If you don't use Gmail for email but need to sync Outlook Calendar with a smartphone, Outlook.com is an option. If you own your own domain name, Office 365 hosted Exchange offers a much better sync experience.
At this time, the only way to sync a calendar between Outlook (Windows desktop) and free Gmail email accounts that syncs both ways and allows you to create events in Outlook is using a utility. If you only need to view a calendar in Outlook and won't be adding appointments to it, you can subscribe the Google calendar in Outlook's File, Account Settings, Subscribed Calendars. This creates a read-only calendar in Outlook! (It also triggers send and receive errors which are harmless but annoying.)
Sync Outlook to Google Calendar, Contacts, Tasks! Two-way sync is enabled by default, or choose one way sync. Set the Auto Sync feature for every 15 minutes or manually sync on your own. Outlook Categories map to Google Groups One user-license is valid on up to 3 PCs. Free Trial Available.G-Suite subscribers can use a sync utility provided by Google.
Microsoft is working on a "Microsoft Cloud" solution that will sync Gmail calendar & Contacts to Outlook using a Microsoft Exchange account. It is available in Outlook 2016 for Mac and the Outlook app for smartphones but is not yet available in Outlook for Windows.
You can use one of the following utilities to sync your Outlook calendar (and contacts) with Gmail.
Tools in the Spotlight
Do you need a solution to sync Outlook and Gmail Calendar and Contacts when Gmail ends ActiveSync? CompanionLink keeps Microsoft Outlook and your Google account synchronized. Make changes in Outlook and those will update your Google account. And vice versa. Set the auto-sync feature to automate the entire process. CompanionLink works with any Google, Gmail, or Google Apps account. | |
CompanionLink synchronizes Outlook data with phones and other supported desktop applications and web-based services (like Google). Companionlink supports all versions of Outlook, including Outlook 2013 32-bit and 64-bit, and Windows 10. Version 9 |
Tools
Sync Outlook using Sync2 for Microsoft Outlook without a server. Sync Microsoft Outlook with Google Calendar, and Android phone. Synchronize Microsoft Outlook between multiple PCs using an external USB device, shared network folder of FTP. Share Outlook Calendar with Google Calendars. Sync Outlook Calendar, Contacts and Tasks folders. Includes improved product installation process and first start user experience. The update comes with improved performance of the software. Try the new Sync2 2.86 version now. | |
Use AkrutoSync to synchronize your Outlook Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes directly with any Android, iOS (iPhone or iPad) or Windows Phone devices. AkrutoSync runs on your computer, not in the cloud. The program works with the phone's built-in apps, so there are no additional apps to install on the phone. After the initial set-up, the program syncs automatically. It works over Wi-Fi or the Internet. Akruto syncs Outlook with unlimited number of phones and tablets even if they are different brands and operating systems. Synchronization history feature lets you restore data if you change or delete something inadvertently. | |
Software to sync Outlook Calendar appointments with Google Calendar events. Allows you to sync one-way with either Outlook or Google as master as well as 2way sync by last changed appointments/events. Option to schedule a sync at regular intervals. | |
CompanionLink for Mac keeps Outlook for Mac contacts, calendars, tasks, and categories synchronized with either a Google account, smartphone, or tablet. You can choose your destination in the Settings menu of the software. Two-way direct sync. | |
Contacts Sync - Synchronize Outlook Contacts with Gmail - Freeware and Pro version. 2way contacts sync, sync Outlook Categories, pictures, notes, sync by last changed contact, skip Outlook Category, sync Outlook Contacts to 2 Gmail accounts, Preview Sync with option to download entire Outlook/Gmail contact list as single CSV file and more. | |
EVO Collaborator for Outlook is a CardDAV and CalDAV add-in supporting 32 and 64 bit Outlook 2007 to 2013. Sync Outlook address books with CardDAV servers and calendars and tasks with CalDAV servers. Works with SabreDAV based WebDAV servers, iCloud and Yahoo and AOL (in read only mode). Map Outlooks default address book, calendar or task within a CardDAV/CalDAV profile. | |
GO Contact Sync Mod synchronizes your Microsoft Outlook contacts with your Google Mail address book, including pictures, categories and notes. Since version 3.5.6 it also syncs your Outlook Notes on demand to Google Drive. Since version 3.7.0 it also syncs your Outlook Calendar Appointments on demand to Google Calendar. This Mod fork adds many enhancements and bug fixes to the obviously dead project 'Go Contact Sync'. | |
gSyncit is an Outlook add-in that allows for two-way synchronization between Outlook calendars, contacts, notes, and tasks with your Google, iCloud, AOL, Fruxx, Yahoo, Memotoo and many other "DAV" enabled services. Also includes support for syncing attachments for calendar events. Works with Microsoft Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021 or Office 365 (Desktop Client) on Windows 7 and newer. | |
Outlook CalDav Synchronizer is a free Outlook Plugin, which synchronizes events, tasks and contacts between Outlook and Google, SOGo, Nextcloud or any other CalDAV or CardDAV server. Supported Outlook versions are Office 365, 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010 and 2007. | |
Outlook Google Calendar Sync is completely free and syncs between any Outlook calendar and a Google calendar of your choice - either in a single direction or two-way. Attendees, reminders, free/busy attributes are all synced, events can be merged with existing if necessary, and even words in calendar subject's can be obfuscated if you have security concerns. Syncs can be configured on an automatic schedule, or simply upon request. It does not need to be installed (can just be unzipped) and works behind web proxies. Supports Outlook 2003 right through to Outlook 2016 64-bit! | |
Outlook4Gmail is a free Outlook add-in providing easy contacts synchronization of your Outlook and Gmail accounts and address books.This add-in uses these Outlook and Gmail contact details: Name, Company, Phones, Emails, Addresses, Dates, Persons, Notes, etc. You define the direction of synchronization/update: you can sync or update either the Outlook or the Gmail address book (one-way synchronization) or choose to update both accounts simultaneously (two-way synchronization). Paid version syncs Gmail calendar too. | |
Automatically synchronize your Outlook calendar and contacts with Google or iCloud. Access Outlook calendar and contacts on your Android phone or iPhone/iPad. |
You can create a Gmail account using your email address, then sync your Outlook calendar with the Gmail calendar and Android devices.
More Information
Additional articles on using Gmail with Outlook
J.B. says
Per Support at Outlook for Android, the "Microsoft Cloud" sync solution mentioned in the story above for adding internet calendar sync to Office 365 Exchange customers is currently rolling out. Presently (03/25/2018) it is not yet available on the servers for my domain, but the rollout is expected to be completed "in a few weeks." Please join me in prayer. :-) - JBD
Diane Poremsky says
Yeah, they are slowly adding accounts to the Microsoft Cloud, in part because it's considered a beta service.
It's not expected to be offered to Outlook windows desktop users for months though, in part because of the sheer number of users and making sure the service can handle the volume.
Assaf Amir says
Hi, I have an office 365 account using my own domain. How can I check if my account has the "Microsoft cloud " ?
Diane Poremsky says
If you have a custom domain hosted in either outlook.com using their custom domain program or in a business account in office 365, it is in the microsoft cloud.
Gmail/ google accounts would be the only thing using the 'microsoft cloud' at this time - to bring calendar & contact sync to mobile devices and mac outlook.
Gary says
Hello, Diane. For personal accounts and devices... I am moving (sigh) from WP to Android, as generic as possible. I use Outlook 2010 on 2 PCs. I have at least 1 Outlook.com account, where my contacts, etc. are sometimes successfully synced with my desktop and WP, and other email accounts that do not require syncing other than mail. I plan to use my Outlook.com account as primary on my Android, with no GMail account (rebel). I do not require real-time sync, although syncing via Outlook.com will probably do that. I've narrowed down to CompanionLink, AkrutoSync, as I am more looking to sync Outlook/Office to Android than to Google. I have already installed Outlook for Android. Most discussions are related to Google sync. Muchas Gracias.
Diane Poremsky says
if you have outlook.com account, you don't need anything to sync - set the account up in outlook (autoaccount setup will add it as an exchange account) and add it to the android - if using the native app, choose exchange account type and outlook.office365.com if asked.
Josh says
Hi Diane, I work for an educational non-profit that currently uses MS Outlook (2010, 2013, 2016, 2011 for Mac and 2016 for Mac) and would like to start using Google Calendar for their calendaring solution. We are looking for a calendar sync solution so that folks can still use their Outlook calendar to interface, two way sync, with Google Calendars. We currently have G Suite for Non-Profit (Education) and we also have a number of Mac users that we need to accommodate. We need a calendar sync solution for around 60 employees. Can you recommend a calendar sync solution for this situation?
Diane Poremsky says
companionlink will likely work best right now, but microsoft is working on a solution that syncs gmail calendar & contacts via the Microsoft cloud. It's in early testing and likely won't be widely available for 6 months (or more).
Testing says
Almost 1.5 years later....
Diane Poremsky says
for the Microsoft cloud? It's enabled in Mac and the mobile devices, plus windows 10 mail, but the sheer numbers of outlook desktop uses with Gmail accounts means they need to be 00% sure the backend can handle the traffic.
Dave says
Hi Diane,
I recently retired and migrated off of a hosted MS Exchange 2010 account that synced with my desktop and also with my Android phone (via ActiveSync). Emails, calendar, contacts, etc. worked perfectly in every direction.
Now I have an account on Outlook.com and my personal Win 8.1 PC has the Office 2013 retail client that includes Outlook 2013. I have a new Android phone (GS7-not the jihad/Note version), which is registered with a Google account.
The PC’s Outlook syncs with the Outlook.com account OK. However, I’ve been struggling with how to get the same level of functionality on the phone without opening Outlook.com on a phone browser. I tried the Play Store’s MS Outlook for Android but it was very wanting (although MS is updating it frequently). It has nowhere near the full functionality of PC Outlook. Email is ok, but contacts, etc. is bad. Many calls to MS support proved that.
I’ve searched several web sites for a solution, but most of the postings dated into 2015 and earlier. I would greatly appreciate suggestions of how to set up the phone to work seamlessly with Outlook and have the same functionality. At this time, I would like to stay with an all-Microsoft solution if it’s possible, and resist the slippery slide into the world of Google (past experience was that its contact fields were only a subset of Outlook's, so my contacts were getting truncated). Also, I’m not ready for Office 365 unless it completely solves the problem.
Thanks!
Dave
Diane Poremsky says
There is no client for Android (or Apple) that offers the full functionality of the rich desktop client. Your options are either the native email app or the outlook app. Main difference is the outlook app hase calendar & people in one app with mail, not individual apps.
With Outlook.com on the new server, set up the account as Exchange (sometimes called Corporate). If asked for a server name, use outlook.office365.com.
Søren Weiss Hartmamm says
Setting up an Outlook.com mail which then retrieves the mail for you own mail. The outlook.com mail is sync with Outlook on you PC as well as any given mail system on your phone. This is a robust setup, which allows you to add and edit, mail, calendar, contacts on PC, Outlook.com and phone. The only drawback is that 5-10 min delay from Outlook receives mail form your initial mail system.
Dave says
Hi Soren, My experiences with Outlook.com through September were not that good. It did not handle contacts or contact edits well at all. Have you been able to make it sync contacts both ways from an Android?
Diane Poremsky says
The calendar & contacts should sync both ways. Is mail syncing?
Patrick says
I am looking for the best way to sync Calendar & Contact & Tasks of Outlook 2016 on my PC with my iphone and other PCs.
My main email address is IMAP (not Exchange Active Sync), therefore I am looking for an external solution.
I am considering two options: 1/Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook® (paid) and 2/iCloud (free)
Is one of them to be preferred, and for which reasons?
Diane Poremsky says
With iphones, i generally recommend sticking with the apple solution but if your email address is google, then I'd use a utility that syncs outlook to gmail.
Soren Weiss Hartmann says
Icloud is another option. If you create an mail account with Apple, you can sync your Android over the Icloud sky. This only requires that you download Apples Icluod app to your computer and i.e Icould sync to your Android.
Kathryn Kelly says
I just discovered IQTELL. It seems to work great, and the basic version is free. It will sync up to five emails, including Gmail and Outlook, and calendars, etc., for about $5 a month. I am in the 30-day free trial period but so far it is exceeding expectations.
Marie Kennedy says
I purchased 2 licenses of gSyncit for my husband and myself when Google stopped their support of Calendar sync back on Aug. 1. Both my husband and I set up different appointments in Outlook and invite each other to our appointments. I thought everything was working fine but both my husband and I just noticed that for the person that set up the appointment in Outlook, that appointment does not sync over to Google Calendar. If I set up the appointment in Outlook and invite my husband, that appointment shows in his Google Calendar but not in my own Google Calendar. This is happening consistently to each of us. We only sync our Calendars and we only sync one-way from Outlook to Google Calendar using gSyncit. Any ideas why this is happening?? Thanks!
Gerhard Klooster says
i am new to syncing calendars. i want to sync my wife‘s calendar (to be newly established) on the android phone and my outlook work calendar. i have a blackberry phone, which syncs my work calendar on the phone. is there a solution?
Thanks,
Gerhard
Diane Poremsky says
Is your wife's calendar only on the phone or is it in gmail etc? The short version: you can't directly sync your calendar with your wife - she'd need to open your work mailbox on her phone and add her appt to it. However, you should be able to view her calendar on your phone and she might be able to view yours, depending on what mail server you use and what sharing option it supports.
Christina says
Hi
I am trying to synch google calendar with outlook and the iphone. I don't want to import it. I want the google calendar the events that I schedule there to come up in my outlook 2010 calendar. Can anyone assist?
Diane Poremsky says
You'll need to use a sync utility - because iPhone syncs with gmail, I recommend a utility that sync outlook to gmail, which is any of the addins on the page. If you didn't need gmail calendar in Outlook, you could use iCloud to sync iPhone to Outlook. If you are using a utility to sync gmail and outlook, you will not need to sync outlook to the phone using iCloud or iTunes.
Nijel says
Thanks for a great write up, I'm newly in need of a syncing tool for a bi-directional sync between an Outlook 2007, Gmail account, and an iPhone 5. I believe gSyncit will fit the bill nicely.
Does anyone have any altnernate suggestions or advice before I purchase gSyncit?
Diane Poremsky says
CompanionLink is also good - but gsyncit should work nicely.
Nijel says
Thank you Diane. I'll check them out.
sunk818 says
I've given up on trying to sync between outlook and gmail. Outlook does not support caldav properly so there will not be an accurate bidirectional sync between the two. My suggestion is to use your ios device to access both calendars with full writes. For outlook add google calendar as a read only. If you have outlook 365, then you can also publish your read only calendar for google to import.
Brian says
Correct. They should have changed the name. It is a newer feature that they got working in the past couple months and then fixed now that Google has moved to the new API version 3.
Brian says
It will do both or either.
GO Contact Sync Mod synchronizes your Microsoft Outlook contacts with your Google Mail address book, including pictures, categories and notes. Since version 3.5.6 it also syncs your Outlook Notes on demand to Google Drive. Since version 3.7.0 it also syncs your Outlook Calendar Appointments on demand to Google Calendar. This Mod fork adds many enhancements and bug fixes to the obviously dead project 'Go Contact Sync'.
sunk818 says
What a terrible name for a program if it sync contacts and calendar entries. It looks like the Calendar sync feature is a recent enhancement.
Diane Poremsky says
... and one page at source forge (googlesyncmod.sourceforge.net) doesn't mention calendar sync, which adds to the confusion.
Rex says
Thanks for the great information Diane. I am looking to sync my Galaxy S5 with two desktop computer Outlook calendars; home and work. I do have a Google account and was using the Google calendar sync app before they stopped supporting it. The only benefit of syncing through Google is I have all my contacts up to date there. With that said, I don't mind bypassing Google and syncing direct from the phone to the desktop(s). My work computer is a government computer so I am looking to avoid ad-ins to Microsoft. I am only looking to sync my calendars and my contacts.. not email. Which sync software would you recommend? Thakns
Diane Poremsky says
I like companionlink and gsyncit - both are reliable and work well.
Bruce Wolf says
Many thanks for a nice overview. In my situation, where updates are centrally administered, Sync2 can not be installed as it requires a .NET Framework update which I can not install as a user.
Brian says
There is a free one out there...googlesyncmod from sourceforge.net is free. It will also sync your contacts (or you can turn that off).
Diane Poremsky says
According to the webpage at sourceforge, it's contacts sync only, not calendar.
Sun Kim says
Do you know of any free tools that will sync at least multiple Calendars between Outlook and Google Calendar?
Diane Poremsky says
There aren't many that are free for one calendar - https://www.syncmycal.com/ and https://www.pppindia.com/calendar-sync/index.html each have a free option, but may not sync multiple calendars.
sunk818 says
I ended up buying Sync2 from 4Team (with a discount code). I was a little worried since the web site and application interface looked amateurish... but it actually does the job of syncing multiple calendars, contacts, and tasks very well. The interface is a little kludgy when you are mapping an Outlook calendar to Google calendar, but I was able to figure it out.
HouTraFo says
Thank you. Calendar Sync is awesome.
Sun Kim says
I used Sync2 for multiple Calendars.
Chr says
Can we do this in reverse? i want to sync the Outlook with in the Google Calender but show as a different Calender.
Diane Poremsky says
Not using that sync utility. It syncs only with the default calendar. You could use a different utility, such as gsyncit. See the tools list here: https://www.slipstick.com/outlook/sync-outlook/synchronizing-outlook-google-accounts/#tools
Dylan says
Hi - I successfully synced Google Calendar with Outlook 2013 using your utility but it did not add a new calendar in my Outlook (one that I can check and uncheck from my work calendar view). It just layered on the Google Calendar entries into the main work calendar. Is it possible to separate both?
Diane Poremsky says
The google sync utility (it's actually google's, not mine, but they no longer support it), works with the default calendar. If you want a separate calendar and don't mind if its ready only, you can add the google calendar as an ics. In the google calendar, click Gear icon > Settings > Calendars link > double click on Calendar > Private Address > click ical button. Copy url, paste into Outlook's File, Account Settings, Internet Calendar, Add.