Shared Family Calendar Across Google and Outlook

Every household has the same logistics problem and a slightly different version of it. Yours might be that one partner has lived in Google Calendar for a decade, the other's whole work life runs through Outlook, and the kids' schedules, the dog's vet visits, and "who's picking up tonight" fall into the cracks between the two. You don't need everyone to use the same app. You need both apps to agree on the family's plans.

Why "just share a calendar" doesn't work across providers

Within a single ecosystem, sharing is easy: two Google users can share a Google calendar, two Outlook users can share an Outlook one. The wall goes up the moment the household spans both.

Outlook can subscribe to a Google calendar's public link, but it's read-only and slow - often hours behind - so the Outlook partner can see events but can't add to them, and can't trust the times.
Exporting and re-importing an .ics file gives you a snapshot that's stale the instant anyone changes anything.
Email invites for every single family event turn coordination into a chore nobody keeps up.

What a family actually needs is a single shared calendar that both providers treat as live and editable - where either parent can drop in an appointment from whichever app they already have open, and it just appears for the other.

What a real shared family calendar looks like

The goal is one calendar - call it "Family" - that exists in both worlds at once:

The Google parent sees Family alongside their personal calendars in Google.
The Outlook parent sees the same Family calendar alongside theirs in Outlook.
Either one adds "parents' evening, Thursday 6pm," and within about a minute it's on the other's calendar too.
Cancel "swimming" and it clears for everyone.

This is two-way, real-time sync, and it's the difference between a family calendar people actually maintain and one that quietly goes out of date.

How Calendar Family solves it

Calendar Family links one partner's Google account and the other's Microsoft/Outlook account, then keeps a chosen calendar in two-way sync between them using real-time webhooks rather than slow periodic checks. Setup is a few minutes, once:

Create or pick a shared calendar on one side - for example a Google calendar named "Family."
Click Add calendar and choose Google as the provider. You'll go through Google's normal sign-in and consent; access is revocable any time, and the calendar then appears under Manage providers.
Click Add calendar again and choose Microsoft for the Outlook account - personal outlook.com accounts work fine for home use.
Click Add connection and pick the Family calendar on Google as the source and a Family calendar on Outlook as the target.
Set a sync direction (Two-way) and choose what to share - All details for a genuine family calendar, or Free/busy only if you'd rather show busy blocks without titles.
Let the first sync run, then both of you just use your own apps.

No new app for anyone to learn, no migrating a decade of birthdays - both calendars simply stay in step.

What's free

The free tier gives you real-time two-way sync - enough for a shared family calendar bridging Google and Outlook. It's a real free tier, not a trial. And because a family calendar holds the most personal logistics you have - school runs, medical appointments, who's home when - it matters that Calendar Family is privacy-respecting: no profiling, no selling your data.

Keep your apps, share your life

The household shouldn't have to standardise on one calendar app to coordinate one family. Connect the two accounts, pick the shared calendar, and let everyone keep the tools they already know - while finally seeing the same plan.

Get started free

Frequently asked questions

We use different providers - does everyone have to switch to one?

No, and that's the whole idea. The Google person stays in Google, the Outlook person stays in Outlook, and Calendar Family keeps a shared calendar in sync between them. Nobody has to learn a new app or migrate years of events.

Can both of us add and edit events, or is it one-way?

It's two-way. Add the kids' dentist appointment from the Outlook side and it appears on the Google side; move soccer practice from Google and Outlook updates to match. Both people can create, edit, and cancel, and the change flows to the other within about a minute.

Will our private work appointments show up on the family calendar?

Only what you point at it. You sync a specific shared calendar - not your whole account - so your work meetings and private appointments stay separate unless you deliberately include them. You can also sync availability only, showing a busy block without the title, if you want the family to see you're occupied without the details.

Is it free, and is it private?

The free tier covers real-time two-way sync, which is enough for a shared family calendar between two providers. Calendar Family is privacy-respecting - no profiling, no data selling - which matters more than usual when the calendar holds your children's and household's routines.