How to sync your Outlook calendar with Google Calendar

Subscribe to your Outlook calendar inside Google, or add Google to Outlook. Here is how to do both, and why neither one is true two-way sync.

To sync your Outlook calendar with Google Calendar, publish your Outlook calendar as an ICS link, then add that link in Google Calendar under “Other calendars” using “From URL.” To go the other way, copy your Google calendar’s secret iCal address and subscribe to it from Outlook. Both methods are one-way and read-only, so for full coverage you set up the subscription in each direction.

One thing to understand before you start: there is no native two-way sync between these two calendars. An ICS subscription only mirrors events in a single direction, and you cannot edit a subscribed event from the calendar you pulled it into. If you genuinely need to edit from either side, that takes a paid third-party sync service, not the steps below.

Show your Outlook calendar inside Google Calendar

This pulls Outlook events into Google. Do it in a desktop browser, because the Google Calendar mobile app cannot add a calendar from a URL.

1. In Outlook on the web, open Settings, then go to the Calendar section and find Shared calendars (sometimes labeled “Calendars” depending on your account type).
2. Under Publish a calendar, pick the calendar you want, set permissions to “Can view all details,” and select Publish.
3. Copy the ICS link it generates. Take the ICS one, not the HTML one.
4. Open Google Calendar on the web. In the left sidebar, hover over Other calendars and click the +, then choose From URL.
5. Paste the ICS link and click Add calendar.

Your Outlook events now appear in Google, usually as a new calendar in the left sidebar that you can rename or recolor. They are read-only here.

Add your Google Calendar to Outlook

This is the reverse: it shows Google events inside Outlook.

1. In Google Calendar, open Settings and click the specific calendar under “Settings for my calendars.”
2. Scroll to Integrate calendar and copy the Secret address in iCal format. Treat that link like a password, since anyone with it can see your events.
3. In Outlook on the web, go to your calendar, choose Add calendar, then Subscribe from web.
4. Paste the iCal link, give it a name, pick a color, and import it.

New Outlook for Windows follows the same “Add calendar, Subscribe from web” path. As with the other direction, the result is read-only.

What to expect from refresh timing

The biggest frustration with ICS subscriptions is lag. Google refreshes external feeds on its own cadence, often every several hours and sometimes up to a day, with no manual refresh button. Outlook behaves similarly with subscribed web calendars. So a meeting you add in one place will not show up instantly in the other. Plan around that, especially if you reschedule things often. If minute-by-minute accuracy matters, the one-way subscription is the wrong tool and a dedicated sync service is the honest answer.

Where ClaroCal fits

Once your Outlook events live in your Google Calendar using the steps above, ClaroCal can plan your day around them. ClaroCal connects to Google Calendar with two-way sync and turns your task list into a time-blocked day; it does not connect to Outlook directly, so the subscription has to exist in Google first.

If you are deciding whether Google should be your home base at all, the Google Calendar alternatives rundown is worth a look, and the pricing page covers what the planning layer costs.

Last reviewed June 2026.