I have written before about Google having rolled out many very good applications over time. I have also remarked that unfortunately they also kill many very good applications off when they should not. I have listed several of my favorites in earlier columns so I will not again. If you are interested read this for a history lesson.
Since I have received many emails from readers since 2013 when Google did away with “Google Calendar Sync” asking what to do, I have something to mention today.
Google Calendar Sync was a great app which allowed users of Microsoft Outlook to sync their work calendar with their personal Google calendar. That way they could keep track of their appointments no matter where they were. Many people do not want to put their personal calendar (Google) in with their work calendar (usually Outlook). That way they can keep their personal appointments away from the possibly prying eyes of coworkers.
You could set GCS to sync from one calendar to the other or make them both match.
I have had people ask me over time for a replacement for that application. But after searching for a long time, since I used it all the time too, I thought all was lost. I had even tried a few paid apps and found they did not function as well as Google’s product. The free ones were pretty much useless.
Over a month ago I read an article about Calendar Sync + which was apparently created in February of this year. It sounded just like what we have been waiting for and I have been trying it out since that day.
I am here to tell you that the Google replacement has arrived and it works as well as and does more than Google did.
Calendar Sync + is available at calendarsyncplus.codeplex.com.
They have very good installation instructions. Click on the Documentation tab and read on. You basically first choose which way you want it to sync; from Outlook to Google, from Google to Outlook or both ways. Next, you choose a range of time; the entire calendar for 10 years, specific number of days in the past and future, or a date range. I went for the second one and told it to get 31 days in the past and 365 days in the future. Then you select calendars, log into your Google calendar and you are pretty much done. You can also sync it on a schedule or manually. It is all up to you.
I used it first on Windows 8.1 and now on Windows 10 without any problems. I have purposely tried to break it and could not. I need to enter the date this article will be published but in which calendar…oh yeah, it does not matter any longer!
Here is a video I did for you to see how to setup Calendar Sync+ if you are interested. Feel free to give me constructive criticisms on the video. I have not done many so appreciate your comments on how they could be better next time.