Google - Making use of Google Calendar

Making use of

Google Calendar

Google Calendar

With Google Calendar, you can quickly schedule meetings and events and get reminders about upcoming activities, so you always know whats next. Calendar is designed for teams, so its easy to share your schedule with others and create multiple calendars that you and your team can use together.

1. Create an Event

  i. Create Event

      a.       In Calendar, choose an option:

         Click an empty time slot in the calendar grid.

         Click the Create Button, similar to the image shown below.

b.       Add an event title, date, and time.

c.        (Optional) To create the event on another calendar you have edit access to, at the bottom click your calendar name and select another calendar. 

ii. Add Guests

     a. In the Add guests field, enter the first few letters of a persons name or email address. Matching addresses in your organizations directory appear as you enter text.

2. Click a suggestion to add that person to the event. If no suggestions appear, enter your guests full email address. After you add a guest to your event:

• A video meeting in Google Meet is automatically added to the event.
• The guest's calendar appears next to yours.

4. (Optional) To mark a guests attendance as optional, point to the guest's name and click People 
5. (Optional) To allow guests to modify the event, invite others, or see the guest list, click Guest permissions and check the appropriate boxes.

Tip: If youre not the organizer of the meeting but you have permission to edit the event, you can follow these steps to invite people to a meeting.

Note: If you create an event in Calendar and don't give guests permission to modify the event, they can't change the event's date or time on their own calendar.

iii. Add location or conferencing 

Add a meeting location:

Click Add location and enter your details. Suggestions automatically appear.

Add video conferencing:

When you add a guest to an event:

• A video meeting in Google Meet is automatically added to the event.

• You can install a third-party conferencing add-on and choose it in Calendar by clicking Add conferencing.

iv. Add an event description and attachments

Add an event description

   1. Click the Add description or attachments field.

2. Add details, such as contact information, instructions, or links for your event.
3. (Optional) Format your description by bolding, italicizing, underlining, or adding lists and links.

Add an attachment:

1. Click the Add description or attachments field.
2. Click My Drive or Upload and select your file.
3. Click Select or Upload. Your file will be attached to the event

v. Choose an event color, calendar, and default visibility

a.       Choose an event color - When you're creating an event, you can choose the color that event will show as in your calendars. To choose a different color for your event, click the color palette next to your calendar name and select a different option.

b.       Add your event to a different calendar - For your event to appear on a different calendar, click your calendar name and select a different calendar.

c.       Show as busy/available - Change the visibility settings to Busy or Available so you can show free or busy times on your calendar.

d.       Set your default visibility -If you share your calendar, your events have the same privacy settings as your calendar. You can change what others can see about certain events.

vi. (Optional) Setup notifications

Set up notification defaults

 1. In Calendar, click Settings 

  2. On the left under General, click Event settings

 3. Click Notifications and select an option:

• Off
• Desktop notifications
• Alerts

   4. (Optional) To set up a sound for your incoming notifications, check the Play notification sounds box.

    5. (Optional) To manage your notifications, on the left, click your calendar > General notifications

   6. Next to each option, click the Down arrow and select None or Email.

Set up notifications for specific events

1. When you're creating your event, at the bottom, click More options.

2. Click Add notification.

3. Select a time period for notifications.

4. (Optional) To add another notification, click Add notification and repeat steps 2-3.

vii. Save your event

When you're finished filling in the details, save your event and send your invitations.

1. Click Save.

2. Choose an option:

• Send to notify guests by email
• Dont send to skip notifications at this time
• Dismiss to continue editing the invitation

3. If youre inviting people from outside of your organization, click:

• Invite external guests to notify them.
• Continue editing to notify them later. 

4. (Optional) To open your event on the Edit event page, click More options.

 2. Reply to and update events

RSVP to invitations to let people know whether you're going to an event. Add a note or suggest a different time for an event.

  i. Reply to an invitation

When you get an invitation to an event, it appears on your calendar. If you subscribe to email notifications, you get invitations by email as well. If you're using Gmail, you can respond to the invitation right from the email.

1. In the calendar grid, click the event.
2. At the bottom next to Going?, click Yes, No, or Maybe.

Tip: To respond to the event from Gmail, open the email and next to Going?, click Yes, No, or Maybe.  

Propose a new time or add a note

1. Click the event.
2. In the bottom-right corner, click the Up arrow  ^  and choose an option.

• Add note - Enter your message, optionally change your event response, and click Send.
• Propose a new time - On the left, choose the day and time, optionally add a message, and click Send proposal. 

All guests can propose a new time, except for events with more than 200 guests or all-day events.

Reply to an event from a forwarded invitation:

Guests can forward a meeting link to other people. If someone tries to join who was not invited to the Calendar event, a meeting participant from your organization must accept their request. If you get a forwarded invite by email, you can respond from the email.

1. In Gmail, point to the email and click RSVP. 
2. Click your response.

  ii. Update an existing event

You can invite more guests and change the meeting location.

1. In the calendar grid, click the event > Edit 
2. To invite more guests, change the meeting location, or add attachments, make your changes and click Save.

If the event organizer hasn't given you edit permissions, you can't make changes to the event time or its duration.

   iii. Check guest attendance

If you need to track attendance for your event, you can instantly see whos accepted or declined your invitation, and whos proposed a new meeting time.

1. In the Calendar grid, click the event.
2. Go to the Guests field to see a list of responses from your guests. You might have to click the Down arrow to see the responses.

Respond to a proposed new meeting time request:

1. In the Calendar grid, click the event.
2. In the Guests section, go to the proposal and click Review proposed time.
3. To accept the new proposed time, click Save.
4. (Optional) To notify guests about the new meeting time, click Send.

   iv. Delete an event

If you delete an event, it remains in a calendars trash for approximately 30 days. After 30 days, its permanently deleted, but you can permanently delete it before that if you want.

Delete an event:

1. In your calendar grid, click the event,
2. Click Delete

Permanently remove a deleted event:

1. Click Settings  > Trash.
2. Check the box next to the deleted event and click Delete .
3. (Optional) To permanently remove all events in your trash, at the top right, click Empty trash.

Restore a deleted event

You have approximately 30 days to restore an event that you deleted by mistake.

1. Click Settings > Trash.
2. Check the box next to the deleted event and click Restore .

3. Create Tasks

Keep up with your work by adding tasks in Calendar.

    i. Create Tasks

Only you can see tasks in your Google Calendar. They don't appear to other users with access to your calendar.

1. Open Google Calendar.

   2. On the left, under My calendars, select Tasks.

   3. Choose an option:

•   In your calendar, click an empty slot on your calendar.

•   In the top left, click Create.

   4. Click Task

   5. Enter a title and description

   6. To add the new task to a specific list, choose one from the drop down

   7. Click Save

   ii. View Tasks

Tasks must have a date to appear in Google Calendar. To turn on Tasks: 

1. Open Google Calendar.
2. In the left panel, go to My calendars. To find My calendars,  you may have to click Menu 
3. Make sure the "Tasks" box is checked.
4. Any tasks with dates will appear on your calendar.

Tip: You can also find uncompleted tasks in Google Calendar. A list of all Pending tasks from the last 30 days can be found in the current day.

Tasks from other Google products

Tasks you create in the Tasks app are on the right sidebar in:

• Calendar
• Docs
• Drive
• Gmail
• Sheets
• Slides

 Hide tasks

1. Open Google Calendar.
2. In the left panel, under My calendars, uncheck the box next to Tasks.

   iii. Edit Tasks

1. Open Google Calendar.
2. Click the task to edit 
   
3. Update any task details.
4. Click Save.

Important: To view tasks on Google Calendar, click Menu . Then under My calendars, select Tasks.

   iv. Mark tasks complete

1. Open Google Calendar.
2. Click the task to update.
3. On the bottom right, click Mark Completed.

A completed task stays on your calendar but is crossed out.

  v. Delete Tasks

1. Open Google Calendar.
2. Click the task to update > Delete

  vi. Find and edit pending tasks

To check all uncompleted tasks from the last 30 days:

1. Open Google Calendar.
2. While viewing a day's schedule, tap Pending tasks.
3. In the pop-up list, choose how to update preferred tasks:

• To edit a task, hover to the right of the task. Click Edit, make your changes, and click Save.
• To delete a task, hover to the right of the task. Click Edit >  Delete 
• To complete a task, hover to the far right of the task. Click Mark Completed.

Tip: You can deactivate the list of pending tasks when you hide your tasks from Google Calendar. 

4. Create Reminders

Keep track of your deadlines by adding reminders in Calendar. 

  i. Create Reminders

Only you can see reminders in your Google Calendar. They don't appear to other users with access to your calendar.

1. In your Calendar grid, click a time slot and click Reminder.
2. Add a title and choose a date and time.
3. (Optional) To select the frequency of your reminder, click Does not repeat and select an option.
4. (Optional) If you want your reminder to last all day, check the All day box.
5. Click Save.

  ii. View Reminders

1. Go to Calendar.
2. At the bottom left, under My calendars, make sure the Reminders box is checked.

Hide reminders

1. On the left, go to My calendars.
2. Uncheck the Reminders box.

iii. Edit Reminders

1. Choose an option:

• If you have a single reminder in a time slot, click the reminder and then click Edit 
• If you have multiple reminders in the same time slot, click the reminder block, point to the reminder, and click Edit  

   2 .Update the details and click Save.

iv. Mark Reminders done

Choose an option:

• If you have one single reminder in a time slot, click the reminder and then click Mark as done.
• If you have multiple reminders in the same time slot, click the reminder block, point to the reminder, and click Mark as done  

v. Delete Reminders 

1. If you have a single reminder in a time slot, click the reminder and then click Delete 
   
2. If you have multiple reminders in the same time slot, click the reminder block, point t the reminder and click Delete 
   .

5. Share and view calendars

Share your calendar with co-workers, family, and friends so they can easily see when you’re available. You can look at other people’s calendars to do the same.

  i. Share your calendar

Choose whether to share your calendar publicly or only with your organization:

1.  Click Settings > Settings

2.  On the left, click your calendar.

3.   In the Access permissions section, choose an option:

• To make your calendar available publicly on the web, check the Make available to public box. Next to each sharing permission, click the Down arrow  and choose whether you want to show your free and busy times.
• To make your calendar available only to your organization, check the Make available for My Organization box. Next to each sharing permission, click the Down arrow and choose whether you want to show your free and busy times.
• To make your calendar available throughout Google Workspace, check the Show calendar info in other Google apps, limited by access permissions box.

Let someone see your calendar in a web browser:

You can get an HTML link to your calendar that you can share with people.

1. Click Settings > Settings.
2. On the left, click your calendar.
3. In the Access permissions section, click Get shareable link > Copy Link.
4. Paste the link in an email and send it.

Share your calendar with specific people and choose how much they can see:

When you share your calendar with someone, you can decide how they see your events and whether they can also make changes, such as adding or editing events.

1. Click Settings > Settings.
2. On the left, click your calendar. 
3. In the Share with specific people section, click Add people and enter the email address or names of the people you want to share your calendar with.
4. Choose a sharing permission option:

5.       Click Send.

Share your calendar with people who don't use Google Calendar:

1. In the Share with specific people section, click Add people.
2. Enter the email address or names of the people you want to share your calendar with.
3. Click Send.
4. If the person youre sharing your calendar with doesnt use Calendar, click Invite to send them an invitation to use it.

  ii. View other people's calendars

Wondering if someone is available to meet? Add a team members calendar so you can instantly check their schedule.

Add a team member's calendar:

1. On the left, next to Other calendars, click Add other calendars + > .Subscribe to calendar.
2. Start entering the persons name or email address and select the person from the list.
   If the person set up their calendar for sharing, it appears in your list of calendars. That person's events also appear on your calendar.
3. If the person doesnt have Google Calendar, add a request and click Send invite.
4. Quickly schedule events by checking your co-workers availability:

• To view a co-workers calendar next to yours, check the box next to their name.
• To view several co-workers calendars at once, check the boxes next to their names, or go to Meet with... and enter their names. At the top right in the view switcher box, click Day. The calendars appear next to each other so you can easily see when everyone is free at the same time.

  ii. Create shared calendars

In addition to your own calendar, you can create shared calendars to track group activities, such as project schedules or co-worker vacations.

Create a shared calendar:

1. Open Calendar, and on the left next to Other calendars, click Add other calendars + > Create new calendar.
2. Name the calendar and add a description.
3. Click Time zone and select your time zone.
4. Click Create calendar. Your new calendar appears under My calendars.
5. (Optional) To update any calendar preferences, point to it and click More > Settings.

Share a calendar:

    1.   Open Calendar and under My calendars, point to the calendar you want to share, and click More >  Settings and sharing.

2. Choose an option:

• To share with individuals - Under Share with specific people, click Add people and add the person or the email address of the person you want to share with. Click Send.
• To change wider sharing settings - Under Access permissions, select Make available to public or Make available for organization name.

  iii. Import and export events and calendars

You can import event information to your calendar or export your calendars. Learn more about importing events to Calendar.

Import event information:

1. Click Settings
2. On the left, click Import & Export.
3. Click Select file from your computer, select your file, and click Open.
4. Click Import.
   The imported event or events will appear in your calendar.
    

Export your calendars:

1. Click Settings
2. On the left, click Import & Export.
3. In the Export section, click Export.

A ZIP file downloads to your computer. If you open it, you'll see individual ICS files for each of your calendars. To import the files back into Calendar, take the individual ICS files out of the ZIP file and import them one at a time.

  iv. Delete a calendar

1. Click settings
2. Select the calendar you want to delete and scroll to the bottom.
3. In the Remove calendar section, choose an option:

• Click Unsubscribe if you want to unsubscribe from calendars that are read-only.
• Click Delete if you want to delete calendars that you own.

  v. Add out-of-office dates to your calendar 

1. In your calendar grid, click the first day that you're away from work.
2. Click Out of office and select a time period.
3. (Optional) To explain you're away from work, enter a message in the Decline message section.
4. In the Visibility section, choose an option:

• Public
• Default visibility
• Private