Add Google Calendar to Apple Calendar Mac

When you first enable Google Calendar, only your main calendar shows in the Apple Calendar app. You can also display the other calendars you see in the Google Calendar web page.

1. Open Safari or another browser on your iPhone, iPad, Mac or PC computer and go to www.google.com/calendar/syncselect.
2. Select an account or Add account. If you’re already signed in, skip to step 4.
3. Sign into Google with your email address and password.
4. Select calendars to display in the Calendar app. Some calendars may be read-only if the owner of the calendar has not allowed you to make changes.
5. Some calendars may not sync if the owner has chosen to not allow you to see events.
6. Tap Save.
7. Have another Google account? Sign out and select it (step 2), then select its calendars.

The image shows an iPhone display but the same page controls calendars for all Apple devices and Macs using that Google account.

Even if you’re a diehard Apple fan, you may sometimes find yourself needing to use Google’s competing Calendar product.

Maybe you use a Gmail account in the workplace, or you regularly schedule appointments with Google Calendar users, and find the whole process much easier when you’re all using the same product.

Alternatively, maybe you prefer using the online Google Calendar service but want the added security of knowing that your schedule is easily accessible on your local Apple Calendar app – something that can be a life-saver if you’re ever caught without an Internet connection and aren’t sure about the details of your next appointment.

Whatever your reasons, if you find yourself regularly switching between the Google and Apple Calendar, then you may want to consider syncing these two competing calendars.

By the end of this article, you’ll know how to ensure that any info you add to Google Calendar is reflected in your Apple Calendar, regardless of whether you’re using the Apple Calendar app on your Mac, iPhone or iPad.

Google Calendar was the first truly great web-based calendar, and is the default calendar of millions of people to this day. But if you’re a Mac user, you probably don’t want to manage your calendar in a web browser, using an ugly user interface, like some kind of digital peasant.

RELATED: How to Add Your Gmail, Contacts, and Google Calendar to Your iPhone or iPad

No, if you’re a Mac user, you want to use the beautiful calendar that comes with macOS, so you can get native Mac notifications for appointments and other integrations. As it turns out, you can easily add your Google Calendar to macOS’ Calendar app, so it will sync almost instantly. If you’ve already set up Google Calendar to sync with your iPhone, you should absolutely set it up to sync with your Mac too, so all of your appointments show up everywhere.

First, open System Preferences, and head to “Internet Accounts.”

There’s a chance your Google account is already here; check the accounts in the left panel and see. If not, click “Google” to add a new Google account.

A pop-up will allow you to sign into your Google account, just like you would in your browser. Google’s two-factor authentication is supported, which is essential.

Once your signed in, you’ll be asked which services you want to connect to your Google account. In my case, I only want the Calendar enabled, but feel free to check or uncheck other things if you’d like.

Now, let’s head to the Calendar application! You should see your new account in the sidebar, and if you head to Calendar > Preferences in the menu bar, you can configure how often your new account refreshes.

I primarily work within Google Calendar from a Linux desktop. However, there are also times when I'm working from a MacBook Pro and prefer to use the default applications. What that means is I need to integrate Google Calendar into the default iCalendar app on macOS. At the same time, I like to see my iCalendar events in Google Calendar.

Oh, what a tangled web I weave.

How do I pull this off? It's actually not terribly challenging. Let me show you.

To make this work, you'll need a Google account, a macOS device with iCalendar, and your login credentials for iCloud. With all of that together, let's make some calendar magic.

Also: How to compose an email from Google Docs

Adding Google Calendar to iCalendar

Of the two processes, this is the easiest, because the functionality is built right into macOS (I'm demonstrating with Monterey). 

1. Click the Apple menu in the upper right corner of your display. 

2. Then select System Preferences. 

3. In the resulting window (Figure 1), click Internet Accounts.

The System Preferences window in macOS Monterey.

4. From the right pane (Figure 2), click Google.

The Internet Accounts window makes it easy to add several different account types.

5. You will then be prompted to okay the opening of your default web browser. 

6. Click Open Browser, and Safari (if it's your default) will open to the Google account authentication wizard (Figure 3). 

You must sign in with your Google account before you can continue.

7. Once you've added the account, you can then configure which elements are added (from Mail, Calendar, Contacts, and Notes - Figure 4).

My Google account has been successfully added.

Make sure Calendar is enabled and the next time you open iCalendar your events from Google Calendar will populate. This configuration gives you read/write access to Google Calendar from iCalendar.

Adding iCalendar to Google Calendar

There are two caveats to adding a calendar from Apple's iCalendar to Google Calendar. The first is the iCalendar to be added must be made public. Second, it's read-only access (so you can't add events to iCalendar from Google Calendar).

1. The easiest way of doing this is to log into iCloud and then go to the Calendar section. You should see all of your calendars listed in the left sidebar (Figure 5).

All of my various calendars are found in the Calendar section of iCloud.

2. Click the icon at the right edge of the calendar you want to add to Google Calendar.

3. Then, from the popup (Figure 6), click the checkbox for Public Calendar.

Setting the calendar as public so it can be shared.

4. A webcal address will appear. Click Copy Link and click OK. 

5. Go to your Google Calendar and locate Other Calendars. 

6. Click the + button associated with that.

7. Then, from the drop-down, click From URL (Figure 7).

Adding a new calendar to Google Calendar from a URL.

8. In the resulting window (Figure 8), paste the webcal address in the URL of the calendar field and click Add calendar.

Adding the webcal address in Google Calendar.

You now have to play a waiting game, as it might take up to 12 hours for the population of events to complete. Eventually, however, you'll see all of the events from that shared calendar within Google. 

By adding these calendars to one another, I can be certain I always have access to my events, no matter if they're on Google Calendar or Apple's iCalendar.

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