Sync busy time without sharing event details

The destination gets a time and a label

A busy block copies the start and end time and uses the label you choose. The original title, description, location, and attendee list stay off that copy. Use a neutral label such as Busy; a label containing a client's name would disclose that name.

In this sample, a detailed work event becomes a Busy block on a client calendar. Switch modes to see why full detail belongs only on a destination that should receive it.

Illustrative event data. This preview doesn't read or change a real calendar.

Busy mode controls the copied event. It doesn't remove access someone already has to the source calendar, hide your availability, or change the destination calendar's sharing permissions.

Choose privacy for each direction

1. Connect and select the calendars. In Calendars, connect the Google or Microsoft accounts you're authorized to use. Choose only the calendars needed for this setup.
2. Start with Busy blocks, one way. Make the calendar containing the private appointments the source. Make the calendar that needs to reserve those times the destination.
3. Keep the label neutral. Busy is enough. Review the filters before saving: busy presets skip all-day and declined events, and a working-hours filter may exclude personal appointments outside the selected hours.
4. Add the return direction only when needed. Busy blocks, both ways is useful when work and personal calendars both need the other's availability. Each direction can have its own copy mode and filters.

For example, send private blocks from a client calendar into your work calendar. You can separately mirror full details from work into an aggregate calendar you control. Treat every destination as a separate disclosure decision.

The Google and Outlook setup guide walks through account connections, rule creation, and the first sync.

Open the copy and inspect it

Create a test event on the source with a recognizable title, description, and location. After syncing, open its copy in the destination calendar. It should show the chosen Busy label and the correct time, with none of those original details.

Check the destination through the sharing view your colleague or client actually uses. A calendar owner and a person with free/busy access may see different views of the same block. If you use a booking tool, verify that it checks this destination calendar and treats the copied time as unavailable.

Move the original and confirm the Busy block moves. Delete the original to finish the test. Keep making changes on the source: editing a managed copy doesn't update the original event.

If nothing arrives, check Activity and use Test this rule from Syncs. A missing block is often a filter or direction issue. The help reference explains the available checks.

Review existing copies when you change a rule

Switching from full detail to Busy is a change to the sync rule, not proof that an existing copy has already been cleaned. Run a sync, inspect a previously detailed event on the destination, and confirm that its old details are gone.

Deleting a copy by hand isn't a lasting exclusion; syncing can recreate it. To stop future copies, adjust the rule's filters or pause it. Pausing stops syncing and doesn't itself clean up copies already present.

When removing a rule or disconnecting an account, review the copy-cleanup choice before completing the action. For the information the service processes and stores, read the security explanation and privacy policy.