How to Sync Google Calendar With Outlook and iPhone Calendars

An image of several people synching their calendars on their phones.

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by Heinz Tschabitscher
Updated June 29, 2018

Want to synchronize your Outlook calendar with Google Calendar and your iPhone? With the right setup, all the synchronizing can happen automatically and within an instant behind the scenes, without your moving a finger.

Enter an appointment in Outlook, and it will show up in your Gmail and iPhone calendars automatically. Edit the event later in Google Calendar, and the changes will be reflected in Outlook and on the iPhone instantaneously. Later, on the road, delete all commitments for the next 10 days — and they'll be gone from Google Calendar and Outlook right away.

Now, in 10 minutes much rather than days, set up Outlook synching with Google Calendar and iPhone Calendar.

Sync Google Calendar, Outlook, and iPhone Calendar

Follow the instructions below to keep Google Calendar, the Outlook calendar, and iPhone Calendar in sync automatically on a Windows machine running Outlook.

If you use a free Gmail or Google Apps account:

  1. Make sure iCal4OL is installed. You can use a different Google Calendar or CalDAV for Outlook add-on, of course; the CalDAV settings from below should still apply.
  2. Launch iCal4OL.
  3. Go to the Who tab.
  4. Click Other under CalDAV Autoconfiguration for.
  5. Enter https://www.google.com/calendar/dav/[email address]/user under Server replacing "[email address]" with your Gmail or Google account address.
    1. If the Gmail address for your Google Calendar account is "example@gmail.com", for instance, use "https://www.google.com/calendar/dav/example@gmail.com/user".
  6. Type the full Gmail (or associated Google account) email address under Login.
  7. Now type your Google Calendar (or Gmail) password under Password.
  8. Click Retrieve configuration from server and save it.
  9. For each calendar on Google Calendar:
    1. Select the desired calendar in Outlook with which you want to synchronize the Google Calendar calendar under Outlook:
      1. To create and use a new calendar in Outlook:
        1. Click New.
        2. Type the desired calendar's name under Add new Outlook Folder.
        3. Click OK.
      2. iCal4OL will use your Outlook's default data folder.
    2. Make sure Down and Up are checked under Synchronization/Simulation.
    3. Leave Reminders checked as well under Reminders.
  1. Click Save.
  2. Click Save again.
  3. Go to the Run tab.
  4. Click Start Synchronization.
  5. Now pick a schedule for uploading and downloading data under Task Tray Autostart.
  6. Click the Play button.
    1. To start a synchronization run at any time:
      1. Right-click the iCal4OL system tray icon.
      2. Select Run now from the menu that appears.

If you use a Google Apps for Business account, you can also use Google Apps Sync:

  1. Download and install Google Apps Sync.
  2. Enter the email address associated with your Google Calendar account under Email.
  3. Type your Google Calendar password under Password.
  4. For full synchronization, make sure 2-way is selected under Sync Options.
  5. Optionally, change the interval for automatic synchronization under Sync every ___ minutes.
  6. Click Save.
    1. You can change these settings at any time by double-clicking the Google Calendar Sync system tray icon.

On the iPhone or iPod touch running iPhone Calendar:

  1. Tap Settings on the Home screen.
  2. Go to Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
  3. Select Add Account under Accounts.
  4. Choose Other.
  5. Tap Add CalDAV Account under Calendars.
  6. Type "https://www.google.com/calendar/dav/[email address]/user" (not including the quotation marks and replacing "[email address]" with the Google Calendar account's email address) under Server.
  7. Enter the email address you use to log into Google Calendar under User Name.
  8. Enter your Google Calendar password under Password.
  9. Optionally, tap Google Calendar under Description.
  10. Tap Next.