Google calendar events not showing on iPhone

Updated March 2017 with additional steps for un-syncing calendars.

If you accepted an invitation from someone to share a Google calendar but aren't seeing it on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac; it could be due to your Google Sync settings. Google turns sync off by default for new calendars, particularly shared ones. It's frustrating, and it's why you can't immediately see them on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac even when you can see them online. Luckily it's also simple to fix — once you know how!

1. Launch Safari or any other web browser on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
2. Go to calendar.google.com/calendar/syncselect.
3. Sign in if you aren't already.
4. Under Shared Calendars, tick the boxes for the calendars you want to see on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

It can take a few minutes for the calendars to appear. If they don't appear right away, close the Calendar app and reopen it.

How to stop a calendar from syncing across your devices

If you have a shared Google calendar that you only need access to every once in a while, so you don't want it on your iPhone, you can un-sync it. I share a practice space calendar with about a dozen people, which takes up pretty much all the space on my calendar app. Un-syncing it from Google's calendars makes my schedule look a lot less daunting.

1. Launch Safari or any other web browser on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
2. Go to google.com/calendar/syncselect.
3. Sign in if you aren't already.
4. Untick the box for any calendar you don't want to sync with your iPhone or iPad's Calendar app.
5. Click Save to save the settings.

From now on, those calendars won't even appear as an option for you to add to the built-in Calendar app (or even any third-party app that supports Google Calendar).

Any questions?

Do you have any questions about syncing shared Google Calendars with the built-in iPhone and iPad Calendar app? Put them in the comments and we'll help you out.

Allyson Kazmucha contributed to an earlier version of this article.

Lory is a renaissance woman, writing news, reviews, and how-to guides for iMore. She also fancies herself a bit of a rock star in her town and spends too much time reading comic books.  If she's not typing away at her keyboard, you can probably find her at Disneyland or watching Star Wars (or both).