Adding Google Calendar Events to SharePoint

Adding Google Calendar Events to SharePoint
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Introduction

Lots of SharePoint calendar users are on the lookout for a way to add or export Google calendar events to their SharePoint calendar. This article will try to teach you how to export Google calendar events into a SharePoint site. However, the users must note here that there is no simple and straight forward technique for adding Google calendar data to SharePoint, as most of the easier procedures talked about in this regard require third-party software to act as a mediator/transmitter between the Google calendar and the SharePoint calendar. The price of third-party software may not be within everyone’s reach, so here is a roundabout way of accomplishing this task without spending money on any expensive software.

Exporting Google Calendar to Sharepoint via MS Outlook

The easiest method to export Google calendar events to SharePoint Calendar is by using MS Outlook 2007 as a mediator, since Outlook calendar events can easily be uploaded to the SharePoint calendar. It is a two stage process involving:

Importing Google Calendar Event Data into Outlook 2007

  • Sign-in in to your Google account and click on the calendar link on the top left menu to open your Google calendars.

  • On the left side pane, under ‘My Calendar’ click on the calendar that you wish to export to your SharePoint website.

  • Next to the name of your Google calendar, is a drop down button, clicking on which will display a list of options. From these options, select ‘calendar settings’, which will take you to the calendar details page.

    Export Google Calendar To Outlook.bmp

  • Scroll down to the bottom of the Calendar details page, and under the ‘Private Address’ section click on the green ‘ICAL’ button. This will display the sharing link URL for your calendar, click on the link.

    Export Google Calendar To Sharepoint1.bmp

  • A dialog box will appear offering you to either open the file with Outlook 2007, or to save the file on your computer. Save the file and import it to Outlook, using the Open option from the File menu.

Expoting Google Calendar to Outlook 2007.bmp

Images: Sidharth Thakur

Uploading Calendar from Outlook 2007 to Sharepoint

With Outlook 2007, it is fairly easy and convenient to upload an existing calendar to a SharePoint website.

  • Log into your SharePoint services site, and click on the upload button. Browse to locate your calendar file that was added to Outlook earlier, and select it to upload the file. The file will be in the shared documents folder and will have .ics as the extension.
  • Open your shared documents folder and locate the .ics calendar file that was imported into Outlook from Google calendar. Select the file and right click on it. From the menu that appears click on the option ‘Copy Shortcut.’
  • Shift back to Outlook 2007, and from the tools menu select ‘account settings.’ On the pop up screen, select the “Internet Calendars” tab, and then click on ‘New.’ Paste the shortcut to the calendar file and then click on the ‘Add’ button.
  • Finally on the subscription options pop up click on OK and then close the popup. With that done, the Google calendar that you had extracted earlier will be published on your SharePoint site, ready to be shared with your teammates.

The final note

It’s important to note here that although the Google Calendar events have been successfully imported into SharePoint site calendar, this calendar is static. Whenever changes are made to the Google calendar, the procedure will have to be repeated to reflect the same changes in the SharePoint site calendar.