Google Releases Google Calendar/Outlook Sync tool
March 6th, 2008 (6:00am) Jason Harris 23 Comments
For web workers, anything that can relieve the stress of managing information will be a huge help. For instance, I manage two calendars, my personal Google Calendar and my work Outlook Calendar.
We have covered a few utilities that have tried to solve the 2-way syncing issue, but none have been rock solid enough to use full time. In fact, I’ve destroyed my Outlook calendar multiple times trying to sync with my Google Calendar. This is why I was very happy to see Google has released a Calendar Sync tool.
To get started, download the application and walk through the install process. Once installed, you’ll be presented with 3 options:
- 2-way sync, applies changes to both your Google Calendar and Outlook calendars with each other
- 1 way sync where Google Calendar events will be presented on your Outlook calendar
- 1-way sync where your Outlook calendar events are presented on your Google Calendar.
Another available option includes setting the update interval between calendars. You’re able to set the interval for a minimum of 10 minutes.
An icon will sit in your system tray to keep you alert on the status of the sync tool. Keep in mind, you can’t work with multiple calendars both on the Google side and the Outlook side of the sync. You can only sync your primary Google and Outlook calendars.
While this is an exciting development, this utility is only available for Microsoft Windows and Outlook. It will be nice when the Apple iCal application is supported with 2-way sync with Google Calendar.
Additionally, there are other ways to enhance your Google Calendar.
[via Official Google Blog]
23 Comments Post your own comment
Gerrit says: March 6th, 2008 7:05am
Reportedly only Outlook 2003 and 2007 (unconfirmed though)
Around the Web | Keener Living says: March 6th, 2008 7:37am
[...] for Windows users, Google has released a tool for syncing Google Calendar with Outlook. Many of the existing products for doing this do not do it very well, so hopefully Google has [...]
Axel says: March 6th, 2008 7:53am
I use a very good and simple technique, compatible with all OSs but only for BlackBerry users:
- Install on your BlackBerry the Google Sync app. Visit the page from your BB:
http://m.google.com/sync
- Then set the app according to your preferences (which calendar do you want to sync etc.)
- It will automatically take care of your Outlook calendar / Google Calendar sync
Enjoy!
Judi Sohn says: March 6th, 2008 8:41am
Axel, and the advantage of going through your Blackberry is that you can sync multiple Google calendars. I don’t use Outlook, but if I did the fact that Google’s tool only syncs the primary Google calendar would be a deal-breaker for me. The Google Blackberry sync tool works well with multiple Google calendars.
Thorin78 says: March 6th, 2008 9:12am
It’s great and all, but there’s lots of problems so far.
It’s not syncing the appointments that other people have created and I have accepted, and it’s not syncing all day events.
Also it has created over 1000 appointments in the delete folder set for 12/31/1979 at 7pm EST. Each occurrance is with a different person in my company’s global contact list. Thank goodness that it’s actually sending them out. Sheesh.
Wayne says: March 6th, 2008 11:46am
This is an exciting development. Our online project collaboration solution, (Joint Contact) supports the iCalendar (ics) standard so that tasks created online can be synchronized with Apple’s iCal, Outlook 2007, Mozilla Sunbird and other applications.
People being able to share and sync their calendars using different tools is challenging. It’s a great to see Google making efforts to bridge the gap.
Google calendar syncs with Outlook « Two cultures, one mind. says: March 6th, 2008 12:21pm
[...] synchronise google calendar and Outlook 2003/2007. The excellent web worker daily has done a better summary of the features than I could, especially as my home windows PC has caught a major cold – I’m trying to work [...]
mary says: March 6th, 2008 9:44pm
Thorin78, I’m having that same issue! Tons of 1979 meeting drafts, it looks like? I didn’t realize until about 12 hours later. By that point, I had 4000 items in my deleted folder.
Windows: [Descarga del día] Google Calendar Sync - Bitelia says: March 7th, 2008 5:44am
[...] Google Calendar Sync | Vía: Download Squad ← Anterior | Inicio Comparte esta anotación [...]
links for 2008-03-07 « Charlottesville Words says: March 7th, 2008 9:25am
[...] Web Worker Daily » Archive Google Releases Google Calendar/Outlook Sync tool « (tags: calendar google outlook) [...]
Brendon Hatcher says: March 10th, 2008 4:10am
Confirmed – only Outlook 2003 and 2007 :-(
jimtut says: March 10th, 2008 6:30am
I have a “fix” for the 12/31/1979 problem:
http://jimtut.blogspot.com/2008/03/fix-for-barrage-of-deleted-items.html
iconoclast says: March 11th, 2008 9:04am
This sync app is an extremely dangerous tool!
It says on the Google sync web page that it only syncs your primary Google calendar. But that is bullshit: I just synched and found my work outlook schedule on one of my secondary calendars. This calendar is public!!!!!! And no, I’m not Elliot Spitzer ;-)
Web Worker Daily » Archive Essential Tools and Tips for MS Outlook Efficiency « says: March 11th, 2008 4:00pm
[...] you use Gmail constantly, in conjunction with Outlook, Google has a brand new Calendar Sync application that is a must-have, and it’s free. If you’ve ever trashed your Outlook calendar trying to keep [...]
jez says: March 14th, 2008 4:57am
As well as adding an entry for the entire Address book in the deleted items, ,strong> How about the fact it crashes Outlook every time it syncs??? Could be a very useful tool.
ONE MAJOR POINT – on your google account pages (https://www.google.com/accounts/ManageAccount) edit your personal info, and add your actual work email address there. Verify this, and now it should sync EVERYTHING from your outlook to your primary calendar.
Web Worker Daily » Archive FuseCal Wants to Be One Calendar to Rule Them All « says: March 28th, 2008 9:11am
[...] 28th, 2008 (9:11am) Jason Harris No Comments As covered before, working with calendars is another one of those business necessities that is crucial to [...]
Joe Krause says: March 28th, 2008 4:29pm
I’m a fan of http://emoze.com
I’ve got my wife set up with her Windows Mobile 5 PDA and OWA (via mail2web.com), and it’s working great. Mail forwarded from her Yahoo to mail2web.com . Total cost of $20/year.
Dnice says: April 8th, 2008 4:31pm
I’m having the same problem with hundreds of calendar items appearing in my Deleted Items folder. What the hell are these? There’s one deleted calendar item created for each person in my Global Address List. My network administrator is already on me for the amount of data I create…
Ariel Di Stefano says: July 8th, 2008 10:27am
We just launched KiGoo, a free tool that allows Google users to fully manage (create, read, update and delete) their Calendar and Contacts from MS Outlook.
Also KiGoo manage the Free Busy information of your Gmail contacts if they shared their FB status.
Currently we support Windows XP and office 2007.
http://www.getkigoo.com
Best Regards!
Google sync to Exchange | Tongfamily.com says: September 8th, 2008 12:47pm
[...] after the sync it all works. So, I don’t completely understand what it is doing. The best recommendation I’ve heard is to use Blackberry to Google Sync application. I’ve been using this for my [...]
Mark says: December 2nd, 2008 4:28pm
I tried all these sync tools for Google and Outlook, free and not. The only one that really worked for me was gSyncit. Simple and reliable. No duplicates, all my events sync’d over. Eval version available. Only $9.99 and worth every penny.
MarkJ says: January 28th, 2009 1:13pm
I’ve tried them all too. CompanionLink does everything PLUS they have free phone support.
http://www.companionlink.com/google
Kookus says: March 26th, 2009 12:57pm
It consistently crashes Outlook 2007 configured for Exchange in cached mode. All support topics for this are immediately “archived”. This product does not work.