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How to Share Free/Busy Status Between Outlook and Google Calendar
Question details
The user needs to display reciprocal free/busy availability between Microsoft Outlook and Google Workspace calendars.
- Product
- Microsoft Outlook and Google Calendar
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Sharing calendar schedules across different email platforms to prevent double-booking and meeting conflicts.
- Observed behavior
- The free/busy status is not showing up across the platforms, even after adding subscription URLs and calendar invitations.
Ensure you have administrator or owner permissions to adjust the public sharing settings for your Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook accounts.
Configure Permissions and Re-add Calendar Subscriptions
Ensure that your sharing permissions are specifically set to display free/busy information, then force a fresh synchronization by re-adding the iCal URLs.
Often, default privacy settings prevent external platforms from reading calendar data. You must explicitly configure both platforms to broadcast your free/busy status, and then re-establish the connection.
Open Google Calendar, click the gear icon for Settings, and select your calendar on the left. Under 'Access permissions for events', check 'Make available to public' and select 'See only free/busy (hide details)'.
In the same Google Calendar settings menu, scroll down to 'Integrate calendar' and copy the URL listed under 'Secret address in iCal format'.
In Microsoft Outlook, go to the Calendar view, right-click 'Other Calendars' (or 'My Calendars'), click 'Add Calendar' > 'From Internet', paste the Google iCal link, and confirm.
To share Outlook to Google, open Outlook on the web, go to Settings > Calendar > Shared Calendars, select your calendar, set permissions to 'Can view when I'm busy', copy the sharing HTML/iCal link, and add it via 'From URL' in Google Calendar.
Disable Interfering Third-Party Sync Tools
Turn off any third-party add-ins or synchronization software that might be overriding or blocking the native calendar sync.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my calendar show 'Busy' instead of the event title?
When you restrict sharing permissions to 'See only free/busy (hide details)', the receiving calendar masks the event title, description, and attendees to protect your privacy, displaying only a block of time marked as 'Busy'.
Can I edit a Google Calendar event from within Outlook?
No. Subscribing to an external calendar via an iCal link provides read-only access. You can view the free/busy status or event details, but you must log into the original platform (Google Calendar) to make modifications.
How often do Outlook and Google Calendar refresh subscribed calendars?
Google Calendar typically refreshes external iCal subscriptions every 12 to 24 hours. Microsoft Outlook checks for updates based on your Send/Receive settings, which can often be configured in the Outlook application to refresh more frequently.
