Add a birthday directly in Google Calendar

Open Google Calendar on your computer or phone and click the Create button (the plus sign). Choose Event from the menu. Type the person's name in the title field — something like "Sarah's Birthday" or "Mom's Birthday" works well.

In the date field, enter the month and day, then set the year to the birth year if you want Google Calendar to remind you every year. If you only want to remember this one time, use the current year. Click Does not repeat and change it to Yearly so the birthday shows up automatically each year on the same date.

Set the time to All day so it doesn't clutter your schedule with a specific hour. Add any notes you want — gift ideas, phone number, favorite restaurant — in the description box. Click Save.

Key Takeaways

  • Google Calendar's Create button lets you add a birthday as an all-day event in under a minute.
  • Setting the event to repeat yearly means you will see the birthday every year without re-entering it.
  • You can add notes like gift preferences or contact information in the event description.
  • Birthdays appear on your calendar view and can trigger notifications on your phone or computer.
  • Google Calendar syncs across devices, so a birthday added on your phone shows up on your computer automatically.

Use Google Contacts to sync birthdays automatically

If you already store contact information in Google Contacts, you can add birthdays there and have them appear in Google Calendar without creating separate events. Open Google Contacts, find the person's contact card, and click the pencil icon to edit it.

Scroll down to find the Birthday field and enter the date. Save the contact. Within a few hours, that birthday will show up as an all-day event in your Google Calendar under the calendar named "Birthdays" — Google creates this calendar automatically the first time you add a birthday to a contact.

This method works best if you use Google Contacts regularly anyway. The birthday syncs across all your devices, and you can edit it in either Contacts or Calendar and the change appears in both places.

Turn on notifications so you see the birthday in advance

By default, Google Calendar sends a notification on the day of the birthday. If you want more warning time, open the birthday event and click Edit. Under Notifications, click the dropdown that says "Day of event" and change it to 1 week before, 2 weeks before, or whatever timing helps you plan.

You can add multiple notifications — for example, one a week before and one the day of. On your phone, make sure Google Calendar notifications are turned on in your phone's settings so you actually receive the alerts. On a computer, notifications appear as pop-ups in your browser if Google Calendar is open.

Organize birthdays by creating a separate calendar

If you have many birthdays to track, create a dedicated calendar just for them so they do not mix with work events. Click Settings in Google Calendar, then Create new calendar. Name it "Birthdays" or "Important Dates" and choose a color that stands out.

When you add a birthday event, select this new calendar from the dropdown instead of your main calendar. You can now hide or show all birthdays at once by clicking the eye icon next to the calendar name. This is especially useful if you share your work calendar with colleagues — your personal birthdays stay separate.

Share birthday reminders with family or friends

If you want others to see a birthday you have added, open the event and click Edit. Scroll to the bottom and click Add guests. Type the email addresses of people you want to invite. They will receive an invitation and can add the birthday to their own calendars.

This works well for family birthdays — you can invite your partner or siblings so everyone gets the same reminder. The person whose birthday it is does not need to be invited; they will not see the event unless you send them an invitation.

Edit or delete a birthday you have already added

Click on the birthday event in your calendar view. A small popup appears. Click the pencil icon to edit the date, time, or notes. If you need to change the repeat setting — for example, if you added it as a one-time event but want it to repeat yearly — click Edit event and change Does not repeat to Yearly.

To delete a birthday, click the event and then click the trash icon. If the birthday came from Google Contacts, deleting it from Calendar does not remove it from Contacts — you have to delete it there separately if you want it gone completely.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I import birthdays from Facebook or another social media account?

Google Calendar does not have a built-in import tool for Facebook birthdays. You can manually add them using the Create button, or if you have a contact list exported as a file, you can import it into Google Contacts and add birthdays there. Some third-party tools claim to sync Facebook birthdays to Google Calendar, but they require you to grant access to your Facebook account.

What happens if I add a birthday but don't include the birth year?

Google Calendar will still show the birthday on that date, but it will not repeat yearly unless you set it to repeat manually. If you want the birthday to come back every year, make sure to either enter the birth year or set the repeat option to Yearly when you create the event.

Can I see birthdays from my contacts' profiles automatically?

Only if you add the birthday information to their contact card in Google Contacts. Google Calendar does not pull birthdays from social media profiles or other sources on its own. You have to enter the birthday information yourself or import a contact list that already contains birthdays.

Will the birthday show up on my phone if I add it on my computer?

Yes. Google Calendar syncs across all devices where you are signed into the same Google account. A birthday added on your computer appears on your phone within a few minutes, and notifications work on both devices.

How do I stop getting birthday notifications?

Open the birthday event and click Edit. Under Notifications, click the X next to each notification to remove it. You can also turn off all Google Calendar notifications in your phone or browser settings, though this will silence other calendar alerts too.