Guide

Google Calendar access permissions: sharing levels, greyed out, and how to change or remove access

Short answer: Google Calendar sharing permissions control what someone can find and do on a calendar you share. Help lists See only free/busy (hide details), See event details, Make changes (see private events as free/busy), Make changes and see event details, and Make changes and manage sharing. People also search See all event details and Make changes to events. Those older labels map to See event details and the make-changes levels. Event guest permissions are a different control for one meeting.

Sharing is a view of that calendar. It does not write Busy blocks onto another Google Calendar. Showing busy time without event details is in the show busy time guide. Use Resync when another of your Google calendars should get a private hold titled Busy. It currently syncs Google calendars only.

Sharing permission levels

Choose what others can do with your calendar Help documents five access permissions. You can set them for specific people and groups, or for public and organization-wide access. Broader calendar permissions take priority if there is a conflict. A public See event details setting still shows titles to someone you later limited to See only free/busy.

Permission	What they can find	What they can do
See only free/busy (hide details)	When you are busy. They cannot find names or details about events or tasks.	Look at busy time. They cannot edit events or change sharing. Use this when someone only needs to know you are occupied.
See event details	Event names, times, places, and descriptions. People also search this as See all event details.	Read event details. They cannot edit events or change sharing. Use this when someone should read the calendar but not change it.
Make changes (see private events as free/busy)	Non-private event details. A Private Busy event is a Busy block with no details. A Private Free event does not appear.	Edit non-private events. They cannot edit private events. Older docs often grouped this under Make changes to events.
Make changes and see event details	Event details, and they can find who else the calendar is shared with. Event visibility Help also calls the matching Private exception Make changes to events and see event details.	Edit events on the calendar. They cannot change sharing or permanently delete the calendar. This is the usual make-changes level people mean by Make changes to events.
Make changes and manage sharing	Full event and task details for items with a start and end time.	Full control of those events or tasks, and they can share the calendar with others. You need this level to share a calendar someone else owns.

See only free/busy (hide details)

What they can find: When you are busy. They cannot find names or details about events or tasks.
What they can do: Look at busy time. They cannot edit events or change sharing. Use this when someone only needs to know you are occupied.

See event details

What they can find: Event names, times, places, and descriptions. People also search this as See all event details.
What they can do: Read event details. They cannot edit events or change sharing. Use this when someone should read the calendar but not change it.

Make changes (see private events as free/busy)

What they can find: Non-private event details. A Private Busy event is a Busy block with no details. A Private Free event does not appear.
What they can do: Edit non-private events. They cannot edit private events. Older docs often grouped this under Make changes to events.

Make changes and see event details

What they can find: Event details, and they can find who else the calendar is shared with. Event visibility Help also calls the matching Private exception Make changes to events and see event details.
What they can do: Edit events on the calendar. They cannot change sharing or permanently delete the calendar. This is the usual make-changes level people mean by Make changes to events.

Make changes and manage sharing

What they can find: Full event and task details for items with a start and end time.
What they can do: Full control of those events or tasks, and they can share the calendar with others. You need this level to share a calendar someone else owns.

Per-event Default, Public, or Private is a different control. Default follows the calendar share. Public shows that event's details even when the calendar is free/busy only. Private hides details from everyone except people with Make changes and see event details or Make changes and manage sharing. Others see a block labeled Busy. That Private path is in the private events guide.

Google Calendar Help steps checked Nov 5, 2026. Cited from Calendar sharing permissions and Change event and task visibility.

Share your calendar Help says you can share any calendar you own or one you have permission to share. They get an email. To find your calendar, they need to click the link in the email. If the calendar is for work or school, your administrator decides if you can share it.

Computer

On your computer, open Google Calendar.
On the left, click My calendars. To the right of the calendar, click More, then Settings and sharing.
On the left, click Shared with.
Under Shared with, click Add people and groups.
Add the email address of the person or Google group.
Choose a permission, then click Send.

You can also share with anyone or the public, or with people in your work, school, or other organization, under Access permissions for events. Next to Make available to public or Make available for your organization, pick the access level. People outside your organization cannot find an organization-only calendar. If you invite someone outside to a meeting, they can still find info about that meeting.

Android, iPhone, and iPad

Calendar Help documents sharing from the Google Calendar app. The full drop-down to change an existing person's level is on a computer.

Open the Google Calendar app on Android or on iPhone or iPad.
At the top left, tap Menu, then Settings.
Select the calendar you want to share.
Under Shared with, tap Add people or groups. Enter a name or group.
Choose a permission, then tap Save.

If they cannot find the email, Help says to check the address, ask them to check spam or trash, search for your email, or take them off the sharing list and add them again. If the calendar still never appears, use the shared calendar not showing guide. Family-group calendars are in the family sharing guide.

Google Calendar Help steps checked Nov 5, 2026. Cited from Share your calendar, the Android page, and the iPhone and iPad page.

Change or remove access

You can stop sharing whenever you want. Changing one person's permission is documented on a computer.

Change someone's access on a computer

On your computer, open Google Calendar.
Under My calendars, open Settings and sharing for that calendar.
On the left, click Shared with.
Next to the person or group, click the drop-down and select the permission.

Remove access on a computer

Open Settings and sharing for that calendar.
For a person or group: under Shared with, next to their name, click Remove.
For public sharing: under Access permissions for events, turn off Make available to public.
For work or school sharing: turn off Make available for your organization.

Remove access on a phone

In the Google Calendar app on Android or iPhone or iPad, open Menu, Settings, then the calendar. Under Shared with, next to their name, tap Remove.

Google Calendar Help steps checked Nov 5, 2026. Cited from Share your calendar and Calendar sharing permissions.

Greyed-out permissions

Help does not use the word greyed out. It does say what to do when a setting is missing or you cannot select it.

On a work or school account, sharing permissions Help says your administrator can limit sharing or turn off permission settings. If you cannot select a setting for your calendar, contact your administrator.
Share your calendar Help says if the calendar is for work or school, your administrator decides if you can share it.
Workspace sharing options let an administrator cap external sharing, for example at Only free/busy information (hide event details). Users cannot exceed that limit on individual events. Super administrators and admins with Manage Calendars can see all event details in everyone's calendars, however calendars are shared.
To share a calendar someone else owns, that person must give you Make changes and manage sharing. Without that level, you cannot add people or change their access.
Broader settings win. A public or organization See event details share still shows titles even if one person is set to See only free/busy.

Checking someone else's free/busy after they share is in the availability guide.

Google Calendar Help and Google Workspace Help steps checked Nov 5, 2026. Cited from Calendar sharing permissions, Share your calendar, and Set Google Calendar sharing options.

Event guest permissions vs calendar sharing

Inviting someone to a meeting is not the same as sharing the calendar. Guests RSVP Yes, No, or Maybe to that event. Sharing gives them a view of the whole calendar at the permission you chose.

Create an event Help documents Guest permissions and Modify event. When Modify event is on, guests can manage that event as you can, including rooms, time, and attachments.
Invite people to your Calendar event Help documents Guests can invite others. Uncheck invite others if you do not want forwarded invites to add people.
On Android, Help documents Guests can access levels for editing the event, inviting others, or viewing the full guest list. Those follow the levels you set on a computer.
Workspace collaboration tips document Default guest permissions in Calendar settings, including Modify event as a default. That still applies per event, not as a calendar share.

A missing invitation is in the invite not showing guide. A missing shared calendar is in the shared calendar not showing guide.

Google Calendar Help and Google Workspace Help steps checked Nov 5, 2026. Cited from Create an event, the Android create-event page, Invite people to your Calendar event, and Tips to collaborate in Calendar.

Access permission troubleshooting

Use this table when a permission is missing, greyed out, or does not match what the other person can see.

What you see	Likely cause	Fix
Permission options greyed out	On a work or school account, the administrator can limit sharing or turn off permission settings. Help says if you cannot select a setting, contact your administrator.	Ask your administrator what external and internal sharing is allowed. They can set a cap such as Only free/busy information for people outside the organization.
Cannot share a calendar you do not own	Share your calendar Help says if you want to share a calendar someone else owns, that person must give you Make changes and manage sharing.	Ask the owner to raise your access to Make changes and manage sharing, or ask them to add the person themselves.
See only free/busy still shows titles	Broader calendar permissions take priority. If the calendar is public or available to your organization as See event details, that wider setting wins over one person's See only free/busy.	Check Access permissions for events as well as Shared with. Lower the public or organization setting, or stop making the calendar available there.
They never got the shared calendar	Help says they get an email and must click the link to add the calendar. The address may be wrong, or the email is in spam.	Confirm the email, ask them to check spam, or remove them and add them again. If the calendar still never appears, use the shared calendar not showing guide.
A guest can edit one meeting but not the calendar	Modify event, invite others, and see guest list are event guest permissions. They apply to that event, not to calendar sharing.	Turn off Modify event on that event if they should only RSVP. Share the calendar if they need access to every event. A missing invite is in the invite not showing guide.
Admin still sees private details	Workspace sharing Help says super administrators and admins with Manage Calendars can see all event details in everyone's calendars, however calendars are shared.	That is an administrator privilege, not a sharing drop-down you can turn off. For another of your own Google accounts, use Resync Busy holds instead of sharing details.

Permission options greyed out

Likely cause: On a work or school account, the administrator can limit sharing or turn off permission settings. Help says if you cannot select a setting, contact your administrator.
Fix: Ask your administrator what external and internal sharing is allowed. They can set a cap such as Only free/busy information for people outside the organization.

Cannot share a calendar you do not own

Likely cause: Share your calendar Help says if you want to share a calendar someone else owns, that person must give you Make changes and manage sharing.
Fix: Ask the owner to raise your access to Make changes and manage sharing, or ask them to add the person themselves.

See only free/busy still shows titles

Likely cause: Broader calendar permissions take priority. If the calendar is public or available to your organization as See event details, that wider setting wins over one person's See only free/busy.
Fix: Check Access permissions for events as well as Shared with. Lower the public or organization setting, or stop making the calendar available there.

They never got the shared calendar

Likely cause: Help says they get an email and must click the link to add the calendar. The address may be wrong, or the email is in spam.
Fix: Confirm the email, ask them to check spam, or remove them and add them again. If the calendar still never appears, use the shared calendar not showing guide.

A guest can edit one meeting but not the calendar

Likely cause: Modify event, invite others, and see guest list are event guest permissions. They apply to that event, not to calendar sharing.
Fix: Turn off Modify event on that event if they should only RSVP. Share the calendar if they need access to every event. A missing invite is in the invite not showing guide.

Admin still sees private details

Likely cause: Workspace sharing Help says super administrators and admins with Manage Calendars can see all event details in everyone's calendars, however calendars are shared.
Fix: That is an administrator privilege, not a sharing drop-down you can turn off. For another of your own Google accounts, use Resync Busy holds instead of sharing details.

Google Calendar Help and Google Workspace Help steps checked Nov 5, 2026.

When Resync helps (and when it does not)

Use calendar sharing when the other person should look at this calendar. Use See only free/busy when they only need occupied time. Use guest permissions when they only need one meeting. Resync does not change those settings. It does not sync Outlook, Apple Calendar, or iCloud.

Use Resync when you need busy time mirrored to another Google Calendar without sharing event details. Sharing is a view. It does not write blocks onto the calendar colleagues or booking links check. Resync writes private holds titled Busy. $1.50/month or $9/year after a 30-day free trial, no credit card required.

Holds are titled Busy. Description, location, attendees, and conference data are left empty, so source meeting details stay on the source calendar.
If you can sign in to both Google accounts and grant calendar access, Resync can read one and write holds on the other. It does not depend on sharing the calendars with each other.
Resync skips source events that are marked free, declined, cancelled, or a working-location event. If a source event moves, Resync updates the hold.
Resync looks 90 days ahead when it reads source events. It watches source calendars with Google push notifications and updates holds when those events change. A polling fallback also runs about every 5 minutes. Read-only calendars cannot be mirrors. Resync currently syncs Google calendars only.
If you delete or edit a hold, Resync records that and does not recreate it for the same source event on that mirror.
If the source event is Private, the hold is Private. Otherwise the hold uses default visibility.

Set up Resync

Sign in with GoogleOpen Resync and sign in with the Google account you want as your primary account. You land on setup.
Connect another Google accountChoose Connect another Google account and finish Google's permission screen. Resync needs at least two Google accounts before you can start.
Start syncingWhen a second account is connected, setup shows bidirectional mirroring as the intended default: real events on either side become private busy blocks on the other. Choose Start syncing to open the dashboard.
Mark sources and mirrorsIn Sync configuration, turn on Source to read busy time from a calendar and Mirror to receive Busy holds. A calendar can be both. Read-only calendars cannot be mirrors because Resync needs write access to create holds. You do not need to share the calendars with each other.

FAQ

What are Google Calendar access permissions?

Calendar sharing permissions control what someone can find and do on a calendar you share. Google Calendar Help lists See only free/busy (hide details), See event details, Make changes (see private events as free/busy), Make changes and see event details, and Make changes and manage sharing. People also search See all event details and Make changes to events. Those older labels map to See event details and the make-changes levels. Event guest permissions (Modify event, invite others, see guest list) apply to one event, not the whole calendar.

How do I share a Google Calendar and give someone access?

On a computer, open Google Calendar, find the calendar under My calendars, open Settings and sharing, click Shared with, then Add people and groups. Add the email, choose a permission, and click Send. They get an email and must click the link to add the calendar. On Android or iPhone, Calendar Help documents Menu, Settings, the calendar, Shared with, Add people or groups, a permission, then Save. If the calendar is for work or school, your administrator decides whether you can share it.

How do I change or remove someone's Google Calendar access?

On a computer, open Settings and sharing for that calendar, then Shared with. Next to the person or group, use the drop-down to pick a different permission, or click Remove to stop sharing. For public or organization-wide access, turn off Make available to public or Make available for your organization under Access permissions for events. On Android or iPhone, Calendar Help documents Remove next to a name under Shared with. Changing an existing person's level is documented on a computer.

Why are Google Calendar permissions greyed out?

On a work or school account, Calendar sharing permissions Help says your administrator can limit sharing or turn off permission settings. If you cannot select a setting, contact your administrator. Share your calendar Help says the administrator decides whether you can share a work or school calendar. To share a calendar someone else owns, they must give you Make changes and manage sharing. Super administrators and admins with Manage Calendars can still find all event details, however calendars are shared.

What is the difference between event guest permissions and calendar sharing?

Calendar sharing decides what someone can find on every event and task with a start and end time on that calendar. Event guest permissions apply to one event. Create an event Help documents Guest permissions and Modify event. When Modify event is on, guests can manage that event as you can. Invite people Help documents Guests can invite others. Those checkboxes do not give the guest See only free/busy or Make changes and manage sharing on your whole calendar. A missing invite is a different problem from a missing shared calendar.

Does Resync need calendar sharing to show busy time on another Google Calendar?

No. Sharing is a view of the source calendar. It does not write Busy blocks onto another calendar. If you can sign in to both Google accounts and grant calendar access, Resync can read one and write private holds titled Busy on the other. Description, location, attendees, and conference data stay empty. It does not depend on sharing the calendars with each other. $1.50/month or $9/year after a 30-day free trial, no credit card required.

How to make Google Calendar events private (one event, by default, or all events)

Google Calendar family sharing: find the Family calendar, fix it, or leave

Google Calendar availability: show yours and check someone else's

Google Calendar invite not showing up? Fixes

How to make Google Calendar show 'busy' instead of event details

Google Calendar shared calendar not showing? Fixes

Google Calendar working location: set, hide, remove, and why it is not showing

Connect the Google calendars you want to keep aligned, then mark sources and mirrors on the dashboard.

Resync will ask Google for permission to:see your list of calendars; see events on the calendars you choose as Sources, to know when you're busy; and create, update and delete events titled "Busy" on calendars you choose as Mirrors. We never store event titles, attendees or locations. Privacy policy