Are you tired of receiving notifications or alerts from Google Calendar outside work hours? Setting working hours in Google Calendar helps to manage your time and work better. Don’t know how to do that? Well, in this article, we will guide you on how to set working hours in Google Calendar.

The best part of having Google Calendar working hours is that it helps you and your colleagues better communicate your availability. When you enable working hours or set ‘Out of office’ and share with your colleagues, friends, and family, they will be able to see and schedule things accordingly. With that, let’s begin with the article.

Note: You must have a Google Workspace account to set working hours in Google Calendar. Additionally, you might have to contact your administrator if you have one and cannot see the option to enable it.

Adding work hours in Google Calendar is simple and fairly easy to follow for a good work-life balance. Follow the below steps.

Step 1: Go to Google Calendar and login in with your work account.

Go to Google Calendar

Step 2: Click on the gear icon at the top right, and from the drop-down, select Settings.

Step 3: Select General and navigate to Working Hours.

Step 4: On the right pane, check the box next to ‘Enable working hours.’

Step 5: Now, select the days of the week and times you are available for work.

Note: If your work hours are the same across all days, enter the start and end times and click on ‘Copy time to all.’ This will populate the time data throughout the rest of the week. 

That’s it. You have successfully set working hours in Google Calendar. With this, everyone in your contact list can now see when you’re available for work and when you are not.

Now that you have set a working period on your calendar, it is important to know that if you have multiple periods in a day that you work or take a break in between, you can also add that. Follow along.

Note: If you haven’t already enabled working hours on Google Calendar, follow the above method before jumping on to this one.

Step 1: Select the day you want to set multiple times, click on the plus (+) icon

Step 2: Enter start and end times for that period. 

Note: You can add as many periods per day as you want. Press the plus (+) icon to add more timing and the minus (-) icon to remove.

With that, you have set multiple working hours on your Google Calendar, enabling you to have a flexible schedule. In addition to this, you can also add the location you will work from. If you are going on vacation and won’t be available for some time, you can add it to Google Calendar for the ease of scheduling meetings.

Step 1: Go to Google Calendar and login in with your work account.

Go to Google Calendar

Step 2: Click on the first date you will be out of the office. Click ‘Out of outside.’

Step 3: Select the dates for which you will be out of the office.

Step 4: Check the box ‘Automatically decline meetings,’ and select ‘New and existing meetings.’

Step 5: Finally, click Save.

Enabling both working time and ‘Out of office’ settings together gives you the perfect blend. This will set a good course for your remote work and meetings. If you have any queries, check out the FAQ section below.

In order to use Google Calendar’s Working Hours feature, you must be using Google Workspace. If you have a Workspace account but are still unable to see the setting, you can contact your administrator.

It depends on whether you have shared the calendar and who has access to it. If the calendar is shared, your boss or the person with access will be able to see it.

Google Workspace administrators have access to activity logs for all apps and services within Google Workspace. This includes Gmail, Calendar, Drive, and Docs as well as several other services. So, yes they can see your activity.

Setting working hours in Google Calendar helps you manage your time and schedule more efficiently. You can prevent notifications and alerts from interrupting your life outside working hours. Overall, It enables you to have a good work-life balance by switching between personal and professional hours. 

Last updated on 16 January, 2023

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