How to share a family calendar across Google, Outlook and iPhone

The three ways to share

• One shared calendar inside one service. Best when everyone uses the same one. Family members can add and change events in the app they already use.
• Event invitations. Good for one-off plans across services. Google says you can invite anyone with an email address, even if they do not use Google Calendar.
• A subscription link (iCal or ICS). Works across Google, Outlook and iPhone, but the copy you see is read-only and updates on a delay.

Where to find each option

Option 1: a shared family calendar

• Google. When you create a family on Google, a calendar called "Family" is created automatically. Anyone in the family can change its events, and it appears when they open Google Calendar on any device where they are signed in.
• Outlook.com. Adding members to your family group at account.microsoft.com/family creates a shared calendar called Your family. Microsoft says it only appears in Outlook.com and the Outlook mobile app. You can also share any Outlook.com calendar with one person, but people on other services, such as Gmail, can only accept with an Outlook.com or Microsoft 365 account.
• Apple. Family Sharing lets a family share a calendar. You can also share an iCloud calendar from the Calendar app: tap the Calendars button, tap the Info button next to the calendar, then tap Add Person. Apple says people you share with privately need an Apple Account and iCloud.

Option 2: invite people to events

For a school play or a dentist appointment, adding family members as guests is often enough. In Google Calendar, open the event, select Edit event, and add people under Guests. They get an email invitation and can reply Yes, No or Maybe. This works well for single events but does not give anyone a view of your whole week.

Option 3: subscribe with an iCal link

An iCal or ICS link lets one calendar app show a calendar from another. The subscribed copy is read-only, and the app fetches updates on its own schedule.

Get the secret iCal address in Google Calendar

1. On a computer, open Google Calendar.
2. In the top right, click the Settings gear, then Settings.
3. On the left, under "Settings for my calendars", click the calendar you want.
4. Click Integrate calendar.
5. In the "Secret address in iCal format" section, copy the link.
6. Paste it into the other app, following its instructions.

Google says only you should know this address, and that if you want someone else to view your calendar, you should share the calendar with them instead. The secret address is for showing your own calendar inside another app you use. For your own Google calendar on your own iPhone, signing in is better than a link, because you can add and edit events: go to Settings, tap Apps, then Calendar, then Calendar Accounts, tap Add Account, choose Google and sign in.

Publish an ICS link in Outlook.com or Outlook on the web

1. Open your calendar in Outlook.com or Outlook on the web.
2. Select Settings, then Calendar, then Shared calendars. (In Outlook on the web for work or school, select Settings, then Shared calendars.)
3. Under Publish a calendar, choose which calendar to publish and how much detail people can see.
4. Select Publish.
5. Copy the ICS link. The HTML link is for viewing the calendar in a web browser.

Microsoft says people who subscribe with the ICS link see your calendar alongside their own and receive your updates automatically. If they download and import the file instead, they get a snapshot that will not update. Either way, they cannot edit it.

Add a subscribed calendar on iPhone

Apple's steps for iOS 26 or later:

1. In Calendar, tap the Calendars button.
2. Tap Add Calendar, then tap Add Subscription Calendar.
3. Enter the calendar's web address, then tap Find.
4. Enter a title and choose a colour.
5. Next to Account, choose iCloud, so it appears on all your devices signed in with the same Apple Account.
6. Tap the Done button.

On iOS 18 or earlier, tap Calendars at the bottom of the screen, then Add Calendar, then Add Subscription Calendar. Enter the address, tap Subscribe, choose iCloud from the Account menu and tap Add. You can also subscribe by tapping a link to an .ics calendar. To remove one later, tap the Calendars button, tap the Info button next to it, then tap Unsubscribe.

Add a link in Google Calendar or Outlook

• Google Calendar. On a computer, next to "Other calendars", click Add other calendars, then From URL. Enter the address and click Add calendar. Google says you need a computer web browser to subscribe; you cannot do it in the Android, iPhone or iPad app.
• Outlook.com. In Calendar, select Add calendar, then Subscribe from web. Enter the URL and select Import.

How often subscribed calendars update

A subscribed calendar is a copy that the app fetches from time to time, not a live view. Microsoft says calendars subscribed in Outlook.com should update about every 3 hours, and about every 6 hours for work or school accounts in Outlook on the web, but both can take more than 24 hours. It also says that how often a published Outlook calendar syncs depends on the recipient's email provider.

So a change made this morning may not reach someone else's phone until later. For anything happening today, send a message or an event invitation as well.

Keep your links private

• Treat a link like a key. Microsoft says a published calendar is one anyone can view or subscribe to, and Apple says anyone you send a public calendar link to can subscribe to it. Only share links with people you trust, and never post them publicly.
• Reset a Google link that has leaked. If you shared your secret address by accident, Google says to click Reset, which makes the old address stop working and creates a new one. Then paste the new address into any app that used the old one.
• Unpublish in Outlook. Go to Settings, then Calendar, then Shared calendars, and under Publish a calendar select Unpublish.
• Think about detail. Outlook lets you choose how much detail a published calendar shows, and on iPhone, only turn on Public Calendar for a calendar you are happy for anyone with the link to see.

Work calendars

On a work or school account, your employer controls what you can share, so some options may be missing.

• Google work or school accounts. Google says your administrator decides whether you can share a work or school calendar, and may have changed the settings so the secret address is hidden. If you cannot find it, ask your admin.
• Microsoft 365. Microsoft says calendar sharing may not be available for your account, or may be limited to people in your organisation. Admins choose whether staff can share calendars outside the organisation at all, and whether people who do not sign in can see them.

Even where publishing is allowed, check your employer's policy before sending work details outside the organisation. Often a family only needs to know you are busy, not what the meeting is about. Dom's family calendar links each person's Google, Outlook or Apple calendar by its secret iCal address and can show work events only as "Work".