Google Calendar was the first truly great web-based calendar, and is the default calendar of millions of people to this day. But if you’re a Mac user, you probably don’t want to manage your calendar in a web browser, using an ugly user interface, like some kind of digital peasant.
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No, if you’re a Mac user, you want to use the beautiful calendar that comes with macOS, so you can get native Mac notifications for appointments and other integrations. As it turns out, you can easily add your Google Calendar to macOS’ Calendar app, so it will sync almost instantly. If you’ve already set up Google Calendar to sync with your iPhone, you should absolutely set it up to sync with your Mac too, so all of your appointments show up everywhere.
First, open System Preferences, and head to “Internet Accounts.”
There’s a chance your Google account is already here; check the accounts in the left panel and see. If not, click “Google” to add a new Google account.
A pop-up will allow you to sign into your Google account, just like you would in your browser. Google’s two-factor authentication is supported, which is essential.
Once your signed in, you’ll be asked which services you want to connect to your Google account. In my case, I only want the Calendar enabled, but feel free to check or uncheck other things if you’d like.
Now, let’s head to the Calendar application! You should see your new account in the sidebar, and if you head to Calendar > Preferences in the menu bar, you can configure how often your new account refreshes.
There’s a chance things aren’t quite working at this point, so here are a few troubleshooting tips:
If your account shows up but your calendars do not, I recommend restarting your Mac. I’m sure there’s a more targeted way to solve the issue, but restarting is what worked for me. If you’ve added sports schedules, weather, and TV listings to your Google Calendar, or need to see calendars other users have shared with you, make sure you head to the Delegations tab. That’s where you can enable those calendar. If some of your calendars aren’t showing up in the Delegations tab, head to https://calendar. google. com/calendar/syncselect in your browser and enable all the calendars you want to use.
You should now see your Google Calendar in your Mac’s Calendar app.
Test it by adding some appointments and seeing if they sync. Then, enjoy!
