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Workspace Essentials Posts
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Google Calendar
| #237

Google Calendar: 3 features I wish I knew sooner

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Today's issue is a fun one (well, even more fun than usual because let's be real, all my newsletters are a blast 😉). We're going over 3 Google Calendar features I wish I knew wayyyyyy sooner.

Tip #1: Pick Your Own Calendar Colors

Google Calendar gives you about 24 preset colors for your calendars, which I guess is fine, but they're also the same 24 colors everyone else is using. Your "Work" calendar looks identical to your coworker's "Gym" calendar.

Here's what you (probably) didn't know: You can paste in any hex color code you want.

  1. Head to ​colorhunt.co​ and find a palette you like (their Pastel collections are great)
  2. Click into a palette and click the hex code to copy it to your clipboard
  3. In Google Calendar, click the three dots next to any calendar in the left sidebar
  4. Click the "+" icon under the default color swatches
  5. Paste your hex code and hit Save

Now your calendar actually looks like yours. The visual distinction sounds minor until you're scanning a packed week and everything isn't the same shade of cornflower.

💡 Pro tip: Custom hex colors only work on the web version of Google Calendar, but once set, they'll display correctly on mobile too.

Tip #2: Export Your Entire Calendar in a Few Clicks

I keep a separate calendar for all my friends' birthdays. It took 20 minutes to set up and has paid for itself a hundred times over.

Remembering someone's birthday is one of the easiest ways to stay connected, and it makes asking for favors feel more natural too 😛.

The underrated part: if I ever switch to another calendar app, I can export that entire birthday calendar as a file and import it wherever I go. Same goes for sharing a calendar of events with a new hire joining your team, or migrating calendars between your personal and work Google accounts.

  1. Go to Settings (gear icon, top right) > Import & Export
  2. Under Export, click Export to download a .zip file containing .ics files for each of your calendars
  3. To import into another account or app: go to Import & Export > Import, open the .zip, and upload the individual .ics files

That's it!

Tip #3: Create a "Lazy" Calendar Invite

Let's say you need to invite 400 people to an all-hands, but there's no team alias that covers everyone (e.g. ‘marketing-all@google.com’) and you really don't want to type in 400 email addresses.

  1. Create your event and finalize all the details (title, time, location, description)
  2. Open the event and click More Actions (three dots, top right)
  3. Click "Publish Event" and copy the Link to Event
  4. Share that link however you want (email, Slack, carrier pigeon 🕊️)

Now recipients can click the link, see all the event details, and save it to their own calendar!

A couple of limitations to be aware of:

  • Recipients have to actively click the link and save the event themselves
  • Changes you make to the original event won't automatically update on copies others have saved.

💡 Pro tip: This works great for recurring events too, like a monthly team social. Create it once, publish the link, and drop it in your team channel.

Bonus: My favorite keyboard shortcuts

  • W = Week view
  • X = Custom view (shows whatever number of days you've configured in your Calendar settings)
  • S = Settings
  • C = Create a new event

Try one of these this week and let me know how it goes! 😁

Whenever you're ready, here are some other ways I can help you:

💻 The Workspace Academy: Never lose a file, task, or note again with my CORE workflow for Google Workspace. Adopted by over 10,000 Googlers.

✅ Build Your Command Center in Notion: Plug-and-play dashboard that surfaces today’s priorities automatically and organizes your life in seconds. #1 rated Notion Course globally.