Sync a Shared Google Calendar with macOS, OS X, iOS (iPhone, iPad), or CalDav

2018 Update: Sadly, this is still the correct way to get syncing working.
2019 Update: Still true.
2020 Update: Sigh.
2021 Update: Yup, still relevant.
2022 Update: Another year, still relevant.
2023 Update: Still works
2024 Update: How is it possible Google still hasn't fixed this?

Someone shared a Google Calendar with me recently, and it showed up at calendar.google.com just fine. However, I could not see the shared events on my Mac (using Calendar) or on my iPhone or iPad (using the Calendar app).

To fix this, I had to visit https://www.google.com/calendar/syncselect directly, and check the shared calendar, then save the settings.

I'm posting this here because after spending an hour or so digging around all the Google Calendar settings online and settings on my Mac and iPhone, I finally found that link in some random forum post (nowhere to be found in Google's help docs!), and I don't want to forget how to manage shared calendar sync! Even using the iCal feed for the shared calendar didn't work.

Further reading

calendar
google calendar
shared calendars
ical
sync
mac
iphone

Comments

Perfect. Now my shared google calendar events show on my apple watch.

Holy crap thank you!! So frustrating to search for days to fix this problem- you deserve public recognition.

You nailed it like a hole in one. This should be the first result in any search engine for "How do I add a shared Google calendar to iCal?" with no additional search results. Google only needs your answer. Google does not need 506,000 other results that didn't answer my question.

Muchas gracias

Still relevant... Sigh. Indeed. Thanks a lot.

I have never found an easier solution to my question on the internet! Thank you!!!!

Internet would simply not work without people like you. Thank you!!

Thank you so much!! 😀 I was searching forever!

Thank you so much for this....I searched for days to figure out how to do this. Much appreciated!

Brilliant!! Cannot thank you enough for this!! I've never had any problems subscribing to a shared calendar in iCal such that events appear on my iPhone (Cozi, TeamSnap, Game Changers to name a few) but this was driving me crazy! Google makes it seem like the only option is to use their Google Calendar app on your iPhone and nobody wants to have to use and compare and contrast two different calendars. That sync select link you provided had me up and running how I wanted it to look in about 10 seconds and despite the last hour of searching, yours is the only placed that even mentioned that setting. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

Absolute Legends, been searching for a solution for days!

✅ My problem solved with this solution as well. Thank you for sharing your findings!
Google Calendar "Shared with me" + MacOS10.15... using Mac Calendar & iOS Calendar

wow thanks, this just saved me an hour of searching online!

I was about to give up and you literally saved my sanity Jeff. Thank you!!!

I have been looking for this for years, scouring forums just as you say. Thank you!

Thanks! Have been searching for quite a while as well after finding your post. That solved it immediately.

Thank you so much!!! I can't believe I just found this, I've been wondering this for ages. No idea why it wouldn't automatically sync. You're a god, thank you again.

Thank you so much! 🙌
I'm bookmarking this page right now in case I ever run into this issue again...

thank you very much for the link, even after 6 years of your posting, this is still helpful :)

THANK YOU! This is still the answer 5 years later. Just such a shame I wasted hours trying to figure it out.

THANK YOU! I've gone crazy in search for this very answer. So simple and clear!

Breadcrumbs:
In the official google calendar settings - much further down than where you get a public shareable link there is a section called integrate calendar, you can get get an address in ical format "Secret address in iCal format" and YOU DON'T HAVE TO MAKE YOUR GOOGLE CALENDAR PUBLIC....

Boom! Thank you so very much...too late for me on the time killer though...but grateful that I found this post!

How is it possible that this is still the only way to do it properly? Gosh sometimes I just hate Google.

Thank you so much for sharing this! I almost got mad...

Thank you for this, it really saved me. I could not find the answer to this anywhere else.

Thank you so much! This should stay at the top of Google results (but the date should be updated to 2020)!

It's 2021, and I still wanna say - THANK YOU! I tried fo 45 mins to no avail and found this.

thank you, this saved me after hours of fruitless attempts. you've done a real public service for this

Wow. Thank you so much, have spent the last months frustrated about this, and eventually found the right combination of words in Google for your post to come up!

Thanks so much! Six years since you posted this and this is still the fix for this insane problem.

Sadly this is not working for me. The calendar is checked, but it just will not show up on my iMac.

Thank you had just about had enough of searching through stuff

Still working!!!! Thank you! Nowhere to find elsewhere!

Thank you SO MUCH for this !!!
It's crazy that this issue has been current for 5 years already with no easy or documented fix.

It's the end of 2021 and I still found it incredibly helpful. Thank you very much.

Kudos!

Yes - still works! You do need to use the link at the very start of this post to work. I did after that find in the 'advanced tab' in apple calendars the calendar I wanted under delegates - not sure if that was always there or not - but this worked a dream. thank you.

I freaking love you man! Just got a super admin user on google workgroup and EVERY coworker's calendar synced to mine. It was a nightmare.

My man! I have wasted HOURS trying to figure this out. So happy to find that my favorite YouTuber had the answer all along. Thank you!

OMG thank you for posting this! Could not find a solution prior to this!

Thank you so much for saving me. After Spending an hour and no clue …..

2024 and yes, still a problem. Thanks so much for this solution!

Thank you! I have this page bookmarked and Ive been using it from several yearsnow !

I thought I would comment that this sort of worked, and it sort of didn't. When I went to this page, the shared calendar in question indeed was not checked. However, when I checked it, I ended up with a completely separate "Window" under the Window menu in MacOS calendar that has just this calendar in it. This is completely useless, it is only useful for these events to show up in the same window as all my other calendars.

If anyone has a solution for this, that would be great!

I'd like to follow up on my comment earlier today about this solution not working for me. I found a different solution that does work for me. In short, instead of following the link in the above solution, I went to the shared calendar's settings, and copies the link under "Public address in iCal format." Then on MacOS Calendar, I went to File -> New Calendar Subscription, pasted it in there, and in the dialog box, for "Where:" I selected "iCloud". This also got it onto my iPhone.

I posted this solution on apple.stackexchange.com as well: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/106947/os-x-calendar-view-sha…