How is Google Calendar different from Outlook calendar?
Google Calendar covers the same ground as Outlook calendar, but it runs in the browser and on phones rather than inside a mail client. You open it from the app menu in Gmail, from calendar.google.com, or in the Google Calendar app.
The main differences are in layout and settings. Each calendar you can see appears in a list on the left, and you turn it on or off with a checkbox. Settings for each calendar, including sharing, live under that calendar's options rather than in one central place. New events can include a Google Meet link automatically, so a meeting often has a video call attached before you add anything.
Will your Outlook meetings move to Google Calendar?
Yes. In a managed migration, your calendar events, including recurring series, come across with their dates, times, attendees, and descriptions. Our Standard and Premium plans move email, contacts, calendars, and files.
A few things are worth checking after the move:
- Older invites may still contain a Microsoft Teams link in the description. That link still points to Teams, so update recurring meetings you own with a Meet link.
- Meetings organized by people outside your organization stay under their control. You still see them, but changes come from the organizer.
- Rooms need to be set up as resources in Google Workspace before people can book them again.
Our Google Workspace migration checklist includes a calendar review step.
How do you share a calendar or give someone delegate access?
You share a calendar from its settings by adding a person and choosing a permission level. The levels run from seeing only free and busy time, to seeing all event details, to making changes, to making changes and managing sharing.
For an executive assistant, the usual setup is "make changes and manage sharing" on the executive's calendar, plus Gmail delegation if they also handle email. Set this up before cutover and test it with the people involved. Assistants notice gaps first, and a broken delegate setup on day one is hard to recover from.
Inside your organization, people can usually see each other's free and busy time, depending on your admin settings. You can share more detail with specific colleagues when that helps.
How do you book rooms and find a time that works?
Admins add rooms and equipment as resources in the Admin console, and people book them by adding the room to an event, much like a guest. Each room shows whether it is free, so people can check availability before they book.
To find a time, create an event, add guests, and open the find a time view. It lays out everyone's calendars side by side, much like the Scheduling Assistant in Outlook. Calendar can also suggest times when all required guests are free.
Set your working hours in settings so people get a warning when they invite you outside them. For booking with people outside your organization, appointment schedules let others pick an open slot from a booking page. Some of these features depend on your plan, so check before you train people on them.
Can you keep using Outlook with Google Calendar?
Yes. Windows users can connect Outlook to Google Workspace through Google Workspace Sync for Microsoft Outlook, which syncs mail, calendar, and contacts. That helps people who are not ready to change everything at once.
It works better as a bridge than a destination. People who stay in Outlook miss features that only appear in the browser and phone apps, and your help desk ends up supporting two setups. Consider setting a date to move everyone to the Google apps.
For the email side, see Outlook to Gmail: what changes for your users. Meetings get their own guide, Google Meet for Microsoft Teams users, and the Google Workspace adoption and training guide covers the full rollout.
Next step
To get assistants, shared calendars, and rooms working before day one, see our support and training services or talk to us.
Frequently asked questions
Can people outside my company see my Google Calendar?
Only if you or your admin allow it. Admins control how much calendar detail can be shared outside the organization, and each person can share a calendar with specific outside contacts. A sensible starting point is to limit external sharing to free and busy time.
How do I set an out of office in Google Calendar?
Create an event and choose Out of office. Calendar blocks the time and can decline new invitations during it. Set a vacation responder in Gmail settings as well, because the calendar entry and the email auto-reply are separate settings.
