(Credit: René Ramos)
If you live your life by the clock, you can save a lot of time by sharing your calendar with the people in your life. Whether you want to be on the same page as a partner, coordinate events with friends, or manage an entire office, you can ensure that everyone knows where to be and when by creating a calendar that others can see.
One of the best options for these situations is Google Calendar, since it's totally free and comes with robust sharing options. But before we show you how to use those features, there are a couple things you should know. First, you can't share a calendar from the Google Calendar mobile app. You will need to do it from a computer. Second, if your Google calendar is managed by someone else, like a company or school, it might not be possible to share it outside of the organization.
Assuming the aforementioned hangups aren't holding you back, here are three different ways to share your Google calendar with friends, family, and coworkers.
Share With Specific People or Groups
Open Google Calendar, go to My Calendars on the left and click the down arrow to expand it. Mouse over the calendar you want to share and click the three dots next to it and then Settings and Sharing > Share With Specific People or Groups > Add People and Groups. Enter the email addresses of the people or groups you intend to share with, and then tap Permissions, where you can choose whether they can See All Event Details, See Only Free/Busy (Hide Details), Make Changes to Events, and Make Changes and Manage Sharing. Once you’ve made your selection, click Send.
Share a Calendar Within an Organization
To share a calendar within your organization, your account must be tied to that organization. If you meet that requirement, mouse over the calendar you want to share, click the three dots next to it, and then Settings and Sharing > Access Permissions for Events. Check the box next to Make Available to [Name of Organization]. From there, you’ll be able to set the permissions for either See All Event Details or See Only Free/Busy (Hide Details).
Share With the Public
If you’re creating a calendar that’s for a public purpose, Google makes it exceptionally simple to share your schedule. To do so, mouse over the calendar you want to share, click the three dots next to it and then hit Settings and Sharing > Access Permissions for Events and check the box next to Make Available to Public. You’ll be able to set the permissions for either See All Event Details or See Only Free/Busy (Hide Details). To share the calendar with others, you'll either need to share a link to the calendar (which you can get right there with the Get Shareable Link button) or embed the calendar on a website.
