, and so on.

2. Subscribe to colleagues' calendars

Sometimes we need to keep track of what our friends or colleagues are doing. If they use Google Calendar, you can add their calendars to yourself and keep track of what events appear there.

In the sidebar on the left, look for the line that says Search People. Enter your friend's name or email address there. In the pop-up window that appears, click "Request Access" and the person will receive a message asking them to allow them to view their calendar. When he confirms your access, the events he created will be displayed in your "Other calendars" section.

3. Choose a time for the meeting that suits everyone

Do you need to organize a meeting with colleagues or get-togethers with friends, but can't find a time when everyone will be free? Instead of sending out invitations, use the "Find the time" feature.

Create a new event and click on the "More options" button. On the page that opens, select the "Find the time" tab. In the Add Guests box on the right, enter the names of the people you want to invite - Google allows you to add up to 20 people. Their events will appear in front of you. If someone has something planned, they will be marked as "Busy". It remains only to find a time for the meeting when everyone is free.

4. Hide private events

Let's say you need to hold a confidential meeting. And you don't want the whole office to see where you are going. To do this, you need to mark the meeting as "Private". Then only those who you allowed to edit (and not only view) your calendar will see information about it.

Create an event and go to "More options". Click on the "Default Privacy Settings" button and select the "Private" option. That's it, now outsiders will not see where, with whom and at what time you are meeting. If your calendar is open to others, during a private event, it will simply appear as "Busy" without details.

5. Add video meetings

Instead of broadcasting your Skype or Google Hangouts login to all your colleagues, you can insert the video conference link directly into your calendar event. To do this, when creating an event in the "Other parameters" click on the "Add video conference" button. When the time for the meeting comes, the invitees will be asked to call in Google Hangouts.

6. Attach attachments

Often, at meetings or conferences, you need access to some document, for the study of which everyone has gathered. Google Calendar allows you to attach files and documents directly to the event. This way, all invited participants will have easy and quick access to them.

Select the desired event and click on the button with the pencil icon to edit it. In the "Description" item, click on the paperclip icon and upload all the necessary files. They can be taken from your computer or added from the Google Drive cloud.

7. Turn on the world clock

The World Clock feature in Google Calendar is very useful if you are working with remote workers scattered around the world. With its help, you can easily find out what time they have, right from the interface.

Open "Settings" by clicking on the appropriate item in the menu with a gear on top. Find "World Clock" on the side. Turn on the Show world clock option, and then add the cities where your colleagues live. And their local time will be displayed in the sidebar.

8. Notify invitees by email

Sometimes you need to inform those invited to a meeting that they should do something - for example, bring their laptops with them or read some materials in advance. You can, in principle, write about this in the comments to the event, but it is more reliable to attract people's attention by e-mail.

To do this, open the upcoming event and click on the envelope icon. And you will be prompted to write a message that will be sent to all invited participants.

9. Add specific meeting points

The advantage of the events planned in the "Google Calendar" is that you can attach links to "Google Maps" to them. So you don't have to call or write to the meeting participants and explain to them for a long time and tediously how to get there and there.

Go to meeting options and find the "Where" field. Enter the address there and Google will find it. Now, when the invitee opens the event, he can click on the address and see the meeting place on the map.

10. Add interesting calendars

Google allows you to subscribe to so-called interesting calendars. In them you can see, for example, the schedule of holidays in your area, events from the world of sports or the phases of the moon.

Find the "Other Calendars" section in the left pane and click on the "+" sign. In the menu that opens, select Interesting Calendars. Check the boxes you want to subscribe to and they will appear in your schedule.

11. Share your calendars

If necessary, you can make it so that other users can view (or even edit) your calendars. This is useful if you are managing a team of colleagues and want them to be aware of all upcoming events. Or you are a student and have created a lecture schedule for classmates.

Hover over the desired calendar in the left pane and click on the ellipsis. Select Settings & Sharing. In the menu that opens, in the "Access Permissions" section, you can make the calendar public (for all Internet users), add individual acquaintances (for this you need their email address), or copy the link to the calendar, which should then be sent in any convenient way.

12. Use hotkeys

Using the keyboard can be faster and more efficient than moving the mouse cursor. Google Calendar has a fair amount of hotkeys, a complete list of which can be found. Here are some of the most useful ones:

• c - create a new event.
• Backspace or Delete - delete event.
• / - go to the search bar.
• Numbers from 1 to 6 - switch the calendar view: day, week, month, year, agenda.
• t - go to today.
• k or p - scroll the calendar to the previous date range. That is, if you have a calendar in month view, it will scroll to the previous month. If in day mode - on the previous day and so on.
• j or - scroll the calendar to the next date range.

13. Drag and drop events

If you created an event, but missed the day or time of day, it is not necessary to go into the event settings and enter the numbers manually. Grab the event and drag it to the desired day or time - it will be faster this way.

14. Use Google Tasks

Google Tasks is a simple to-do manager integrated right into Google Calendar. To open them, click on the blue icon in the panel on the right and you will see a list of your tasks. There are not as many features as some Wunderlist, but Google Tasks are always in front of your eyes.

You can add new cases, edit them, assign them a due date and repeat frequency either through the panel in the web interface or through Google.

15. Undo unnecessary actions

Finally, a little trick. Let's say you created an event, diligently provided it with a description, attached a bunch of files to it, coordinated it with all your colleagues, and then unintentionally deleted it.

Calm! You don't have to recreate it. Just press the key combination Ctrl + Z, and the deleted event will be restored. This way you can undo any inadvertent calendar activity. This is a bit obscure because the interface doesn't have an “Undo” button, but it's very useful.