How to Make Google Calendar Private: Easy Steps

BY
Dima Eremin
in
Business
Apr 3, 2025

Learn how to make Google Calendar private with this guide. Step-by-step instructions, privacy tips, and troubleshooting help!

How to Make Google Calendar Private: Easy Steps
How to Make Google Calendar Private: Easy Steps

Keeping your Google Calendar private is key to protecting your personal and work schedules. Whether it’s for meetings, appointments, or personal events, you want to make sure only the people who need access can see your calendar details. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to make your Google Calendar private with simple steps for both desktop and mobile. 

You’ll also learn how to make individual events private, hide event details, and completely stop sharing your calendar. Plus, we’ll help you troubleshoot common issues like unauthorized access or visibility errors across multiple calendars. Whether you're using Google Calendar for work or personal use, this guide will help you keep your schedule secure and only share what you want others to see.

Why Make Google Calendar Private

Privacy is something we all care about, especially when it comes to our schedules and events. Learning how to make your Google Calendar private is a smart step if you want to keep your appointments and meetings secure. By tweaking your Google Calendar privacy settings, you can control access permissions for events and exactly who sees what, making sure your personal or work details stay just that—personal.

Here are some reasons to consider Google Calendar private settings:

  • Protecting Personal Information: You might have private appointments, meetings, or reminders that you don’t want the world to see. Keeping your calendar private ensures this information stays secure.
  • Maintaining Professional Boundaries: If you’re scheduling work-related events, there might be times when you don’t want certain meetings or projects visible to just anyone. Making your calendar private helps you keep things confidential.
  • Avoiding Unwanted Attention: A public calendar can lead to unexpected invites and access. By learning how to make Google Calendar private, you’ll ensure that only the right people can see your events.

Leaving your Google Calendar public can be risky. If it’s visible to everyone, anyone could see your appointments, including private meetings or personal commitments. That means sensitive information is up for grabs, and this could lead to security issues, unwanted interruptions, or even exploitation of your schedule.

Google Calendar

To avoid all that, it’s a great idea to adjust your own Google Calendar settings and privacy options and set it to private mode. This way, you’re the one in control of who gets access to your calendar details.

Who Can Make Google Calendar Settings Private?

No matter if you're using a personal Google account or a Google Workspace account, you can make Google Calendar private. However, the process might look a little different depending on which one you're using for private events.

Personal Google Account

If you’re on a personal Google account, you have full control over your Google Calendar private settings. You can choose whether each event is visible to others, or you can set your entire calendar to private so no one but you can see it.

Google Workspace Account

For those using Google Workspace and want to  keep google calendar private, the rules can be a bit different. Admins often set default visibility and privacy levels for calendars in an organization, so you’ll have to follow the guidelines laid out by your company. But even with that, you still get to customize your own event privacy settings and control who sees your calendar.

Google Workspace

Whether you're managing your own personal schedule or a business one, it’s important to know how to set Google Calendar to private so you can control who has access to your private events.

Make Google Calendar Private On Desktop

If you’re looking to make Google Calendar private on your desktop, it's easier than you think! By adjusting your settings and sharing visibility, you can ensure that only the people you want can view your calendar. Here’s a simple guide to help you make your Google Calendar private on your computer to avoid public sharing:

Hide Event Details in Google Calendar

To hide details in Google Calendar, you can mark your event section as Private or simply show that you're Busy in your Google Calendar privacy options.

         1. Create or Edit an Event
Open the event you want to modify or create a Google Calendar invite.

How to create an event in Google Calendar Desktop

         2. Set the Event Visibility
In the Visibility dropdown, choose:

  • Private: Hides all event details.
  • Busy: Shows you're busy but hides the event details.
How to set up event visibility

          3. Save the Event
After selecting the visibility setting, save the event to apply the changes.

Stop Sharing Google Calendar Completely

If you want to stop sharing your Google Calendar, here’s how to remove all shared access:

          1. Go to Settings
Click the gear icon in the top-right corner and select Settings.

Google Calendar settings

          2. Select the Calendar to Stop Sharing
On the left, click the calendar you want to stop sharing under "settings for my Calendars"

How to stop sharing Google Calendar

          3. Remove Shared Access
Under Access Permissions, uncheck Make available to the public. If you’ve shared the calendar with specific people, click the X next to their names to remove access.

how to remove shared access to Google Calendar

          4. Save Your Changes
Once you’ve adjusted the settings, your calendar will no longer be shared.

Make Google Calendar Private On Mobile

If you want to make Google Calendar private iPhone and android, it’s easy to adjust the privacy settings in the Google Calendar app. Here’s how you can do it:

          1. Open the Google Calendar App
Launch the Google Calendar app on your iPhone or Android device.

Google Calendar on Mobile

          2. Go to Settings
Tap the three lines in the top-left corner to open the menu, then scroll down and tap Settings.

Google Calendar settings on Mobile

          3. Choose Your Calendar
In Settings, pick the calendar you want to make private from the list.

how to make Google Calendar private on Mobile

          4. Adjust the Visibility Settings
Look for Visibility or Access Permissions and switch it to Private. This keeps your events hidden from anyone else unless you decide to share them.

how to adjust Google calendar visibility on Mobile

          5. Make Individual Events Private
When you’re adding or editing an event, make sure to select Private or Busy in the Visibility settings. This keeps the details of your event hidden, or just shows you’re unavailable without revealing anything else.

how to make Google calendar events private on Mobile

Troubleshoot Google Calendar Privacy Issues

If you're having trouble keeping your Google Calendar private, don't worry - there are simple fixes to address the most common privacy issues. Here’s how to troubleshoot:

Fix Google Calendar Still Visible After Privatizing

If your Google Calendar is still showing up for others even after you've made it private, it could be due to sync problems or permission settings. Here’s what you can do:

          1. Check Sync Settings
Make sure your Google Calendar is syncing properly with your Google account. Go to Setting  and check that sync is turned on for your calendar.

          2. Double-Check Sharing Settings
Head to your Calendar Settings, and under Access Permissions, confirm that the option to Make available to the  public is turned off. If it’s on, just uncheck it.

          3. Log Out and Log Back In
Sometimes signing out and then signing back into your Google account can refresh everything and fix any lingering sync problems.

Troubleshoot Google Calendar Privacy Issues

          4. Clear Cache or Reinstall the App
If you’re using the mobile app, try clearing the cache or reinstalling it. This can help reset your settings and fix any issues with visibility not updating.

Resolve Unauthorized Access to Google Calendar

If you’re worried about unauthorized access to your Google Calendar, follow these steps to check and fix it:

          1. Check Google Account Settings
Go to your Google Account settings at Google Account and look for the Security section.

Google Account security settings

          2. Review App and Device Permissions
Check which devices and third-party apps have access to your Google account. If you spot anything suspicious, click on it and Revoke Access immediately.

          3. Review Your Calendar Sharing Settings
In Google Calendar, go to Settings > Access Permissions, and make sure no one unauthorized has access. If they do, remove them.

          4. Change Your Google Account Password
If you suspect someone might have accessed your account, change your password right away to keep your information secure.

          5. Enable Two-Factor Authentication
To make your Google account more secure, turn on two-factor authentication (2FA). This will help prevent unauthorized access in the future.

Conclusion

Securing your Google Calendar with the right privacy settings gives you full control over who sees your schedule. Whether you're managing personal events or work meetings, it's important to keep certain details private. By adjusting your Google Calendar privacy settings, you can easily make your calendar private, ensuring only the people you choose have access to your events. You can also control the visibility of individual events, marking them as private or busy, so others can’t see all the details.

What’s great about Google Calendar is the level of control it gives you automatically add events. You can customize your visibility settings for both new events and existing ones. Whether you're using Google Calendar on your desktop or mobile, you can adjust your settings so that your calendar stays private across all devices. Google Calendar also offers many different features like sync Google Calendar with iPhone, and setting Google Calendar working hours.

Taking a few simple steps to Google Calendar private mode ensures that your schedule stays safe and in your hands. It’s not just about hiding details - it’s about giving you peace of mind knowing you’re in control of what others can see. With Google Calendar’s privacy options, you can feel confident that your calendar is secure and only accessible to those you trust.

FAQ

Does Making Google Calendar Private Hide All Events?

When you make Google Calendar private, it will stop others from seeing certain events and event details on your calendar. However, you can still customize the privacy of individual events. For example, if you mark an event as private or busy, the event details won’t be visible to others, even if they can access your calendar. You can adjust your Google Calendar privacy settings to make the whole calendar private, while still having control over each event's visibility.

Can Others Still See My Private Google Calendar?

Once you’ve set your Google Calendar to private, other people won’t be able to see it unless you’ve specifically shared it with them. If you’ve shared your calendar before, make sure to check your sharing settings and revoke access where necessary. If necessary, you can even cancel meeting via email. Google Calendar privacy settings don’t automatically remove past sharing, so it’s important to manually adjust them to ensure your open Google Calendar remains private.

How To Make Google Calendar Private for One Event?

If you want to keep just one event private, here’s what to do:

  1. Open the event in Google Calendar.
  2. Under Event Details, find the Visibility option.
  3. Change it to Private or choose Busy to hide the details while showing you’re unavailable.

This way, only you or those you’ve invited will see the event details, keeping the rest of your Google Calendar private. You can auto-admit in Google Meet when your guests want to join.

Does Google Calendar Stay Private Across Devices?

Yes, once you make Google Calendar private, that setting will apply across all your devices - whether you’re using your desktop, tablet, or phone. Your Google Calendar privacy settings sync up, so your calendar stays private no matter where you access it. Just ensure you’re logged into the same Google account on all devices to keep your Google Calendar private settings consistent.

In the next episode:
How to change colors on Google calendar

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