Connect your Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook calendar to the Optimal Scheduler to easily manage interview sessions and keep your availability in sync.
Once connected, your availability is automatically reflected when participants book sessions, helping you avoid scheduling conflicts and reduce manual admin.
Admins can specify the sync settings (full sync, availability only, or off). With full sync enabled, booked sessions can also sync back to your calendar, so everything stays up to date.
Why connect your calendar?
Avoid double bookings
Keep your availability accurate
Reduce manual scheduling work
Ensure all sessions stay in sync automatically
How to connect your calendar
Once it's enabled for your Workspace, go to your Interviews Scheduler in Interviews tool. You can then connect your own Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook calendar under Collaborators.
If your Workspace has full sync permissions as determined by your admin, please reference the accessing advanced settings for full sync section below for additional guidance.
How to connect other collaborators' calendars
To start, click on Add Collaborator, you can then set this collaborator to be host, required, or optional for an Interviews study. Being marked as a host or required will block out availability on the schedule.
If someone has not yet connected their calendar to sync with Optimal, you can click on Request Connection to send an email to guide them to connect their calendar.
For each collaborator, you can choose how they impact scheduling:
Host – Runs the session
Required – Must be available (their calendar blocks time slots)
Optional – Nice to have (does not block availability). In the calendar, their busy times will be indicated with a dotted line border.
Once your and/or your team's calendar has been synced, you can create availability blocks or slots under Availability.
Feel free to drag your availability block over existing busy times. Optimal will automatically factor in your calendar conflicts, so participants only see your true availability.
Accessing advanced settings for full sync
Adding additional calendars
If your Workspace calendar sync settings are set to full sync, you can click on the gear settings icon under collaborators to access advanced settings.
There you can select any other calendars you're subscribed to to check for conflicts e.g. add a meeting room or team calendar and add as busy slots to your calendar.
We recommend if you are inviting individuals to set them up as collaborators.
Adding booked sessions to a calendar
You also have an option to select which calendar to automatically add booked sessions to. It can either be added to your own calendar or another calendar you have access to, such as a team calendar.
You can only add booked sessions to one calendar at this time.
How to disconnect your calendar
Go to My Profile > Integrations and click on the relevant calendar to disconnect. You can also connect to other integrations options on this same page.
Access and permissions
This feature is managed by your Workspace or Organization admin.
A Workspace admin can manage settings via Workspace Settings > Features > Calendar Integration > Edit.
If you're an Organization admin, go to your Admin Team Workspace > Manage Organization > Features > Calendar Integration > Edit.
Under Edit, an admin will be able to select from three modes, depending on how much visibility and syncing is preferred:
1. Full sync (default)
Pulls in you and/or your team's calendar events into Optimal for reference
Automatically adds booked sessions to your Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook calendar
Keeps everything synced without extra steps
Best for: teams who want a fully automated scheduling workflow
2. Availability only (Read-only)
Pulls in you and/or your team's busy time slots only into your Optimal Scheduler
Participants see your available time slots based on your busy schedule
Bookings:
Confirmed sessions are not automatically added to your calendar. Instead, you’ll receive a booking confirmation email with an .ics file attachment
You can manually add the session to your calendar with this file.
3. Off
No calendar connection
Availability and bookings are managed manually within Optimal
As part of Google and Microsoft's policies, the calendar integration will expire approximately every 12 months. At this time, you'll receive an email and/or in-app notification to reconnect your calendar integration.
Switching between modes
A Workspace or organization admin can change the calendar mode. If the calendar mode is updated, all Workspace members will receive an email asking them to reconnect their calendars.
FAQs
Can I connect a Google and Microsoft calendar at the same time?
No, each person can connect one calendar provider at a time. If you are working with a team, you can integrate with different calendars e.g. one with Google, and another person on Microsoft
How do I remove a busy slot from the calendar?
You cannot delete busy times from the Optimal calendar if the calendar is synced with your Google or Microsoft calendar. Please delete out any blocked time on your Google or Microsoft calendar that you do not want to be reflected in the Optimal calendar or change the person's calendar status to optional to not impact available.
If I have full sync on for my calendar, can booked sessions be added to multiple calendars on once?
Booked sessions can only be added to one calendar at a time.