Troubleshoot Synchronization Issues with Google Calendar and Outlook 365

Calendar synchronization is a great feature but, wow, it has a frustrating number of ways it can stop working -- a little or entirely. Here's a list of things to check:

When You Cannot Make an Initial Connection to an Outlook Calendar

Outlook 365 Integration only works with Outlook Business accounts. It does not work with Outlook Personal accounts and it does not work with some Outlook Small Business accounts.

Unfortunately, this was a limitation on Microsoft's end when we built the integration.

When the Calendar is Not Synchronizing at All

If no showings are appearing on your calendar, something is simply not configured correctly. Here are the things to check:

  1. Did you connect from the correct place in ShowMojo? Each ShowMojo account has a Calendar Integration section on the Schedule Settings page (for the Account Owner) and a separate Calendar Integration section (for each team member) on the My Settings page that is accessible only when logged in as that user. If you are the account owner or an account administrator you might well have gotten these two sections confused.
  2. Have you hooked up to the correct Google or Outlook account? This might sounds silly, but especially when it comes to Google accounts, many people seem to collect them like spare change. In the Calendar Integration section, look at the email that ShowMojo displays for the Google or Outlook account and make sure that you have connected to the correct one.
  3. Have you hooked up to the correct calendar on the Google or Outlook account? Check the dropdown in the Calendar Integration section to be sure.
  4. Is the issue related to the device you are using and not the integration? Check this by logging into you Google or Outlook account from a desktop web browser. Look for the showings you expect to see there. If you see them, then the ShowMojo connection is correct and the issue is between your device and the Google or Outlook account.

When Only Some Showings Are Not Synchronizing

This is when showings are pushing to your calendar but something seems amiss, such as one or more showings not showing up on your calendar. Please follow these steps:

  1. If you have a multi-user account, please Locate one of the Missing Showings on the Dashboard, click Edit to view the showing, and confirm it is assigned to you. If the showing is not assigned to you, it will not appear on your calendar.
  2. Please confirm the cause is not a temporary connection issue related to your device or calendaring application. You can do this by logging into your Google or Outlook account from a desktop web browser. If you see the showings there, then there is an issue (hopefully temporary) between your device and the Google or Outlook account. If your calendaring application turns out to be the root cause of the issue, you might need to look for a setting that tells it to connect to the server more often. Or, depending on the specific applications, you might need to manually trigger a calendar sync to get the latest data.
  3. Confirm you still have a functioning connection with Google or Outlook by completing a busy-time-based check as described in the next section.

Confirm a Working Connection Using Busy Times

One additional approach to checking a connection between ShowMojo and Google or Outlook is to check and see if ShowMojo is Reading the Correct Busy Times from Your Calendar. Please follow these steps:

  1. Add a "dummy" appointment to your calendar for half an hour. Be sure that the appointment is set to show that you are busy at that time. 
  2. While logged into ShowMojo, check and confirm the "dummy" appointment you just added appears as busy time.

If ShowMojo is correctly picking new busy times off your calendar, then you have a functioning connection.

Reset the Connection

Before you go to reset the connection, Make Sure the Issue in Not Related to an Auto-Login to Google or Outlook.

If all else fails, it is time to reset the calendar connection. Please follow these steps:

  1. In the appropriate Calendar Integration section, disconnect the Google or Outlook account from ShowMojo. (If you are the owner or administrator of a multi-user account, be sure you have selected the correct calendar connection to reset.)
  2. Go to your Google or Outlook account and confirm all the ShowMojo appointments have been removed from your calendar. If some ShowMojo showings are still on your calendar, delete them manually.
  3. In the appropriate Calendar Integration section, reconnect the Google or Outlook account.

This should resolve all issues.

Was this article helpful?