The fastest way: use Google's built-in holiday list

Google Calendar comes with a holiday calendar you can turn on in seconds. Open Google Calendar on any device, look for "Settings" (the gear icon in the top right), then select "Settings" from the menu. On the left sidebar, scroll down to "Other calendars" and click the plus sign next to it. Choose "Subscribe to calendar" and search for your country or region — Google maintains official holiday lists for most countries.

Once you subscribe, all national and regional holidays appear on your calendar automatically. The holidays update each year without you doing anything. If you live in a place with multiple observed holidays — like the United States, Canada, or the United Kingdom — you can subscribe to more than one list. This is the method most people should use because it requires no manual work and stays current.

Key Takeaways

  • Google Calendar has built-in holiday calendars for most countries that you can turn on through Settings in under one minute.
  • You can add holidays manually by creating individual events, which takes longer but lets you customize names, times, and reminders for specific holidays.
  • Holiday calendars sync across all your devices — phone, tablet, and computer — so holidays appear everywhere you use Google Calendar.
  • You can hide or show holiday calendars without deleting them, which is useful if you want them visible only during certain months or for certain projects.

Adding holidays manually for custom names or times

If the built-in holiday list does not include a specific holiday you observe, or if you want to change how a holiday appears on your calendar, you can create it as a regular event. Open Google Calendar, click the date where the holiday falls, and type the holiday name. Click "Create event" to open the full event editor.

In the event details, you can set the time (all-day events work best for holidays), add a description, set a color, and choose whether to repeat it every year. If you want the holiday to recur annually, click "Does not repeat" and change it to "Yearly." This way, once you create it, the holiday appears on the same date every year without you having to recreate it.

Organizing holidays by type or region

If you follow multiple holiday calendars — national holidays, religious holidays, cultural observances, or holidays from different countries — you can organize them by creating separate calendars for each type. Click the plus sign next to "Other calendars," choose "Create new calendar," and name it something like "Religious Holidays" or "Canadian Holidays."

Then add events to that specific calendar instead of your main calendar. You can color-code each holiday calendar differently, which makes it straightforward to see at a glance which holidays belong to which group. You can also hide or show entire calendars by clicking the eye icon next to the calendar name, so you can focus on the holidays that matter for a specific project or time period.

Syncing holidays across devices

Holiday calendars sync automatically across all devices where you use Google Calendar — your phone, tablet, laptop, and desktop. When you subscribe to a holiday calendar or create a holiday event on one device, it appears on all the others within a few seconds. This means you can set up your holidays on your computer and see them when ready on your phone.

If you use Google Calendar offline, holidays you have already downloaded will still appear, but new holidays from a subscribed list will not sync until you reconnect to the internet. For this reason, it is worth subscribing to holiday calendars before you travel or work in places with spotty internet.

Removing or hiding holidays you do not need

If you subscribed to a holiday calendar but do not want to see it anymore, you have two options. You can hide it temporarily by clicking the eye icon next to the calendar name — the events stay in your calendar but do not show up on your view. Or you can unsubscribe entirely by right-clicking the calendar name and selecting "Unsubscribe."

If you created a holiday event manually and want to delete it, click the event and select the trash icon. If it is a recurring event (one that repeats yearly), Google will ask whether you want to delete only that instance or all future instances. Choose "All events" if you want to remove the holiday entirely, or "This event" if you only want to delete it for one specific year.

Sharing holiday calendars with your team or family

If you created a custom holiday calendar and want to share it with coworkers or family members, right-click the calendar name and select "Settings and sharing." Under "Share with specific people," click "Add people" and enter their email addresses. You can give them permission to view only, or to make changes if you want them to add holidays too.

If you want to share a calendar publicly — for example, a team calendar with company holidays — you can also generate a shareable link under "Integrate calendar." Anyone with that link can view the calendar without needing a Google account, though they cannot edit it unless you give them specific permission.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I see holidays from multiple countries at the same time?

Yes. You can subscribe to holiday calendars for as many countries or regions as you want. Each one appears as a separate calendar in your sidebar, and you can color-code them differently so you can tell them apart. This is useful if you work with international teams or have family in different countries.

Do holiday calendars update automatically each year?

Yes, subscribed holiday calendars update automatically. Google maintains these lists and adds new holidays or changes dates as needed. If you created holidays manually as recurring events, they repeat on the same date each year unless you delete them or change the recurrence rule.

What if a holiday is on a different date in my country than in others?

Subscribe to the holiday calendar for your specific country or region, not a general one. Google offers separate calendars for most countries because holidays like Easter or Thanksgiving fall on different dates depending on where you are. If your country is not listed, you can create the holiday manually and set it to repeat yearly.

Can I print a calendar with holidays included?

Yes. In Google Calendar, click the settings gear, select "Settings," then look for the print icon in the top menu. Google Calendar will print whatever calendars and events are currently visible, including any holiday calendars you have turned on. Make sure the holidays you want are showing before you print.

Will holidays show up on my phone if I use Google Calendar offline?

Holidays you have already viewed will show up offline because Google Calendar caches them. New holidays from a subscribed list will not sync until you reconnect to the internet. If you are traveling and want to make sure all holidays are available offline, open Google Calendar on your phone while connected to the internet before you leave.