How to subscribe to an Outlook work calendar from a URL in Google Calendar

To subscribe to an Outlook work calendar from a URL in Google Calendar, the official support pages from Microsoft and Google describe two steps. First, publish the calendar in Outlook, which gives you an ICS link. Then, on a computer, open Google Calendar, click Add other calendars next to "Other calendars", choose From URL, paste the link and click Add calendar. Microsoft says the published copy is read-only, and neither company's page gives a figure for how often it refreshes.

This guide follows those pages step by step and names the Outlook version each set of steps is written for. It also covers what a work admin can switch off, why the link has to stay secret, and how the same link puts your work calendar next to your notes in Barside, a free desktop app. We read every Microsoft and Google page linked here on October 11, 2026. We did not test the steps ourselves, so the menu names are the ones Microsoft and Google print.

How do you subscribe to an Outlook work calendar from a URL in Google Calendar?

To subscribe to an Outlook work calendar from a URL in Google Calendar, you need one thing from each side: an ICS link from Outlook, and the From URL option in Google Calendar. Microsoft's support page on sharing your calendar in Outlook on the web covers the first half, and Google's support page on subscribing to someone else's calendar covers the second. Microsoft's steps talk about recipients who subscribe through Outlook, and Google's page does not name Outlook. Its step says only "Enter the URL of the published calendar."

Step 1 in Outlook on the web: publish the calendar and copy the ICS link

These steps are from Microsoft's page for Outlook on the web, which is written for Microsoft 365 or another email service based on Microsoft Exchange Online.

1. In Calendar view, select Settings.
2. Select Shared calendars.
3. Under Publish a calendar, choose which calendar you want to publish and how much detail people can see.
4. Select Publish.
5. Copy the ICS link. Microsoft describes the HTML link as one that recipients paste into a browser to view your calendar, and the ICS link as the one recipients use to subscribe to your calendar through Outlook.

On the Google side, the help page on deleting or unsubscribing from a calendar shows the From URL field taking a calendar's iCal address, in its steps for adding a calendar back from a link.

Step 1 in new Outlook for Windows

Microsoft's page on sharing an Outlook calendar as view-only gives these steps for new Outlook for Windows.

1. From the navigation pane, select Calendar.
2. On the ribbon, select the View tab, then Calendar settings → Calendar → Shared calendars.
3. Under Publish a calendar, select the calendar you want to publish from the dropdown and select the permissions you want to grant.
4. Select Publish. The page says "HTML and ICS links will appear below."
5. Copy the ICS link. The page names it as the link to use when you want people to subscribe to your calendar, and the HTML link as the one for viewing the calendar in a browser.

The same page's Outlook on the web tab lists this route through the View tab as well. Its Classic Outlook tab covers sharing a calendar and has no publishing steps. Microsoft's introduction to publishing Internet Calendars, a page it lists for Outlook for Microsoft 365, Outlook 2024 and Outlook 2021, says: "You can share your Outlook calendar with others by publishing it from Outlook on the web." It gives the place as Calendar → Shared calendars under the settings in Outlook on the web. So if you use classic Outlook, sign in to Outlook on the web with the same work account and use the steps for it above.

Step 2 in Google Calendar: add the link with From URL

Google's page says: "To subscribe to a new calendar, you must use a computer web browser." It adds that you can't subscribe to a calendar in the Google Calendar app for Android, iPhone or iPad.

1. On your computer, open Google Calendar.
2. On the left, next to "Other calendars", click Add other calendars, then From URL.
3. Enter the URL of the published calendar, which is the ICS link you copied from Outlook.
4. Click Add calendar. Google says the calendar then displays on the left, under "Other calendars".

Google sets one condition: "You can only add a calendar with a link if the other person's calendar is public." Publishing is what opens an Outlook calendar to a link, and it is also why the link needs care, as a later section explains.

One sentence on Google's page can confuse. Under "Ask to subscribe to a calendar", the method that uses a person's email address, it says "You can't subscribe to calendars that aren't from Google." The link method has its own section, "Use a link to add a public calendar", with the four steps above.

How often does the subscribed calendar refresh?

Neither official page gives a number. Microsoft's page for Outlook on the web says: "How often your ICS calendar syncs depends on the recipient's email provider." In this setup, the receiving side is Google Calendar, and Google's page on subscribing gives no figure for how long a change takes to show.

You may see hour counts quoted elsewhere on the web. We found no such figure on the Microsoft and Google pages we opened for this guide, so we do not repeat one. Treat the copy as a view that can lag behind Outlook. When the exact time of a meeting matters, check Outlook itself.

What does read-only mean for the copy in Google Calendar?

Microsoft states it in one line: "HTML and ICS calendars are read-only, so recipients won't be able to edit your calendar." The calendar you add in Google Calendar is a view of your work calendar, so you keep creating, moving and answering meetings in Outlook.

Two more details from the same page matter here:

• How much shows. When you publish, you choose "how much detail people can see." The copy in Google Calendar cannot show more than that.
• Subscribing and importing differ. Microsoft notes that a recipient who downloads the ICS file and imports it into Outlook gets the events, "but recipients won't automatically receive any updates to your calendar." A recipient who subscribes through Outlook will, in Microsoft's words, "automatically receive any updates to your calendar." Pasting the link under From URL is the subscribing route in Google's steps.

What can a work admin switch off?

On a work account, your organization decides whether you can publish at all. Microsoft's page for Outlook on the web says: "Calendar sharing may not be available for your account, or may be limited to people in your organization, depending on your organization settings."

Microsoft's admin documentation describes the controls behind that sentence:

• Sharing outside the company is an admin choice. The Microsoft 365 admin guide to sharing calendars with users outside your organization says: "As the admin, you can enable external calendar sharing for all users in your organization." The setting is in the Microsoft 365 admin center, on the Services tab of Org Settings, under Calendar.
• Access without a sign-in is a separate option. The same guide lists Allow anyone to access calendars with an email invitation as the option that allows sharing with people who don't sign in. For those anonymous users, the admin also chooses the detail: time only; time, subject and location; or all appointment information.
• The Publish option can be missing. A Microsoft troubleshooting article covers the case where the Publish calendar option is missing from Calendar settings in Outlook on the web, and gives the sharing policy assigned to the user as the cause.
• Classic Outlook can show the sharing option greyed out. The Classic Outlook tab of Microsoft's view-only page says: "If you don't have the option to share your calendar (it's greyed out), it's because the admin/IT support for your business has set a policy to prevent people from sharing calendars."

If the option is missing or greyed out for you, Microsoft's pages point to a policy your organization set. Ask your IT team whether publishing is allowed for your role, and accept the answer. This guide gives no way around an admin's setting. A work calendar holds meeting titles, names and sometimes client details, and your employer decides where those may go.

Even where publishing is allowed, your employer may have a written rule about sending calendar details to a personal account. A personal Google account sits outside the company, so read the rule or ask before you add the link.

Why does the link have to stay secret?

A published calendar is open to anyone who has its link. Microsoft's page for Outlook on the web says: "In Calendar settings, you can publish your calendar so anyone can view your calendar or subscribe to it." Its introduction to publishing Internet Calendars adds: "Published calendars are viewable by anyone with the link to the calendar." So treat the ICS link like a password. Whoever holds it can read whatever level of detail you published, whether or not you meant them to have it.

A few habits keep the exposure small:

• Publish the lowest level of detail that does the job. If you only need to see when you are busy, leave titles and attendees out.
• Paste the link only where it is needed. Keep it out of chat messages, shared documents and support tickets.
• Unpublish when you stop using it. For Outlook on the web, Microsoft's steps are: in Calendar view, select Settings, select Shared calendars, and under Publish a calendar, select Unpublish. In new Outlook, the same Publish a calendar section has Unpublish.
• Remove the copy in Google Calendar too. Google's page on deleting or unsubscribing says to click Settings in the top right, then Settings, select the calendar in the left column, and click Remove calendar, then Unsubscribe, then Remove calendar.

The Microsoft pages we opened do not say whether publishing a calendar again gives it a new link. If a link has leaked, unpublish the calendar and tell your IT team. When you publish again, compare the new link with the old one before you rely on it.

How does the same link put your work calendar next to your notes in Barside?

The same ICS link works in Barside, a free desktop app for Windows, Linux and Mac that keeps your notes, tasks and a calendar view together. Barside connects to a calendar through its private iCal (ICS) address. It never signs in to your Microsoft account, and it only reads: it cannot add, move or delete events. The guide to a calendar next to your notes has every detail.

1. In Barside, open Settings & backups, scroll to Calendars and choose Add calendar.
2. Under Where do I find it?, choose Outlook. Barside's form shows the Outlook steps and has a button each for Outlook.com and for work or school accounts, which opens the right settings page in your browser.
3. Paste the ICS link into Secret iCal address.
4. Choose Check address. Barside downloads the calendar once and tells you how many events it found in the next 30 days.
5. Check the Calendar name, pick a color, then choose Add calendar.

Then open Calendar in the sidebar, or type cal in the search bar. You see Today, Tomorrow and the six days after, with a Now line that shows where you are in the day. Join opens a Teams, Zoom, Google Meet or Webex link in your default browser, and Meeting note makes a note with the event's date, people and place already filled in. A silent heads-up arrives 2 minutes before each timed event, unless you change it under Remind me before meetings. The rest of today's events also appear in the daily briefing, next to overdue reminders and unchecked tasks.

The limits are worth knowing before you set it up:

• It shows the calendar and does not change it. Scheduling stays in Outlook.
• Refresh. Barside downloads each calendar when it starts, every 15 minutes, after your computer wakes or unlocks, and when you choose Refresh. Those are the times Barside asks. How quickly a change in Outlook reaches the published link is on Microsoft's side, and the Microsoft pages we opened give no figure for it.
• Detail. Barside can only show what you published. A calendar published without full details has no attendees or descriptions for the meeting note.
• Number of calendars. You can connect up to 10, each in its own color, so a personal calendar can share the agenda with the work one.
• Desktop only. Barside has no phone app.
• Where the link lives. Barside stores the address encrypted on your computer and never puts it in backups. It downloads the calendar straight from Microsoft to your computer, and the calendar needs no Barside account. On a new computer, you add the calendar again. Read how calendar feeds are stored.

Your employer's rules apply here as well. Barside uses the same published link, so where publishing is switched off or not allowed, Barside cannot show the work calendar either.

Google Calendar is the natural choice when your personal schedule already lives there and you want one grid for everything. Barside fits when you want the work calendar beside the notes you take in those meetings, on your own computer. You can paste the same link into both. If you are weighing planner apps that ask to read and change events on the calendar you connect, read what AI planner apps access and store first, and see the free daily planner apps that sync with Google Calendar for a wider comparison.

Three examples of the setup

These are made-up examples that show how the pieces fit together.

• Example: a project manager with a Microsoft 365 work account and a personal Gmail. Her employer allows publishing with time only. She publishes at that level and adds the link in Google Calendar, so her personal calendar shows when she is in meetings and nothing about them.
• Example: a consultant with two clients. One client's IT team says no to publishing, so that calendar stays in Outlook. The other allows it. He adds that link in Barside, makes a Meeting note for each call, and moves the note into the client's workspace.
• Example: a team lead who plans the week on Sunday evening. He uses the subscribed copy to see the shape of the week while he blocks time for focused work. On Monday morning he opens Outlook for anything that moved over the weekend.

If something does not work

• Publish a calendar is missing or greyed out. On a work account, Microsoft ties this to your organization's settings and sharing policy. Ask your IT team, and leave it there if the answer is no.
• Your phone has no From URL. Google requires a computer web browser to subscribe to a new calendar.
• You pasted the HTML link. Microsoft describes the HTML link as a page to view in a browser. Go back to Shared calendars and copy the ICS link.
• Events show with less detail than you expected. The copy holds only the detail that was published, within what your admin allows.
• A change in Outlook has not arrived. Neither official page gives a refresh figure, and we found no step on Google's page that makes Google Calendar load the link again. In Barside, Refresh loads every calendar again, and the top of the Calendar view says when your calendars were last updated.

Works well with

Once the work calendar shows up beside your notes, these guides cover what to do with it: meeting notes, a morning overview, reminders on notes and a plan for the week.