Contactzilla
Back to Blog
Uncategorized •

How to sync iCloud to Google Calendar in 2024: Step-By-Step Guide

How to sync iCloud to Google Calendar in 2024: Step-By-Step Guide

Introduction

Syncing your calendars between iCloud and Google Calendar helps keep your schedule organized, whether you’re switching devices or managing events across platforms. While Apple and Google each offer powerful calendar services, they communicate in different ways. If you’re hoping to automatically see calendar updates in both directions – where events added in either calendar appear in the other and are editable from either – you’ll need third-party solutions. This guide explores your options for syncing iCloud calendars to Google Calendar, from one-way sync solutions to alternative methods. Use the Table of Contents below to skip ahead to the method you are looking for.

Why Sync iCloud with Google Calendar?

Most people need this sync for one of two reasons.

The first is a switch from your iPhone or iPad to Android devices, where accessing your existing iCloud calendar becomes essential.

The second is maintaining calendars across both platforms – perhaps using an iPad for personal life while Google Calendar runs your work schedule, or sharing family calendars when some members use iPhones and others use Android devices.

Each scenario requires a slightly different approach. A one-time switch focuses on moving your data (covered in this guide), while cross-platform use needs an ongoing sync solution.

Share read-only contact lists across 100’s of devices

14 DAY FREE TRIAL NO CREDIT CARD REQUIRED

Would you like a walkthrough? Book a demo

Understanding Two-Way Sync

Calendar synchronization sounds simple in theory. When you add an event dinner plan to your iOS device’s calendar, you’d want it to appear in Google Calendar. Similarly, when you schedule a gym session through Google Calendar, you’d expect to see it on your iPhone.

While true two-way sync isn’t natively possible between iCloud and Google Calendar, you can achieve a workable solution by combining two one-way methods. The main method in this guide shows how to push events from iCloud to Google Calendar, and we also cover the opposite method – How to set up Google Calendar in Apple Calendar (see ‘Additional Access Methods’ section). However, each method has limitations – events remain read-only in the receiving calendar. If you need true two-way synchronization with editing capabilities, skip ahead to our section on third-party solutions.

Tip 💡 : Transferring contacts between platforms? Learn how to seamlessly move your contacts from iCloud to Google in our comprehensive step-by-step guide.

How Syncing iCloud to Google Calendar Works

When you sync your calendar, you’re essentially creating a one-way subscription. Your iCloud calendar generates a URL that Google Calendar reads periodically. Here’s what this means…

The Sync Process

  1. Your iCloud calendar becomes a read-only feed for Google Calendar
  2. New events added to iCloud will appear in Google Calendar
  3. Changes made in Google Calendar won’t reflect back to iCloud

Privacy Implications

  1. When sharing from your iCloud account, your calendar becomes technically public though only accessible to those who have the specific sharing URL that you generate from iCloud.
  2. All event details in the shared calendar become visible to anyone with the link
  3. If you’re using Google Calendar through your work account (Google Workspace), be cautious. When you import your personal iCloud calendar, your company’s IT administrators can see all event details.

Understanding Your Sync Options

There are several approaches to managing calendars across platforms, each with different capabilities:

Public Calendar URL Method

This involves making your iCloud calendar public and importing it to Google Calendar. While simple, it comes with important privacy considerations.

Limitations

  1. Events must be added to the specific calendar you’ve made public
  2. Events are read-only in Google Calendar – you cannot edit or delete them
  3. You cannot control how frequently Google Calendar checks for updates
  4. Your calendar becomes technically ‘public’ (though only accessible via the specific URL)
  5. For work calendars Organization settings may prevent external sharing of iCloud calendars
  6. Google Workspace administrators can see all imported calendar details

Tip 💡 : Managing contacts for a team or group? Discover how to create and maintain a centralized address book with our guide to shared contact lists.

Step-by-Step: Syncing iCloud to Google Calendar

Getting Your iCloud Calendar URL:

1) Visit the icloud website and log into your account and open Calendar.

2) Select the calendar you want to access within Google from the sidebar and click the share icon next to your calendar. Enable ‘Public Calendar‘. Click ‘Copy Link’ to get your calendar’s URL.

Adding to Google Calendar

1) Go to calendar.google.com. Find the Other Calendars section in the left sidebar and click the + icon.

2) Select “From URL”

3) Paste your iCloud calendar URL and click ‘Add Calendar‘

Verifying the Sync

  1. In testing my iCloud calendar events appeared almost instantly in Google Calendar but it can take some hours.
  2. Check that the calendar appears under “Other Calendars”
  3. Confirm your events are visible and correctly displayed

Ensuring Events Appear in Google Calendar

When adding events to your iPhone/ipad calendar after setting up the public URL sync, make sure they’re being added to the correct calendar:

When adding a new event, scroll down in the event box and select your public iCloud calendar from the calendar dropdown. By default events may be going to another calendar.

During testing, events added to the correct public calendar appeared in Google Calendar. It was easy, however, to add an event to the wrong calendar (by default the Home calendar was being used) and then wonder why it wasn’t appearing in the Google calendar.

Important Note About Sync Timing

After setting up the public URL sync, apple calendar events will eventually appear in Google Calendar. However, this appears to be a limitation of the public URL method – You cannot control or adjust how frequently Google Calendar checks for updates from the iCloud calendar URL. During our testing, changes took varying times to appear, sometimes as much as a couple of hours. There are no settings available to speed up this process.

Additional Access Methods

How to setup Google Calendar in Apple Calendar

While our guide focuses on pushing iCloud calendars to Google Calendar, it’s worth noting that the reverse is also possible. If Google Calendar is your primary platform, Apple provides native integration through the Apple Calendar app. By adding your Google account to Apple Calendar settings, your Google events will appear and update automatically in Apple’s interface.

On your iOS device

1) Open your device Settings. Scroll down and tap Calendar

2)Tap Accounts then ‘Add Account’

3) Select Google and enter your Google account credentials. When you are prompted to grant iOS access to your Google account, hit ‘Continue’.

4) Choose which services to sync (ensure Calendar is enabled)

Note: Some Google Calendar features won’t be available in Apple Calendar, including email notifications for events, creating new Google calendars, and room scheduling.

Browser Access on Android

While other guides suggest accessing your iCloud calendar through your Android browser as a solution for cross-platform calendar management, Apple has restricted mobile access to iCloud.com on Android devices.

There is a workaround: using your browser’s ‘Desktop site’ option (found in the three-dot menu) lets you view and edit your iCloud calendar directly. However, navigating the desktop version of iCloud on a mobile screen is not ideal.

For a better experience, we recommend using either the Google Calendar app integration or the public calendar URL method described above.

Third-party Solutions for Google, iCloud and Outlook Sync (Two-way)

Reclaim.ai

An AI-powered solution starting at $8/month that offers intelligent calendar management with automatic scheduling and privacy features. While it currently only supports Google Calendar, its AI capabilities make it particularly valuable for busy professionals who need smart scheduling and automatic break planning.

OneCal

A privacy-focused option starting at $4/month that supports Google Calendar, Outlook, and iCloud integration. Users praise its real-time sync capabilities and customization options, allowing you to control exactly what information syncs between calendars. Particularly popular among professionals managing multiple calendars across platforms.

How to Transfer Icloud Calendar to Google – Switching Platforms

For those completely switching platforms, you can export your entire iCloud calendar history as a single file. This method works best on a desktop computer and creates a complete copy of your calendar events.

On Mac

1) Open the Apple Calendar app. Click File > Export > Export

2) Choose a location to save the .ics file. Give the file a name and click Export.

Adding to Google Calendar

1) Visit calendar.google.com and click the Settings gear icon.

2) Click “Import & export” from the left sidebar

3) Click ‘Select file from your computer‘. Choose your exported .ics file and select which Google calendar to import to. Click Import.

4) The import should then go ahead. For me 10 out of the 11 events were imported with no explanation of why the 11th wasnt. In fact the message was quite ambiguous and did leave me wondering… Still, 10 out of 11 was good enough for me on this occasion.

Important Notes:

  1. This creates a one-time copy of your events
  2. Future changes to either calendar won’t sync
  3. All historical events and details are preserved
  4. You can only import from a computer, not a mobile device
  5. Events won’t be duplicated if you import multiple times

Frequently Asked Questions – How to sync iCloud to Google Calendar

Can you share icloud calendar with Gmail

Yes, you can share an iCloud calendar with Google by making your iCloud calendar public and adding it to Google Calendar using a special URL. This creates a one-way sync where events from iCloud appear in Google Calendar as read-only entries. While you can’t edit the events in Google Calendar, any changes made in iCloud will sync to Gmail automatically.

Can I sync multiple iCloud calendars with Google?

Yes, you can sync multiple iCloud calendars with Google Calendar by making each iCloud calendar public and adding them individually to Google Calendar using their unique URLs. Each calendar needs to be shared separately and will appear as a read-only calendar in Google Calendar under “Other calendars.”

Why isn’t my iPhone calendar syncing with my Google Calendar?

Your iPhone calendar may not be syncing with Google Calendar due to these common issues:

  1. Calendar Selection:
  2. Events added to wrong iCloud calendar (must use the specific calendar you made public)
  3. Google calendars not enabled in Calendar app
  4. Account Settings:
  5. Incorrect Google account connected
  6. Calendar sync toggle disabled in Settings
  7. Permission Issues:
  8. Google Workspace restrictions
  9. Organization blocking external calendar sharing

How often does Google Calendar sync with iCloud?

Google Calendar does not sync in real-time with iCloud Calendar. When using the public URL method, there is a delay in syncing changes, with updates taking anywhere from several minutes up to 24 hours to appear. This sync timing cannot be adjusted or controlled, as Google Calendar determines when to check for updates from the iCloud calendar URL.

How can I connect my personal and work Google Calendar?

To connect personal and work Google Calendars:

  1. Share Your Personal Calendar:
  2. Open personal Google Calendar settings
  3. Click “Share with specific people”
  4. Add your work email
  5. Select “See all event details”
  6. Add to Work Calendar:
  7. Open work email
  8. Accept calendar sharing invitation
  9. Calendar appears under “Other calendars”

Note: Events will be visible to work account administrators. For privacy, consider using a third-party sync tool that shows only “Busy” status instead of full event details.

Can I edit iCloud calendar events from Google Calendar?

No, you cannot edit iCloud calendar events from Google Calendar using the public URL method – events are read-only. However, third-party tools like SyncPenguin and CalendarBridge offer true two-way sync between iCloud and Google Calendar with instant updates, allowing you to edit events from either platform. Note that these solutions typically require a paid subscription.

Contact management

For Teams

Share contact lists across hundreds of devices