HOW TO: Sync Outlook with Google Calendar
Danny Gorog19 March 2008, 6:03 PM
Have you ever wished that syncing your home calendar to your work calendar and vice-versa was easy? Now you can with frree Google Calendar Sync.
Have you ever wished that syncing your home calendar to your work calendar and vice-versa was easy? In the old days (two or three years ago -- a century in technology terms) the best way to do this was with a PDA or smartphone. Something like a Palm could be used to sync in the office, and then you could sync up when you got home. Best case scenario you'd only end up with duplicate appointments and triplicate contacts.
Well, if this sounds like your life you should try another new Google product called Google Calendar Sync. Google Calendar Sync takes the pain out of keeping two Outlook calendars in sync by using Google Calendar (Google's great online calendaring solution) as the middle man.
If you install Google Calendar Sync on both your home and office computer they both talk to your Google Calendar -- both ways. That means if you add an appointment to your home calendar, Google Calendar Sync will transfer the appointment to your online calendar, and then the same application running on your office computer will sync the appointment back to your work PC. If you don't have access to either of your machines you can also add appointments in your Google Calendar via a web browser.
Google Calendar Sync is simple to setup and easy to use.
There are so many advantages to having this kind of syncing that I can't begin to list them all. Firstly, it removes the frustration of maintaining multiple calendars - now with Google Calendar Sync you just need one.
Secondly, while the online Calendar experience is improving, it's still not as good as a desktop application, and thirdly if you've ever wanted to share a calendar with somebody else (say a partner) Google Calendar Sync lets one person edit the calendar at home, and the other manage the calendar from the office. Come to think of it, this product might even save a few relationships!
To begin using Google Calendar Sync go here and download the program. Once you've installed it you'll need to configure Google Calendar Sync with information like your email address, password and the type of sync (one-way, or two-way). You've also got to tell the program how often you want the sync to take place. Obviously, both computers need to be on and connected to the Internet for the sync to be successful -- though not at the same time. Once you're syncing, icons in the taskbar give you updates on when the syncing is occurring, and right-clicking the taskbar icon lets you alter preferences.