Troubleshoot the Todoist and Google Calendar integration


Having trouble with the Google Calendar integration? Try some of the troubleshooting steps provided below.

Warning

Something that seems like an issue may in fact be a limitation of the integration. We recommend that you check the FAQ at the end of this article in order to identify whether the issue you're experiencing is a bug or in fact a known limitation.

Limitations

The Google Calendar integration doesn't support the following calendars and features:

  • Tasks calendar
  • Reminders calendar
  • Birthday calendars
  • Google Family calendars
  • Past Google Calendar events
  • Overdue Todoist tasks
  • Todoist filters or labels

The integration doesn't support split recurrences, like the following date strings:

  • every X weekdays or workdays
  • every [day of week], end of the month
  • every [day of week], every X months
  • every Xth day of [month of year]
  • every [day of week], every X months
  • every Xth [day of week] in [month of year], Xth [day of week] in [month of year] [time of day]
  • every Xth [day of week], every Xth [day of week]
  • every Xth day of [month of year]

To work around this limitation, duplicate the task and schedule recurring due dates that meet each requirement. 

Syncing issues

There may be several reasons your Google Calendar and Todoist account aren't syncing. Here’s what you need to check:

You can verify which project is synced by following the steps below:

  1. Open the Integrations tab.
  2. Scroll down to Google Calendar.
  3. Here you'll find which Todoist projects your Google Calendar is synced to. If you don't see any projects listed, this means that you've yet to set up a connection between a Google Calendar and a Todoist project.

The Google account needs to be the same as the one you selected when setting up the integration.

You can find the synced calendar on the left of the Google Calendar's interface under My calendars

Do you have several Google Calendars? If so, it's worth double-checking that you're adding the events to the calendar you've integrated with your Todoist.

Sync your Google Calendar manually with your Todoist account:

  1. Click your avatar in the top-left.
  2. Select Settings.
  3. Select the Integrations tab.
  4. Scroll down to Google Calendar and click Manual sync.
  5. Choose whether to update tasks based on Todoist or Google Calendar values. Avoid the Ignored option.
  6. Click Sync to confirm.

Quick tip

If you've tried all of the steps above and you're still experiencing sync issues, please try removing your Google Calendar integration and adding it again. You can do so by following the steps in this article.

Scheduling issues

If you’ve come across a sync issue when you're scheduling or postponing an event or task, it may be caused by one of several limitations. Here are some common questions we get regarding scheduling events and tasks:

No, only tasks and events with a due date set in the future will be synced between Todoist and Google Calendar.

In order to avoid accidentally creating duplicate events in your Google Calendar, Todoist does not update Google Calendar events when you postpone or reschedule recurring tasks. This is a known limitation, which our team is still discussing how best to address. As a workaround, you can move specific Google Calendar events within Google Calendar.

Yes, you can restore any deleted events via the Google Calendar Trash Bin. Simply select the events you want to restore and click the undo icon.

This is unfortunately a known limitation, which we would need Google Calendar to provide a fix for.

This is a known limitation and our team is working on how to best address this. When you complete a future or overdue recurring Todoist task, Google Calendar recalculates all future dates based on the date you completed the task. This unfortunately also causes past recurring events to be removed from your calendar.

This is expected. You will only see your recurring items for the next 2 years. 

Sharing issues

If you're experiencing an issue with a Google Calendar and/or a Todoist project that you've shared with other users, please have a read through the information below:

No. You will only be able to see your own tasks or unassigned tasks.

This is a known limitation. If your settings are set to remove Todoist tasks from your calendar once you complete them, Google Calendar will automatically delete the corresponding event. Without the event in your calendar, Google Calendar assumes that the event invite has been declined.

Yes, you can! However, you need to make sure that the calendar’s owner hasn’t already synced this calendar to their own Todoist account.

Furthermore, the calendar owner would need to follow the steps below:

  1. Open Google Calendar.
  2. In the left-hand side, under My calendars, hover over the calendar you wish to share.
  3. Click the three dots icon that appears and select Settings and sharing.
  4. In the left-hand menu, select Share with specific people.
  5. In order for your collaborators to be able to sync your shared calendar, you will need to select the option Make changes and manage sharing for each collaborator.

If another event participant already has this event synced to their Todoist, it won’t be synced to your account. As a workaround, you can duplicate the event by following the steps below:

  1. Click on the event.
  2. Click the three dots icon to open the Option menu.
  3. Select Duplicate. The event should now show up in your Todoist account. 

FAQ

No, only one connection can be set up with a specific calendar at a time. For example, if you have a Meetings calendar, you can’t sync this to two separate projects in Todoist.

No, sub-projects are considered to be their own projects, even if they are nested under a parent project. You would therefore have to set up a separate connection for the sub-projects you wish to sync with a calendar.

Of course! Simply follow the steps below:

  1. Open the Integrations tab.
  2. Under Google Calendar, find the connection you want to make changes to and select Customize.
  3. Update your preferences and click Save.

No, you will only be able to sync with calendars belonging to the same Google account. When you set up the integration, you’ll be asked to select the Google account that has the calendar you wish to sync with your Todoist account. Following this, you’ll only be able to set up syncs with calendars belonging to this Google account.

Yes, but you’ll have to remove the integration first. Here's how:

      1. Open the Integrations tab.
      2. Next to Google Calendar, click the x.
      3. To confirm, click OK.

Yes, the task descriptions will be added to the Google Calendar events, as well as the event descriptions will be added to your Todoist tasks. 

No, these details won’t be synced to the Google event. 

Currently, shared labels are not supported. Your personal labels should be parsed in Todoist.

We decided not to support this anymore because of several issues where items are moved or deleted.

If you enable a Google Calendar integration and then add an all-projects connection, the Add calendar button is hidden, and you won't be able to add another single-project connection.

If you first add a single-project connection, you can only add more single-project connections, so the option to add an all-project connection is disabled.

If you already have both an all-projects and one or more single-project connections, we don't apply the above rule unless you fully remove the integration and try connecting it again.

When your integration is revoked, please set up the integration again with the same Google Calendar that was previously synced with your Todoist, to avoid creating duplicates.

Get more help

If you're still having trouble using the Google calendar integration, or you've questions that aren't addressed in this guide, get in touch with us.