Quick Add

The downward-pointing arrow next to the ‘Create’ button allows you to quickly add events by typing phrases such as ‘Meeting with Amy Thursday at 10 am’. In this case, the app will create the event on the closest upcoming Thursday.

Find A Time

If you’re setting up a meeting with fellow users go Google Calendar, you can check when they have a slot in their calendar by selecting the ‘Find A Time’ tab when you click into ‘Edit Event’ (next to ‘Event Details’).

Offline

To access your calendar while you’re offline, simply select the cog button on the right side of your dashboard, and select ‘Offline’. Your events are synced after you see a green circle with a checkmark next to it.

Add Video Call

When creating your event, you can select the ‘Add Video Call’ link below the event’s location. This creates a hangout the event attendees can opt in at the chosen time, and can host up to 9 attendees in one hangout.

Email Guests

Quickly email all the attendees of an event by simply selecting the ‘Email Guests’ button (next to an envelope) to the right side of the attendees' list under ‘Edit Event’.

Specify Locations

Most are probably already aware of this hack, but it doesn’t hurt to mention that you can input the address of an event under ‘Where’ when you select ‘Edit Event’. Your guests can then go directly into Google Maps to find the location of the event. 

Daily Agenda

Allow Google to send a daily rundown of the day’s events at 5 am by selecting ‘Edit notifications’ under the cogs button to the right of your dashboard. Then click ‘Email’ under the ‘Daily agenda’ section.

Attach Meeting Notes

Often times, there’s a document that attendees should reference prior to the event. Turn on this feature by selecting the cogs button on the top right of the dashboard, choose ‘Labs’, find ‘Event attachments, and click ‘Enable’. Ta-da!

Meeting Names

Another Calendar feature under Labs is ‘Who’s my one-on-one with?’, which allows you to input the name of the other meeting attendee. Their name is then visible next to the event name, so you don’t have to click in to see who you’re having a meeting with.

Next Meeting

If you’re an extra busy bee, and typically have meetings lined up, this is a useful Labs add-on to have, which countdowns to your next meeting. It will show up on the right-side tab once enabled in ‘Labs’.

Jump To Date

Want to quickly check your availability on a random date? Enabling ‘Jump to Date’ under ‘Labs’ allows you to do just that, and with a click of a button. This feature also appears on the right side of your Calendar dashboard.

Gentle Notifications

The default Google Calendar alert for an event is a pop-up that redirects you to the GCal dashboard. This can be irritating if you’re in the middle of working, so enable ‘Gentle Notifications ‘ under ‘Labs’ instead, replacing the traditional alert with a gentle ping and flashes the GCal tab in your browser with the event name.

Weather

You can enable weather icons on the top of your page by selecting ‘Settings’ under the cogs button to the right side of your dashboard. Choose your unit of choice under the ‘Show weather based on my location’ option.