How to Sync Your Calendar to Google Assistant

Google Assistant can help you manage your appointments as long as you use Google Calendar. You can connect your Google calendar to Google Home, Android, iPhone, Mac, and Windows computers, all of which are compatible with Google Assistant. Once you link up your Google Calendar to the Assistant, you can ask it to add and cancel appointments, tell you your schedule, and more. Here's how to set it up, whether you have a personal calendar or shared one.

Illustration of a calendar syncing from a phone to Google Assistant — Lifewire / Colleen Tighe

Calendars Compatible With Google Assistant

You must have a Google calendar to link it to Google Assistant. It can be your primary Google calendar or a shared Google calendar. However, Google Assistant is not compatible with calendars that are:

From G Suite (Google's business software)
Imported from a URL or iCal
Synced with Google Calendar (such as Apple or Outlook)
Themed, such as one devoted to holidays or birthdays
Are not fully readable or editable, such as one with only free and busy information

Google Home, Google Max, and Google Mini can't sync with an Apple or Outlook calendar.

Indonesian woman on the phone at night : Stock Photo Comp Embed Share Add to Board Caption:A young, trendy Indonesian woman types on her smart phone on a city street at night Indonesian woman on the phone at night — Carlina Teteris / Getty Images

How to Sync Your Calendar With Google Home

Managing a Google Home device requires the Google Home mobile app, and both your phone and the smart device must be on the same Wi-Fi network. Setting up your Google Home device includes linking it to your Google account, and thus your Google calendar. If you have multiple Google accounts, be sure to use the one in which you keep your primary calendar.

Then, turn on Personal results. Here's how:

Launch the Google Home app on your mobile device.
Tap the menu icon, which is represented by three lines stacked on top of each other, located on the top right of the screen.
Tap More Settings.
Under Devices, tap the Google Home you want to manage.
Move the slider to the right to turn on Personal results.

If you don't want use to this feature, you can move the slider to the left, but that turns off all personal results, not just your calendar.

If you have multiple people using the same Google Home device, everyone needs to set up a voice match so that the device can recognize who's who. The primary user can invite others to set up voice matches after multi-user mode is enabled in settings using the Google Home app. Also in App Settings is an option to hear events from shared calendars by enabling Personal results using the instructions above.

If you have more than one Google Home device, you need to repeat these steps for each one.

Managing Your Calendar With Google Assistant

No matter which device you use, interacting with Google Assistant is the same. You can add events and ask for event information by voice. You can also add items to your Google calendar from other enabled devices and access them with Google Assistant.

To add an event, say, OK Google or Hey Google. Here are examples of how you can phrase this command:

"Hey Google, add a doctor appointment to my calendar."
"OK Google, schedule a concert for me on Friday at 7 pm."
"OK Google, add an event called Jenny's surprise party."

The Google Assistant uses contextual clues from what you said to determine the other information it needs to complete scheduling an event. If you don't specify all the information in your command, the Assistant asks you for the title, date, and start time. Events created by Google Assistant have the default length you set in your Google Calendar unless you specify otherwise.

To ask for event information, use the Google Assistant's wake command and then you can ask about specific appointments or see what's happening on a particular day. For example: