A detailed comparison of the Difference Between Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar

Outlook calendars and Google calendars are two of the most popular applications used by users for managing appointments, schedules, and events. Both apps offer similar functions, but some differences would make one of them more suitable for your needs than the other. Outlook calendar is known for time management and comprehensive scheduling which goes along with other suites of products that are offered by Office 365. This means that it is much simpler to integrate email and other features with the calendar.

The seamless integration between the calendar and other Microsoft Office apps makes it more popular among various businesses that use Office 365 as their primary suite. On the other hand, Google Calendar is known for its ease of use, and also integration with other Google Services. It is used widely by several individuals and small businesses that need to use Google’s suite of productivity tools. Users enjoy the collaborative features and smart suggestions that make it work faster and simpler. In the next section, we are going to discuss the pros and cons of both applications. 

Google Calendar of Pros and Cons

Google Calendar is very simple to use and is successfully integrated with other Google services. It is most commonly used by small businesses as compared to Outlook which is used by larger organisations. Many people need the services of Google’s suite of productivity tools. 

Pros of Google Calendar

1. Google Calendars are Integrated With the Ecosystem — Google Calendar is integrated seamlessly with the other Google services that can be used such as Gmail, Google Drive, Google Meet, and much more which allows users to easily collaborate and access relevant information. 
2. Compatibility Across Platforms — Google Calendar can be accessed through various platforms which include web, android, and IOS. This makes it easier to use no matter what devices the users are using. 
3. User-Friendly Interface — Google Calendar has a very user-friendly and clean interface that allows users to navigate through it with ease. 
4. Collaboration Features — Google Calendar offers users the ability to collaborate with their peers such as by sharing calendars, Invitations to events, and more which makes this application ideal for teams and groups of all sizes. 
5. Smart Suggestions and Reminders — Google calendars use Artificial Intelligence algorithms to make smart suggestions for events as well as remind users about their schedules to help them stay organized. More advanced features related to artificial intelligence have helped users improve their workflow. 
6. Several Features are Free to Use — Google calendars give users the ability to access a variety of features that are free to use that are integrated with the Google Workspace. Due to this, it is a more cost-effective option. 
7. Offers a Mobile Application — The Google Calendar application is also available on mobile which helps provide a seamless experience to the users. This application is similar to the web versions making it consistent across all platforms. 
8. Add-Ons are Available — Users get access to a large library of extensions and add-ons through the G Suite marketplace. This enables the users to enhance the calendar with advanced features and integrations. 

Cons of Google Calendar

1. Integration With Non-Google Tools is Limited — Google calendars work well with Google services, but its compatibility with non-Google services leaves more to be desired as compared to Outlook calendar. 
2. Concerns of Data Privacy — Google ecosystem has privacy concerns related to the usage and collection of data. This is especially true for users who have sensitive information and how it is used. 
3. Offline Access is Limited — As compared to Outlook Calendar, Google Calendar has limited offline access. You cannot make changes to your calendar but can view it when you’re offline. 
4. Search Functionality is Limited — The functionality to search within Google Calendar is limited and not as powerful as compared to Outlook Calendar. This makes it more complex to schedule certain situations in business. 
5. Requirement of Google Account — Users need to have a Google account which leads to various drawbacks for the users who do not have one. 

Outlook Calendar Pros and Cons Explained

Outlook calendar integrates seamlessly with other Office products. This is why it is very usable. Outlook calendar has scheduling capabilities that can be customized with several options. Following are the specific things that you need to know: 

Pros of Outlook Calendar

1. Office Suite Integration — Outlook Calendar integrates with Office apps such as OneDrive, Teams, emails, and more. This makes it more convenient for users that rely on these tools. 
2. Scheduling Capabilities — Outlook Calendar offers users advanced scheduling features such as appointments that are recurring, invitations to meetings, booking of resources, and more. This is useful for businesses. 
3. User-Friendly Interface — The interface of Outlook Calendar is very easy to navigate and users can find all the tools very easily. There is still a learning curve for users who are just beginning to use the environment, but it still has a fairly simple-to-use interface. 
4. Integration with the Exchange Server — Outlook calendar offers users built-in support for the Microsoft Exchange server that enables syncing across various devices and access to shared calendars. 
5. Offline Access — Outlook calendars can be viewed offline by the users which gives it an edge over Google calendars. Users get offline access to their calendar, and can even edit, and view events. 
6. Included Task Manager — Outlook calendar has an inbuilt task manager that helps users create, track, and assign tasks directly from the calendar. This proves to be very helpful to the users and makes their daily tasks much easier to perform. 
7. Third-Party Tool Integration — Outlook calendar offers users comprehensive integration with various third-party tools and services that allow users to make it more useful 
8. Security and Privacy — In the Microsoft ecosystem, Outlook Calendar has strict privacy and security standards that ensure the safety of the data of users. 

Cons of Outlook Calendar

1. The Learning Curve for the Tool — Since the Outlook calendar has several advanced features, users need to learn these features especially if they’re new to the environment. 
2. Collaboration Features — Even though Outlook Calendar allows you to share your calendars with other users, there are fewer collaboration features in Outlook Calendar as compared to Google Calendar. 
3. Limitations in the Mobile App — Outlook calendar for different operating systems of mobile devices may differ. This leads to varied user experiences. 
4. Dependant on the Microsoft Ecosystem — To make the most out of Outlook Calendar, It relies on the Microsoft Ecosystem. Without it, users will get access to limited features. 
5. Fewer Free-to-Use Features — Some of the advanced features that are offered by Outlook Calendars, such as the ability to integrate with the Exchange Server or task management require users to pay for a subscription plan. 
6. The Focus on UI is Lower — Outlook Calendar is more focused on functionality rather than the UI. This results in a less user-friendly application and smooth experience. 

Comparison of Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar

	Outlook Calendar	Google Calendar
1.	Users can schedule appointments and meetings.	Users can create events.
2.	Users can create recurring events.	Repeating events can be made.
3.	Seamless transfer of ownership of events by deleting and then recreating events.	Changes can be made to the owner of the event.
4.	One-on-one meetings can be scheduled.	Creation of individual meetings or bookable appointments can be made.
5.	Attendees can be added to any invites via email.	Guests and other users can be added to event details.
6.	You can see if people are free or doing something important.	Users can see if people are available and can also choose different suggested meeting times.
7.	Users can schedule conference calls.	Users can add event calls to the schedule automatically.
8.	You can view calendars side-by-side.	You can view calendars by overlaying them.
9.	Users can give delegate access to calendars.	Users can delegate access to the calendars.
10.	You can publish a calendar.	You can make a calendar public.
11.	Users can select time zones according to the event.	Users can narrow the time zones according to the country.
12.	You can use importance markers to identify various events.	Users can color-code events based on their importance.
13.	You can remove yourself by deleting an event and recreate it with a different owner.	Users can remove themselves from an event.

How to Migrate from One Tenant to the Other?

To transfer your events from one tenant to the other, you will first have to configure the Office 365 account in Outlook. It is not possible to directly migrate the Office 365 calendar to Google Calendar. You can use Outlook which is the most commonly used application and it saves all the calendars in .ics format. So, you will first have to export the .ics file and then import it to the Google Calendar. 

Here are the steps to Export the Office 365 calendar: 

1. First, log in to your Outlook account and go to the calendar option. Choose the calendar in order to make it active in the view. 
2. In the file menu, go to the save calendar option. 
3. Enter a name for the calendar file which can be easily recognized by you. 
4. Now choose the location where you want to save the calendar file and click on the save button. 
5. Log into the GWA, select the apps icon, and open the calendar. 
6. Go to the gear icon and click on the drop-down menu. Select the settings option. 
7. From the calendar settings window, click on the calendars tab. 
8. Choose the import calendar option, and then import the Office 365 calendar to Google Calendar. 
9. Click on the browse button to select the location of the calendar file that you saved. 
10. Locate the file and select it. 
11. Now you can click on the import button. 
12. After the process is complete, click on the close button to finish the process. 
13. Finally, your Office 365 calendars are imported into your Google calendars. 

Automated Tool to Migrate Calendar from One Tenant to Another

Since the manual method is quite complicated and quite time-consuming. It would be more beneficial to a non-technical user who wants to migrate, to use an automated tool that will help them to directly export Office 365 calendars to Google Calendar or from Google Calendar to Office 365 calendar. 

In the manual process, we have mentioned in the above section, there are some complications that might take place, and it may also lead to loss of data. To prevent this, users can use a very effective third-party solution such as SysTools Outlook to G Suite Migration Software. 

 Download Now  Purchase Now

You can follow the steps given below to export Outlook Calendar. :

1. Click on the File tab. 
2. Click on Open & Export option > Import/Export. 
3. Choose the Export to a File option. 
4. Choose the calendar and then click on the Next option. 
5. Click on the Browse option to get the location for the exported .pst file. 
6. Click on the Finish button in order to start exporting it. 
7. Then, you can upload the exported PST file into the utility and click on the next option. 
8. Enter the Google Calendar credentials. You can now export the Office 365 calendar into Google Calendar.

This is a very simple and fast solution that can help you import all the Office 365 calendars into Google Calendars or the other way around. There are many advantages to using these tools. Users can also migrate contacts, emails, and other files. 

Conclusion

It can be a tough decision to choose between Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar. Both of them offer a huge variety of features that help users manage their schedules and tasks. The big difference depends on which type of operating system and productivity suite you use. It also depends on which tools you need to integrate with your calendars, and how often you will be working offline. Another huge key factor that will help you decide is how much time you will be spending traveling, and being offline while also needing to collaborate with the rest of the team.