The two ways to share your calendar with someone
Google Calendar has two separate sharing methods, and which one you use depends on what you want the other person to see and do. The first method shares your entire calendar with someone — they can see all your events, create events on your calendar, or just view it read-only. The second method adds a specific person to a single event, so they get a notification about that one meeting and can respond yes or no.
Most people need the second method: adding someone to an event you've already created. That's the faster route and the one you'll use most often. The first method — sharing your whole calendar — is better when you work closely with someone and want them to see your availability at a glance, or when you manage a shared calendar like a team schedule or a conference room.
Start with whichever matches what you're trying to do right now. You can always change the sharing settings later.
Key Takeaways
- To add someone to a single event, open the event, click "Add guests," type their email address, and click "Save" — they'll get an email notification.
- To share your entire calendar with someone, go to Settings, find the calendar name, scroll to "Share with specific people," and choose whether they can view, edit, or make changes.
- When you add a guest to an event, Google Calendar automatically sends them an invitation and shows you whether they've accepted, declined, or hasn't responded yet.
- A person you share your whole calendar with can see all your events and their details, so only do this with people you trust completely.
- You can remove someone from an event or revoke calendar sharing at any time by editing the event or changing the sharing settings.
Adding a single person to an event you've created
Open Google Calendar and find the event you want to add someone to. Click on the event name to open it. At the top right, you'll see an "Edit" button (it looks like a pencil) — click that to open the full event editor.
Look for the "Add guests" field. It's usually below the event title and time. Click in that field and start typing the person's email address. Google Calendar will show you suggestions as you type — if you see their name, click it. If not, finish typing their full email address and press Enter or Tab to add them.
You can add as many people as you need this way. Each person you add will get an email invitation to the event. At the bottom of the event editor, click the blue "Save" button. Google Calendar will send the invitations when ready.
Once you've saved, you'll see a list of guests below the event details. Next to each person's name, you'll see their response status: a checkmark means they've accepted, an X means they declined, and a question mark means they haven't responded yet.
Sharing your entire calendar with one person
Go to Google Calendar's main page and look at the left sidebar. Find the calendar you want to share — it's usually labeled with your name. Hover your mouse over that calendar name and click the three dots that appear to the right of it. A menu will pop up; click "Settings and sharing."
Scroll down until you see the section labeled "Share with specific people." Click the blue "Add people and groups" button. A box will appear where you can type an email address or a group email. Type the person's email, then click the blue "Add" button next to it.
A new row will appear with that person's email and a dropdown menu that says "Make changes to events." This dropdown controls what they can do. Click it to see your options: "See all event details" means they can only view your calendar and cannot make any changes; "Make changes to events" means they can edit or delete your events; and "Manage sharing" means they can also share your calendar with other people. Choose the permission level that matches your trust level and your working relationship.
Once you've set the permission, click outside the box or press Enter. Google Calendar will send them an email notification that you've shared your calendar with them. They'll need to click the link in that email to see your calendar in their own Google Calendar account.
What happens when you add someone to an event
When you add a guest to an event, Google Calendar sends them an email with the event details: the date, time, location (if you added one), and a description (if you added one). The email includes three buttons: "Yes" to accept, "Maybe" to say they might attend, and "No" to decline.
If they click one of those buttons in the email, their response updates in your calendar when ready. You'll see their name with their response status next to it. If they don't click the button in the email, they can also respond by opening Google Calendar on their own account, finding the event in their calendar, and clicking their response there.
You can see a count of how many people have accepted, declined, or not yet responded at the top of the event details. This is useful when you're trying to figure out if you have enough people for a meeting or if you need to follow up with someone who hasn't answered.
Removing someone from an event or revoking calendar sharing
To remove a guest from a single event, open the event and click "Edit." Find the guest's name in the "Add guests" section and click the X next to their name. Click "Save" at the bottom. Google Calendar will send them a cancellation notice.
To stop sharing your entire calendar with someone, go back to Settings and sharing for that calendar. Scroll to "Share with specific people" and find the person's email in the list. Click the trash icon (delete button) on the right side of their row. Their access will stop when ready, and they'll no longer see your calendar in their account.
If you've shared your calendar with someone and later want to change what they can do — for example, you gave them "Make changes to events" but now want to downgrade them to "See all event details" — click the dropdown menu next to their name and select the new permission level. The change takes effect right away.
Troubleshooting: They didn't get the invitation
If you added someone to an event but they say they didn't receive an email, first check that you typed their email address correctly. A common mistake is a typo in the domain name — for example, typing "gmail.com" instead of "gmail.com" or missing a letter in their work email. Open the event, click "Edit," and look at the guest list to see exactly what you typed.
If the email address is correct, the invitation may have gone to their spam folder. Ask them to search their email for "calendar" or your name and check their spam or promotions folder. If they find it there, they can mark it as "not spam" so future invitations go to their inbox.
If the email address is correct and they've checked spam, try removing them from the event and adding them again. Click "Edit," delete their name, click "Save," then open the event again, click "Edit," add them back, and click "Save." This sometimes forces Google Calendar to resend the invitation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I add someone to an event if they don't have a Google account?
Yes. You can add anyone with an email address, whether or not they have a Google account. They'll receive an email invitation with the event details and can respond by clicking the buttons in the email. They don't need to log into Google Calendar to accept or decline.
What's the difference between adding someone to an event and sharing my whole calendar?
Adding someone to an event sends them one invitation for that specific meeting. Sharing your whole calendar lets them see all your events at once, so they can check your availability before scheduling a meeting with you. Use the first method for one-off meetings; use the second for people you work with regularly.
If I share my calendar with someone, can they see my personal events?
Yes, they can see every event on that calendar, including personal ones. If you have sensitive events you don't want them to see, create a separate calendar for those events and don't share it with them. You can keep your work calendar shared and your personal calendar private.
Can I add someone to an event after I've already created it?
Yes. Open the event, click "Edit," add their email address in the "Add guests" field, and click "Save." They'll receive an invitation even though the event was created before you added them. This is one of the most common ways people add guests.
What if someone declines my event invitation?
Their response shows up in your event as "Declined." You can see at a glance how many people have declined. You can reach out to them separately to ask why or to reschedule, but Google Calendar doesn't have a built-in way to send them a follow-up message through the calendar itself.