How to sync Outlook Calendar to your iPhone over wireless / 3G
When I got my iPhone, one of the few disadvantages was wireless or Bluetooth sync for my Outlook calendar items. Unlike my previous N95, I have to physically connect my iPhone via cable to get iTunes to sync with Outlook – what a pain!
But now, Google has solved this problem. You will need a Google Calendar account for this to work and my below instructions are for PC only. The setup will look like so:
First you need to download Google Calendar Sync – go here http://www.google.com/support/calendar/bin/answer.py?answer=98563 and click on the ‘download’ link.
Install the application (you will have to close Microsoft Outlook) and then follow the setup prompts. Enter your username and password to your Google Calendar account and setup a interval period for when the sync runs again – mine is set to 30 mins. You will also need to choose the Sync method i.e. 2 way (updates both Google & Outlook), or 1 way to update either Outlook only or Google only. I currently have mine as 1 way (Outlook to Google).
On installation the Sync will run once – so all your calendar items should get transferred over to Google Calendar in a few minutes.
Now, plug your iPhone into your computer and make a backup on iTunes. I repeat – MAKE A BACKUP!! Don’t email me back saying you lost all your stuff, tough! The next process will delete all your calendar items on your iPhone. So I suggest doing a sync to copy all your iPhone calendar items into Outlook (via iTunes).
Once the back up is complete, take your iPhone off the laptop and click on Settings. Then open “Mail, Contact, Calendars”. Then click “Add Account” and select Microsoft Exchange as the option. Leave the Domain blank and in the Email field, enter your Google Calendar username followed by the password. Click ‘Next’ on the top right corner. It will attempt to connect to a server, but won’t find one. So the next screen will ask you to enter the Server information. Put in “m.google.com” (without quotes) and click “Next” again. Currently this setup only supports Calendar and Contacts (NOT EMAIL – yet). I only use calendars, so I selected Calendar ‘On’ and the rest ‘Off’.
You will get two pop confirmation requests, stating that your calendar will be wiped out – click Sync on both requests and wait a few minutes. Open up Calendar on your iPhone, and you will start see your Outlook items (after Outlook’s first sync to Google Calendar).
So now if a meeting is cancelled or moved around on my Outlook, within a few minutes it is pushed to my iPhone. And note I use the word “Push” – that’s because Google has used Microsoft’s ActiveSync technology to enable this set up. So your iPhone only connects to get new Calendar data when one is available – saving data transfer.
*UPDATE* – I changed my setting to use FETCH instead of PUSH, as PUSH drained a lot battery on my iPhone. Fetch works just as good and I don’t need to charge my iPhone twice a day.
I am yet to see what happens when a new meeting request is sent – and how it will affect my calendar if I accept the invitation via the iPhone (probably won’t work, as I have a 1 way sync set up).
Going forward, I hope Google allows emails to start working in this fashion, as at the moment you have to Fetch it on a periodic basis.
So, has this worked for you as it has for me? Share your experience below.
It works great! thanks!
Not only for creating new events, but also for deleting them either in the iphone or in outlook
fantastic, goodbye to cable conections and dayly syncronization through itunes
but you canot accept invitations from your iphone. even with 2 way sync.
works sensationally thanks very much
Tim
Just perfect, works great ! Thank you !
JB
Thanks a lot Vicky. This is really great.
I gave up on synchronizing my Outlook calendar to my iPhone. (It was too much of a pain to plug it into my desktop every day, or multiple times a day)until i found this post. I am getting great use out of this function. Thank you Vicki! It is very convenient to have all my appointments accessible without having to plug my phone into my desktop!
Now I’m spoiled. I want to be able to add a second calendar to Outlook and be able to access both via iPhone.
Thanks so much ! Although I like the features of iPhone, I was about to throw it away due to this critical issue of Outlook Calendar ato-sync. Thanks again my friend, good work !
any chance of adding a second calendar to Outlook and be able to access both via iPhone?
Hi,
Thanks for posting this information. This is very helpful. I am able to sync my calendar but its not syncing my contacts.
Are you guys able to sync your contacts using the above method?
Best,
A.
A
You can synch your contacts if you enable that option during the account setup for gmail on your iphone. I did and it works like a charm.
Will this work if you don’t have an exchange server?
Hi Doug,
Yes, as long as Outlook is running on your desktop, and you have the Google Sync application installed, it will still work.
VL
Hi Vicky,
That’s a nice guide, the only problem for me is I’m already syncing mail from my work Microsoft Exchange account and iPhone won’t allow more than one MS Exchange account to be set up. Any advice? I’m sure I’m not the only person around who does that…
Hi Krystyna,
In this article you don’t actually setup a MS Exchange calendar on your iPhone. Just a Gmail calendar. This is because the article explains how to sync from Exchange to Google Calendar, and then view the Google Calendar on your iPhone.
If you want multiple calendars, you can type in the location to the ICS file and have iPhone show you your appointments for that calendar.
Let me know if we can help further.
VL
Hi Vicky –
I was so pleased to find this article after buying my iPhone yesterday and realizing that I could not sync my Outlook calendar from work directly to it. But, I’m still having problems.
So, first I set up a google account (using a yahoo acct, if that makes sense). And was able to successfully sync my Outlook calendar off my work computer to the Google calendar. Then I went to my iPhone and follwed the instructions above to set up a new Exchange acct. (I got the “unable to verify certificate from yahoo.com” message but just clicked on “accept). I put in m.google.com as the server and made it through to the page where I select which info I want to sync. I only need to sync my calendars right now so that is the only item I left “on”. Then I clicked “done”.
I now see that email address listed (along with all of my other accounts) with “calendars” underneath. However, when I go back to my home screen and click on the calendar icon, there is nothing there indicating the sync didn’t work. What am I doing wrong?? FYI – the “fetch new data” setting is set to “push” if that makes a difference.
Sorry for the lengthy note but I am desperate to get this to work!
Thanks!
Vicky – Update… After sending my comment yesterday, I ended up finding another solution online that suggested setting up an account using the “other” function (instead of exchange as you discuss) and then setting it up as a CalDAV account to http://www.google.com. To my pleasure, this worked and pulled all my info to my iPhone when I clicked on the standard calendar icon. Funny thing is, once I did that, I also could then see the calendar I pulled through previously through the Exchange. Of course, this duplicated the 2 calendars so I deleted the one I set up through exchange. Not sure why it wouldn’t sync up before. Anyway, thanks for the tips from the start!
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Having always been fascinated by technology and its use in current society, Vicky has a passion for writing about the current events and changes along with his thoughts on the use of upcoming developments. Besides surfing the web, listening to music, watching TV or blistering his thumbs on the Xbox360, Vicky loves cooking and enjoys dining and reviewing restaurants.