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Posts tagged "Calendar"

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This Outlook email update will give your calendar a splash of color
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Microsoft Outlook users will soon be able to liven up their work calendars with a bit of color thanks to a new update coming to the service.

An upcoming upgrade will soon allow Outlook web users to customize the color of the events in their calendar app, letting them not only liven up the view, but also create better distinction and visibility into their working week.

The official entry in the Microsoft 365 roadmap notes that users of the email service will be able to select custom colors for their calendar events using hexadecimal values, RBG values, or a color picker control.

Outlook update

The update is currently still in the development phase, but Microsoft has pegged it for a release in February 2022. It will only be available to web users to begin with, but may roll out elsewhere soon.

The move brings Outlook up to speed with some of its biggest rivals, with Google Calendar already allowing users to set a number of different colors for events.

Microsoft has revealed a number of useful updates for Outlook in the last few months as it looks to further assist those embracing the hybrid working lifestyle.

This includes a tool that will help users eliminate mistakes from their messages with the launch of spelling and grammar checks for its Outlook on mobile platform.

Another update will allow workers to set a notice showing where they are working, whether that be at home, in the office, or anywhere else.

Google Calendar received a similar feature in August 2021, allowing users to highlight exactly where they would be working, with the options of home, office, or a specific other location.

Users can also create a weekly working location routine if they plan on going into the office on certain days and working remotely on others, which can be updated at any time if plans change. There was no information as to whether Microsoft's Outlook update will do the same, but we're hopeful it will.

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Google Calendar update will prevent disastrous scheduling mishaps
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Keeping your work and personal lives seperate should soon be easier than ever thanks to a new update to Google Calendar on mobile.

The company has revealed it will be adding account profile pictures in the top corner of Google Calendar on mobile, whether you're on Android or iOS. 

This should mean that users are able to quickly and easily spot  which account you’re currently using and easily toggle between accounts – and hopefully not spam your work calendar with birthday parties and hospital appointments.

Google Calendar accounts

In a blog post announcing the update, Google said the change should also make it easier to work out which account you're using when creating an event – and you can switch easily by clicking the profile picture displayed, much like in other Google apps.

It adds that users will still be able to see events for all accounts you’re logged into in your calendar, as well as still seeing events in any other calendar account you may have added.

Your active account will always be listed at the top of the accounts in the overflow menu, hopefully minimizing any possible confusion.

Google calendar switch between accounts

(Image credit: Google)

The update is rolling out now to iOS and Android users, with all Google Workspace customers, G Suite Basic and Business customers, and users with personal Google Accounts able to download.

The news is the latest update to Google Calendar as the company looks to help employees embracing hybrid working that are splitting their time between the office and home.

Recently, it revealed a tool that means Gmail users will now be able to specify whether they will be attending a meeting either virtually or in-person in their email RSVP.

The news comes shortly after the launch of a new “Focus time” feature in Google Calendar that will allow users to block out periods of time where they can avoid meetings and get their heads down for actual work.

Setting such a marker in your Google Calendar will also allow users to automatically decline meetings, meaning no last-minute rush to finish off work.

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Google Calendar update will stop people clogging your day with needless meetings
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Google is rolling out improvements for its calendar app that should help people better manage their busy schedules.

As described in a blog post, Google Calendar users will soon benefit from the ability to prevent unwanted invitations from being added to their calendar.

Under the updated system, users can choose for meetings and other events to be added to their calendar only after they have responded to the email invitation. The effect, says Google, is a less cluttered calendar interface and less time spent on administration.

The new Google Calendar feature should go live for all Workspace users (both business and personal) within the next two weeks.

Google Calendar invitations

Since the transition to remote and hybrid working, many more meetings have taken place over video conferencing and VoIP services. Managers have also been encouraged to check in more frequently with employees, in the absence of a quick chat or coffee break at the office.

All of this means a larger volume of meetings and more unwieldy calendars, which is somewhat of a nightmare for anyone who already spent more than their fair share of time in meetings before the pandemic.

With this latest update, however, Google Workspace users will be able to manage their calendars more effectively with less manual effort, as well as highlighting the events and meetings most important to them.

Of course, the ability to divert invitations doesn’t address endemic problems with meetings culture in this new world of hybrid working, but it will at least go some way to alleviating the symptoms.

To activate or deactivate the new feature, use the following pathway in the Google Calendar web app: Settings > Event settings > Add invitations to my calendar.

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Is Google Calendar down?
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Is Google Calendar down? The widely-use calendar service provided by Google, and synced with many of our work and personal email accounts, appears to be having trouble keeping it together.

A number of TechRadar staff are seeing Google Calendar dip in and out of live service, with a '500' error code coming up instead of our usual view of events, meetings, reminders, and more meetings.

More on this as the story develops…

It looks like a global problem

Google Calendar appears to be down for TechRadar's UK staff, flitting in and out of service. We have word that the service is experiencing issues worldwide, from contacts in India and Spain too.

Reported cases are rising

Downdetector is reporting a surge in user-generated reports of Google Calendar issues since 9am GMT (1am PST / 4am EST). Only 16 reports in the view so far, but 0-16 in the space of 20 minutes shows something is picking up.

Users are taking to social media

People are cottoning on to the service being down, though the official Google Calendar Twitter account has yet to post anything about the issues.

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Be free, workers!

Some are taking the outage on a lighter note, such as Twitter user @jerelleaj, who celebrates that they must “have nothing planned for today”. Performance review? What performance review?

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Partial functionality?

You may find that you can enter the Google Calendar, and only see a few events out of your usually-packed schedule. I'm able to see my own events, and things I've confirmed attendance to – stored locally – but my work calendar of everything else going on in the company is absent. Sorry boss.

I was able to use a Google Calendar event to jump into a Google Meet video call, so you may be able to briefly gain access for an important meeting if you keep trying. We tend to switch between half-filled screen and full-on error message every time we refresh the page, though.

Reports continue to pour in

Downdetector is now reporting a whopping 2,960 issues – and the real number is likely to be far beyond that, given that the site relies on user-generated complaints.

Users commenting on the website say that Calendar is “down for Romania as well”, “Not working in Czech Republic”, “Unable to sync in India”, and “Down in Denmark.” France and Greece appear to be affected too – is anyone left out?

A Google in denial

No official word from Google yet, and the Google Workspace Status Dashboard shows Google Calendar as working perfectly fine. Read the room, Google.

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