The thing that trips everyone up: you can't do this from the Google Calendar phone app. Sharing with a specific person is a desktop-only action. If you've been hunting for the option on your phone, it isn't hidden — it isn't there.
Share with one person, step by step
From Google's own instructions:
- Open Google Calendar on a computer.
- On the left, find the calendar under My calendars.
- Hover over it, click the three dots, then Settings and sharing.
- On the left, click Shared with, then Add people and groups.
- Type their email address, or a Google group.
- Choose a permission level (all five are explained below).
- Click Send.
They'll get an email with a link. They have to click it — until they do, nothing appears in their calendar. This is the second most common reason people think sharing has failed.
The five permission levels
Google gives you considerably more control than Apple does. Worth understanding, because the defaults aren't always what you want.
| Level | What they see and do |
|---|---|
| See only free/busy (hide details) | Busy blocks only. No event names, no places |
| See event details | Everything — names, times, places, descriptions |
| Make changes (see private events as free/busy) | Can edit non-private events. Private ones show as blank busy blocks, or are hidden if marked Free |
| Make changes and see event details | Can edit, and can see who else the calendar is shared with |
| Make changes and manage sharing | Full control, including sharing it onward to other people |
See only free/busy is the one most people should use more. If the question is "when are you free", that's the answer — and it doesn't hand over where you are and who you're with.
Make changes and manage sharing means they can share your calendar with anyone they like, without asking you. Give it to very few people.
Sharing with everyone, or a whole family
Two other routes worth knowing:
A Google family group. If you're in a Google family, there's a shared "Family" calendar that everyone in the group sees automatically. No invitations to manage.
A public link. In the same Settings and sharing page there's an option to make a calendar public or to get a shareable link. Public means genuinely public — anyone with the link, and potentially search engines. Use it for a club fixture list, not your household.
Sharing a Google Calendar with an iPhone
This confuses people because there are two different things happening.
Seeing your own Google calendar on an iPhone: add the Google account in Settings → Calendar → Accounts. Your events appear in the iPhone Calendar app.
Sharing your Google calendar with someone who uses an iPhone: exactly the same steps as above. They receive the email, click the link, and it lands in their Google account. It then shows on their iPhone if they've added that Google account to it.
What you cannot do is share a Google calendar into someone's iCloud calendar. They're separate systems; the calendar stays a Google calendar wherever it's displayed.
Why you can't do this on your phone
Google's instructions for sharing with a specific person are written for the computer version, and the mobile apps don't offer the option. You can view shared calendars on your phone, change which ones are visible, and add events — but adding a person to a calendar means getting to a desktop browser.
If you're on a phone and need it done now, open Google Calendar in a desktop-mode browser tab. It's awkward but it works.
When a shared Google Calendar isn't the answer
Google Calendar sharing is free, powerful and already on most people's phones. It's the right answer more often than app reviews suggest.
It stops being the right answer in three situations.
A pattern that isn't weekly. Google repeats daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or on a custom rule built from those. A shift rotation like 2-2-3 is a fourteen-day cycle and a DuPont is twenty-eight — neither maps onto a week, so there's no repeat rule that holds. People end up entering months of shifts by hand.
Needing a leave-by time rather than a start time. A calendar reminder fires at a time you picked. It doesn't know this morning's drive is fifteen minutes longer than usual.
Wanting something built around the two of you. Google Calendar is a work tool doing a home job. It'll do it, but nothing in it is designed for a household.
For the first two, that's what BoardSpy is for: named presets for the common rotations, filled 120 days ahead from a start date, and an alarm timed to the live traffic drive time on your actual route plus a five-minute buffer. It can mirror your Google events into a shared calendar — read-only, and it never writes to your Google calendar. The free plan covers one shared calendar for two people, including you.
How to stop sharing, or change what someone sees
Same place you added them, on a computer.
- Open Settings and sharing for that calendar.
- Under Shared with, find the person.
- Change their permission from the dropdown, or click the X to remove them.
Removing someone takes effect straight away and they aren't notified, so if it matters socially, tell them yourself.
If you made the calendar public and want to undo that, the toggle is on the same page. Unlike a private share, a public link may already have been copied or indexed, so treat anything you published as having been seen.
Frequently asked questions
How do I share my Google Calendar with someone?
On a computer, open Google Calendar, hover the calendar under My calendars, click the three dots, then Settings and sharing. Click Shared with, then Add people and groups, enter their email, choose a permission level and click Send. They'll need to click the link in the email before it appears for them.
Why can't I share my Google Calendar on my phone?
Because the feature isn't in the mobile apps. Adding a person to a calendar is a desktop-only action in Google Calendar. You can see and use shared calendars on your phone, but to add someone you need a computer, or a desktop-mode browser tab.
What are the Google Calendar sharing permissions?
Five: see only free/busy, see event details, make changes while private events show as free/busy, make changes and see event details, and make changes and manage sharing. The last one lets that person share your calendar onward to others, so use it sparingly.
Can I share a Google Calendar with an iPhone user?
Yes. Share it the normal way and they'll receive the email. The calendar lives in their Google account, and appears on their iPhone if they've added that Google account under Settings. It doesn't become an iCloud calendar.
How do I share a Google Calendar with my family?
Either share it with each person individually, or use a Google family group, which comes with a shared Family calendar everyone in the group sees without any invitations.
Can Google Calendar handle a shift rotation?
Not cleanly. Its repeat rules are built on days, weeks, months and years, and most shift patterns run on cycles that don't divide into a week — fourteen days for a 2-2-3, twenty-eight for a DuPont. You'd be entering each shift manually or using a tool that repeats on any cycle length.