Using Google Calendar

January 12, 2020 2:44 PM

I am a relatively new user to Google calendar. I need to give a lot of people the option to schedule something without them seeing who else is on the calendar. Does Google Calendar let me send them a blank calendar and then, lets them select their own date and time with them seeing only their entry while I see all of the entries?
posted by CollectiveMind to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

I think you want to create appointment slots.
posted by Toddles at 2:46 PM on January 12, 2020 [3 favorites]

Google calendar isnt great at this. I find their appointment option confusing. Sign up genius is a free program that allows multiple people to schedule times, Im pretty sure the default is what you describe. Ive never used it, but Ive talked to a few people in volunteering who like it.
posted by j810c at 4:34 PM on January 12, 2020

Another app that can do this is Calendly. You can hook it up to you Google Calendar.
posted by pyro979 at 4:52 PM on January 12, 2020 [2 favorites]

I don't think Google calendar appointment slots are anonymous to other users -- I have used them to schedule appointments with many different people over a couple of weeks, and when I open the "appointment view" of my calendar, not only can I see anyone who's signed up, but in fact *everything* in the calendar. I can't remember if this was an incognito window, but be aware that that's a possibility.
posted by dbx at 7:46 PM on January 12, 2020

I feel like it is worth adding since this came up that you can set your calendar itself so other people can't see who your meetings are with or what for - just that the time is blocked out. This is one of the setting options.
posted by Toddles at 9:29 PM on January 12, 2020

I looked into this and ended up getting a You Can Book Me account. I also looked into Calendly, but YCBM ended up being a bit more intuitive and easy for me to use.

YCBM syncs with your Google Calendar, and automatically blocks out spots where you have things scheduled. You can customize your available hours/days; I ended up paying for the premium version ($10/month) for the "On Duty" feature which works a bit better if you have a wonky schedule that varies a lot from day to day.

You then send a booking link to folks, who pick out a slot that works for them. They get automatically added to your calendar, and you get an email. (I think you can also set it so they can request a time that you accept.)
posted by damayanti at 9:29 AM on January 13, 2020