Official Gmail Blog
News, tips and tricks from Google's Gmail team and friends.
Save time with smart scheduling in Google Calendar
September 29, 2016
Posted by
Federico Asara, Software Engineer
Some topics are best discussed in face-to-face meetings, but setting them up takes too much time. Whether you’re coordinating across time zones, hunting for a room, or just trying to find a time that works for more than a couple of people — it really adds up.
If you’re using
G Suite
, “Find a time” already lets you set up meetings much faster in
Calendar on Android
. Today it’s coming to iOS and by the end of the year, the web. We’re also adding smart room booking, so you can easily find a place to meet as well.
Powered by Google’s machine intelligence, “Find a time” suggests meeting times and available rooms based on your preferences, which saves you lots of time and gets everyone together faster. Time and room suggestions are smart, too: They don’t just identify the first free slot in a grid, they also locate the next best slots as a back-up. For example, when Calendar doesn’t find availability for your preferred time, it then looks for conflicts across the group that are easier to resolve, such as recurring 1:1 meetings. And although “Find a time” makes smart suggestions, you're always in control — just tap the grid to pick a time that's a better fit.
Start saving time for the important things by downloading Google Calendar for
Android
or
iOS
(and look out for this update on the
web
soon).
Find time for your goals with Google Calendar
April 12, 2016
Posted by Jyoti Ramnath, Product Manager
Whether it’s reading more books, learning a new language or working out regularly, achieving your goals can be really hard. One day it's "I got called into a last-minute meeting." The next day it's "I have a friend in town." And before you know it, your goals are delayed or forgotten. In fact, with all the things you need to do in a given week, it’s probably harder than ever to find the time—even when your goal really matters to you.
That’s why starting today, we’re introducing Goals in Google Calendar. Just add a personal goal—like “run 3 times a week”—and Calendar will help you find the time and stick to it.
Goals are easy to set up
To set a goal (like “Work out more”), simply answer a few questions (like “How often?” and “Best time?”), and you’re all set. From there Calendar will look at your schedule and find the best windows to pencil in time for that goal.
Goals adjust to your busy life
Goals aren't easy—especially when the unexpected comes up—but Calendar can help you adjust in a number of important ways. For example, Calendar will automatically reschedule if you add another event that's a direct conflict with a goal.
You can also defer a goal at any time, and Calendar will make time for it later.
Finally, Calendar actually gets better at scheduling the more you use it—just defer, edit or complete your goals like normal, and Calendar will choose even better times in the future.
Calendars should help you make the most of your time—not just be tools to track events. So as Google Calendar turns 10 today (🎉), we're excited to invest in more updates like Goals, and to help you find time for everything that matters—from your daily
must-dos
, to exercising more, to just a little "me time."
To get started, download the Google Calendar app for
Android
or
iPhone
, and set your first goal.
Reminders come to Google Calendar on the web
April 5, 2016
Posted by Erick Johnson, Software Engineer
Starting this week, we’re bringing
Reminders in Google Calendar
to the
web
so you can keep track of your to-dos alongside your events.
Just like on Android and iPhone, you’ll get the following:
Reminders stick around
- If a reminder isn't completed, it will appear at the top of your calendar until you mark it done.
Reminders work across Google
- Reminders you create in Inbox, Keep, and the Google app will also show in Google Calendar.
Reminders sync with mobile
- Reminders created in mobile show up on the web and vice versa. So you can stay on track from just about anywhere.
With Reminders alongside your events on the web, Android and iPhone, you now have a single way to manage your day.
Add to-dos to your Google Calendar using Reminders
December 7, 2015
Posted by Vijay Umapathy, Product Manager
Our calendars should help us make the most of our time — scheduling meetings at work, remembering brunch with friends, and keeping track of all our other commitments. But often our to-do list is elsewhere, separate from the Calendar that organizes our day, and we end up overcommitted or miss something important because we forgot to check our list.
Now there's a single way to manage your day: starting this week, you can create Reminders in Google Calendar to keep track of your to-dos alongside your scheduled events.
Reminders stick around
You might already create calendar entries to remind you to call the doctor or pick up groceries on the way home. But while those entries come and go, Reminders stick with you over time so you can track them until they are actually done. If a Reminder isn't completed, it will appear at the top of your Calendar the next day. And the next. When you do finally call the doctor or pick up those necessities, just swipe the Reminder away ... and you're onto the next to-do.
Reminders help with the details
Another way Reminders are more useful than events is that Calendar adds things like phone numbers and addresses automatically. So if you add a Reminder to make a call or run an errand, the number or address will be right there when you need it. Just like
Inbox by Gmail
, Calendar uses information from your contacts, as well as Google's knowledge graph to provide this extra bit of help.
Reminders work across Google
You can also create Reminders from Inbox, Keep, and Google Now. This means you can create a Reminder when you're checking your email and it will show up on your calendar right away. Plans change? Just move the Reminder to a better time. Or if your hands are full, you can record your Reminders in Google Now一like, "Ok Google, remind me to buy birthday candles"一then mark it as done later in Calendar.
Reminders will be rolling out this week with the latest versions of Calendar on
Google Play
and the
App Store
. And don't worry, we're working on bringing Reminders to the web as well.
New Calendar illustrations in 30 languages
October 16, 2015
Posted by Stella Schieffer, Product Manager
Your calendar is more than just a list of dates and times — it’s your life! That’s why Calendar adds illustrations to many of your favorite events automatically.
Today we're improving these illustrations in two ways. First, you'll find over a dozen more of them for events like weddings and Halloween parties. Second, illustrations will now appear in 30 languages--from Dutch and Finnish to Catalan and Korean--giving our global community of users a new way to celebrate their day.
You be the artist
We’ll be making more illustrations soon, and we want your help creating them. Just tweet a photo of an event you love with the hashtag #makethemost. We’ll select our favorites as inspiration for the next set of Calendar illustrations.
Google Calendar for iPhone: more ways to stay on top of your schedule
June 23, 2015
Posted by Stella Schieffer, Product Manager
Since the new Google Calendar app
arrived
, you've given us lots of great feedback that has guided
our
updates
. Starting today, you'll see improvements to
Google Calendar on iPhone
that follow the recent improvements to the
Android app
.
To start, you can now see more events at a glance with 7-day week view and customize your calendar with week numbers on iPhone.
You can now also add Google Drive files, like Docs and Sheets or pictures and PDFs, directly to events on your iPhone and Google Calendar on the web, just like you can on Android. Drive will even check if everyone has access to the files and if not, ask you if you'd like to share with them.
Sometimes, getting notified of an upcoming event isn’t enough—you might need to contact other attendees, or figure out the best way to get there. With interactive notifications on the iPhone, you can now email guests and view maps with one tap.
We have a lot more improvements based on your feedback coming, so stay tuned!
P.S. If you're a developer, you can now add Drive files, including Docs, Sheets and Slides, to Google Calendar events created through the
Calendar API
.
Time is on your side—welcoming Timeful to Google
May 4, 2015
Posted by Alex Gawley, Director of Product Management
With the proliferation of mobile phones and greater access to technology, it should be easy to get things done quickly and effortlessly. That’s why with tools like Gmail, Inbox, Calendar and Docs, we’ve built smart features to help you organize your life and take the work out of work—Inbox makes it easy to
get started
on your to-do list, Calendar
automatically adds
events from your Gmail, and Search gives you
simple, concise answers
about information that’s important to you.
But even as these tools have simplified our lives, we’re still inundated with too many updates, information and everyday tasks. And we still have to do a lot of logistical work ourselves—like deciding to what time exactly we should snooze that Reminder in order to get it done in time for Mom’s birthday, or figuring out when to work on that presentation so that it’s ready for next week’s sales pitch.
Today we’re excited to announce that
Timeful, Inc.
is joining the Google family to help make getting things done in your life even easier.
The Timeful team has built an impressive system that helps you organize your life by understanding your schedule, habits and needs. You can tell Timeful you want to exercise three times a week or that you need to call the bank by next Tuesday, and their system will make sure you get it done based on an understanding of both your schedule and your priorities. We’re excited about all the ways Timeful’s technology can be applied across products like Inbox, Calendar and beyond, so we can do more of the work for you and let you focus on being creative, having fun and spending time with the people you care about.
Welcome Timeful!
Google Calendar for iPhone. It's about time.
March 10, 2015
Posted by Robin Züger, Product Manager
Today we’re bringing the
new Google Calendar
to iPhone.
Just like on Android, you’ll get the following features:
Events from Gmail
, which turn emails into Calendar events automatically
Assists
, which make suggestions that save you time creating events
Schedule View
, which makes your calendar easy to scan and lovely to look at
Plus,
Google Calendar for iPhone
works with all the calendars you've already set up on your phone.
Of course if you're on Android, then definitely check out the recent improvements we made to
Google Calendar for Android
. Either way you can now spend less time managing your day, and more time enjoying it.
A new day for Google Calendar
November 3, 2014
Posted by Ian Leader, Product Manager
Today we’re introducing a brand new Google Calendar app. It’s designed to be a helpful assistant, so you can spend less time managing your day, and more time enjoying it.
It takes a lot of work to stay on top of your schedule, after all. You have to manually enter that hotel or dinner reservation, then update it if your plans change. You have to hunt around for addresses and phone numbers, then add them to your events. And if you’re on a mobile device, you might just give up on these kinds of tasks entirely.
Calendars (like
email
) should do better—especially on phones and tablets—so we set out to build one that’s always at your service. Here are just some of the ways the new Calendar app can help.
Events from Gmail: now emails can turn into Calendar events automatically
Every time you book a flight, buy concert tickets, or make a hotel reservation, odds are you get an email with dates, times and other important details. But who has the time (or patience) to copy and paste all this into their calendar? In the new Calendar app these kinds of emails become events automatically, complete with things like flight numbers and check-in times. They’ll even stay updated in real time if your flight's delayed, or you receive another email update.
Assists: suggestions that save you time
Of course, not all event info arrives in your inbox. You often have to piece together phone numbers, addresses and attendees from lots of different sources, then add them to your calendar manually. With Assists, Calendar can suggest titles, people and places as you type, as well as adapt to your preferences over time. For example, if you often go running with Peter in Central Park, Calendar can quickly suggest that entire event when you type ‘r-u-n.’
Schedule View: easy to scan and lovely to look at
Your calendar is more than just a list of dates and times—it’s your life! So Calendar’s new Schedule view includes photos and maps of the places you’re going, cityscapes of travel destinations, and illustrations of everyday events like dinner, drinks and yoga. These images will bring a little extra beauty to your day, and make it easy to see what’s going on at a glance—perfect for when you’re checking in from your phone or tablet.
The new Google Calendar will work on all Android 4.1+ devices. It’s available today on all devices running Android 5.0 Lollipop, and you’ll be able to download the update from Google Play in the coming weeks. (And yes, we’re also working on a version for iPhone!) Learn more on
our website
.
Know where to go, stay up-to-date and more with Google Calendar
December 4, 2013
Posted by Boris Khvostichenko, Product Manager
When life gets busy, you rely on your calendar to keep track of what you need to do and where you need to be. And to help you stay on top of things, Google Calendar is getting a bunch of improvements, just in time for the extra busy holiday season!
Know where to go with Google Maps autocomplete
Creating events in Google Calendar is now faster with autocomplete predictions from Google Maps. Calendar will autocomplete addresses as you type so you can quickly and accurately add locations to your events.
Your friends can then simply click on the “map” link to make sure you all end up at the right place.
Instantly see relevant events as you search
Don’t know which day you’re meeting a friend for lunch? You can now instantly see relevant events and contacts as you search in Calendar so you can save time and quickly find the information you’re looking for.
Stay up-to-date with events that update as Google Groups change
You can invite a lot of people to a Calendar event by
sending an invitation to a single Google Group
. To help your calendar stay up-to-date with group changes, event guest lists will now automatically update as people join or leave a group. This way you don’t have to worry about missing any events organized by a new group you joined or having your calendar filled with events that no longer matter.
Hide morning and night hours in Calendar
November 28, 2011
Posted by Oleksandr Kyreiev, Software Engineer
How often do you have something scheduled at 3am? What about 10pm? If the answer is almost never, you might want to try out the
Hide morning and night
lab in Google Calendar.
With a simple drag of a slider you can fold all those empty hours into a single row to set the time range you want to hide. The folded rows still show all your events, just in more compact form.
We're launching this in Calendar Labs (
Settings > Labs
) to gather feedback on how people end up using this feature. So don’t forget to
tell us what you think
about this latest addition.
Suggested times in Google Calendar
November 3, 2011
Posted by: Lode Vandevenne, Software Engineer
Creating an event is easy, but finding a time that works for everyone is sometimes tricky and time consuming. To make this easier and save you time, we’ve added a new 'Suggested times' feature to Google Calendar.
To get started, create a calendar event, add guests and click
Suggested times
. The resulting list will include upcoming times where all participants are available. For example if you want to create an hour long meeting with Kara, and she already has an hour long meeting at 3pm, then times like 2pm and 4pm will be suggested.
As part of our ongoing commitment to accessibility, the list can also be navigated using the arrow keys and is accessible with a screen reader.
For more information, please visit the
help center
.
Improved accessibility for Google Calendar
September 14, 2011
Posted by: Florian Niemann, Software Engineer
Today we
announced
some of the updates we’ve released recently to make Google’s applications more accessible to the blind community. Google Calendar now has new keyboard shortcuts and better
screen reader
support for our blind users. Members of the blind community can now use
JAWS
,
VoiceOver
and
ChromeVox
to manage your calendars, create and edit events or simply browse your events. Here are a few examples of how screen readers and keyboard shortcuts work with Google Calendar:
In your
calendar lists
, you can use the up and down arrow keys to navigate between your calendars. For each calendar in the list, you’ll hear its name and can use the spacebar to turn the calendar on or off. To remove a calendar from the list, use the delete key.
In the
agenda view
, you can use the up and down arrow keys to move between events and use the left and right arrow keys to move between dates. To expand an event and expose the event details, press enter. To go to the event details page, type ‘e’. To remove an event, press delete. Although agenda view provides the best screen reader experience today, we are also working on improved accessibility for other views.
In the
guest list
on the create/edit event page, you can navigate around using the up and down arrow keys. Use the spacebar to switch a guest's status between optional and required. To remove a guest from the list, use the delete key.
Additional keyboard shortcuts make it easier to use Google Calendar no matter which view or screen you’re on. Type ‘c’ to create an event, ‘/’ to start a search, and ‘+’ to add a calendar.
For a complete list of keyboard shortcuts and to learn more about using Google Calendar with screen readers, please visit the
help center
. With these new accessibility features, we hope to make it easier for everyone to use Google Calendar. Please use
this form
to share your feedback directly with the accessibility team so we can continue to improve our products.
Introducing appointment slots in Google Calendar
June 6, 2011
Posted by Irene Chung, Software Engineer
Google Calendar has become indispensable for organizing my own time and sharing my schedule with friends and coworkers. But what about letting others know about my preferred availability? Likewise, when I look at my hairdresser's online calendar, I wonder why I can't just book the open slot instead of remembering to call during regular business hours. Now, with
appointment slots in Google Calendar
, any individual or business can manage appointment availability online 24/7.
Creating appointment slots
To get started, set up blocks of time you’d like to offer as appointment slots. Simply click anywhere on your calendar and then on "Appointment slots.” From there, create a single block of time or automatically split a larger block of time into smaller appointment slots.
Every Google Calendar has its own personal appointments sign up page; you can embed it on your website or give the URL directly to friends and clients. You can find the URL for your appointment page at the top of the set-up page, which you can access via the
Edit details
link.
Signing up for an appointment slot
When someone visits your sign up page, their calendar is overlaid for convenience and they can sign up directly for any available appointment slot. When they sign up, Google Calendar conveniently creates a new shared event on both of your calendars.
At Google, many people are already using appointment slots to manage their office hours or even schedule appointments with on-site fitness instructors. We’re starting to roll it out widely today, and appointment slots should be available for everyone within the next few days. I'm pretty excited to tell my hairdresser about it, and I can't wait to see all of you start to use it too.
Change Google Calendar’s default meeting length and more print options
June 1, 2011
Posted by Grace Kwak, Product Manager
Today we’re adding two features that make it easier to customize Google Calendar. First, you can now change your default event length from the standard 30 minute slot. If you frequently create 15 minute meetings, for example, you can now make 15 minutes the default length for all your events. This way, you don’t need to click into the event page to change the duration every time.
You can change the default length of your events from the Calendar settings page. Next to the “Default meeting length” option, choose the length you’d like from the drop-down menu on the right. From there, you can also enable “Speedy meetings,” which automatically shortens events that are 30 minutes or longer to allow you to prep for your next meeting or get to your next appointment if you have a packed schedule.
Second, for those of you who still prefer paper and print your calendar, you can now select a specific date range in the print dialog box. Google Calendar will automatically format your printout for the date range you choose.
We hope you find these new customization options useful. Let us know what you think on Twitter (@googlecalendar) or in the
Google Calendar Help Forum
.
Color code your Google Calendar events
May 9, 2011
Posted by Michelle Chen, Software Engineer
If your calendar ends up full of many different types of events (film nights, lunch dates, and doctor appointments, for example), there’s now an easy way to categorize them using colors.
Just click on an event, then click the colored square in the top left of the pop-up bubble and pick a new color. If you don’t see this option quite yet, hang tight — it'll be there for everyone within the next day or so.
Only you and anyone else you’ve given edit access to your calendar will be able to see the colors you choose. This has been a feature request from many of you for some time, and we hope you enjoy using it as much as we do.
Google Calendar Sync upgrades Outlook 2010 support
April 27, 2011
Posted by Gregory Yakushev, Google Calendar Team
Google Calendar sync
started supporting the 32-bit version of Outlook 2010
back in August. Outlook sync has continued to be a top feature request, which is why we’ve continued to improve upon it and are pleased to announce that Calendar Sync now supports the 64-bit version too.
To start syncing your calendar with the 64-bit version of Outlook 2010,
download Google Calendar Sync version 0.9.4.1
. When the Settings window appears, enter your email address and password, choose your
sync option
and frequency, and you’ll be all set. Note that if you’re already using Google Calendar Sync, you’ll need to download and install this new version in order to be able to sync with 64-bit Outlook (we’re in the process of auto-updating everyone but reinstalling will ensure it works for you). For more info, take a look at our
getting started guide
.
We want you to be able to access Google Calendar anywhere, anytime. If you have any feedback please drop us a line on Twitter (@googlecalendar) or in the
Google Calendar Help Forum
.
5 years of Google Calendar and a new (useful) favicon
April 13, 2011
Posted by David Tattersall, Product Manager
On April 13th, 2006 we
released Google Calendar
to the world. What started as an experimental project by several Googlers has grown to become a service that millions of people rely on every day. From photography studios to schools to airlines to supermarkets, we discover new ways people are using Calendar all the time.
A birthday wouldn’t be a birthday without a little present, so today we’re happy to announce our latest tiny addition: the up-to-date favicon. When you look at the Google Calendar icon at the top of your browser window, it will no longer always display “31” but will instead change to reflect the current day of the month. Today’s date is now always a short glance away.
If you don’t see the new up-to-date favicon already, you should within the next couple of days. To keep up-to-date on all things Google Calendar, check out
our Twitter account
(and feel free to tell us how you’re using Calendar too).
The Google Calendar team celebrating our 5th birthday at
Google Zurich
Event time zones in Google Calendar
December 7, 2010
Posted by Oleksandr Kyreiev, Software Engineer
Dealing with time zones can be a headache. Whether you’re a regular traveler or trying to plan ahead for your weekend in Paris, it’s often difficult to keep track of time differences. We’ve heard your feedback and are pleased to announce a new addition to Google Calendar: event time zones.
With event time zones, you can specify the time zone for a given event. So when you’re home in Florida, you can more easily set up dinner with your friend in Paris for the following week. Events will appear on your calendar according to the current time zone you’re in, and when you change to your destination time zone they’ll be in the right place. Just click the “Time zone” link to the right of the date and time fields on the event page. You can even set up events which start in one time zone and end in another, ideal for those of you who fly often.
Optional attendees in Google Calendar
November 29, 2010
Posted by Karol Stosiek, Software Engineering Intern
Time is one of our most precious resources. Despite their necessity, meetings tend to vary in importance for different attendees. John might be really interested in his team’s weekly meeting, whereas Jane, who is working on a unrelated project, may want to skip it.
Guests’ roles in meetings tend to vary as well. Some people have to be there to lead the meeting or help make decisions, whereas others are gathering information they may be able to digest just as well via the notes. Without knowing which attendees are crucial and which are optional, it can be difficult to know which meetings you really need to attend.
That’s where Google Calendar’s new “Optional attendees” feature comes in. With a couple clicks, you can openly communicate the importance of a meeting for each attendee. Click on the “Make some attendees optional link” above the guest list and then toggle the role of each attendee by clicking the icon next to his or her name. So far, this feature has helped us more effectively manage our own time on the Calendar team — we hope it does the same for you.
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