Linking your Google Calendar to Practice Better keeps your schedule in sync across both platforms. Once connected, your personal Google Calendar events will appear in Practice Better, your sessions and reminders can push back to Google Calendar, and clients will be prevented from booking during times you're already busy.
In this article:
- Linking Your Google Calendar to Practice Better
- Linking Calendars to Your Practice Better Schedule
- Syncing Events to Google Calendar
- Sync Options
- Privacy Options
- Advanced Availability Options
- Unlinking Google Calendar
- Troubleshooting Google Calendar Integration Sync
Linking Your Google Calendar to Practice Better
To connect your Google Calendar, go to Settings & Preferences > 3rd Party Integrations and click Link next to Google Calendar.
A popup window will appear asking you to sign in to Google and grant Practice Better access to view and manage your calendar. Click Allow when prompted.
📍 Note: You can link any Google account, including personal Gmail or Google Workspace accounts. Only one Google account can be linked per Practice Better user.
Linking Calendars to Your Practice Better Schedule
Once linked, you'll be taken to the Google Calendar settings page where you can configure how the integration works.
Under Integrate with My Calendar, select which Google calendars should be visible in your Practice Better schedule, and then Save Changes.
Events from the calendars you select will appear in My Schedule > My Calendar and will be checked for conflicts when you or your clients book sessions.
For example, if your availability is set for Tuesdays from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM and you have a busy Google Calendar event from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM, clients will only see availability from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM.
Syncing Events to Google Calendar
You can optionally push Practice Better events back to your Google Calendar.
Under Sync to Google Calendar, check the Sync events to my Google Calendar checkbox, then select which Google calendar to publish to from the dropdown menu.
Sync Options
You can enable any combination of the following:
- Sync sessions: Confirmed sessions sync to Google Calendar. Session requests are not synced until you confirm them.
- Sync my tasks and reminders: Task due dates and reminders sync as Google Calendar events.
- Sync my personal events: Personal events created in Practice Better sync back to Google Calendar.
- Sync my availability: Your Practice Better availability windows sync to Google Calendar as placeholder blocks marked as "Free." These are for your visibility only and do not block client bookings.
- Sync group session placeholders: Unconfirmed group sessions created from your Practice Better availability settings sync to Google Calendar as events, preventing other events from being scheduled during that time.
📍 Note: Syncing is near real-time. Changes made in Practice Better, including new bookings, cancellations, and rescheduled sessions, reflect in Google Calendar without a meaningful delay. Depending on your settings, the sync can also work in both directions: events added or updated in Google Calendar will be reflected in your Practice Better calendar.
Including Client Names in Events
By default, client names are included when sessions sync to Google Calendar. Disable Include client names when creating events and reminders if you prefer not to have client information stored in your Google Calendar. After adjusting your settings, click Save Changes at the top of the page.
Including Session Buffer Time in Google Calendar Events
By default, events sync to Google Calendar without buffer time. Enable Include session buffer time when creating events in Google Calendar to extend the synced event block to include your session's configured buffer time. After adjusting your settings, click Save Changes at the top of the page.
For example: a session from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM with 30 minutes of buffer time after the session will appear in Google Calendar as a 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM event.
⚠️ Important: If you enable Send session notifications using Google Calendar, your clients will receive calendar invites that include buffer time. Enabling both options together is not recommended. Practice Better recommends using Include session buffer time only when Send session notifications using Google Calendar is disabled.
Sending Session Notifications Using Google Calendar
By default, Practice Better sends session confirmation and reminder emails from Practice Better. Enabling Send session notifications using Google Calendar disables Practice Better's emails and sends session confirmations and reminders as Google Calendar invites from your linked Gmail account instead. After adjusting your settings, click Save Changes at the top of the page.
⚠️ Important: When this option is enabled, clients will receive notifications from your Gmail address, not from your Practice Better business email. If you use a personal Gmail address, clients will see that address in the "From" field.
Privacy Options
If you have team members who can view your calendar and book sessions on your behalf, you can enable Hide event details when team members view my calendar. When this is on, team members will see your Google Calendar events marked as "Free" or "Busy" only, without event titles or details. After adjusting your settings, click Save Changes at the top of the page.
Advanced Availability Options
Additional availability settings are available on your Bookings & Cancellation Settings page, including two buffer time options that work differently from the sync buffer time described above.
To access these settings, go to My Schedule > Booking & Cancellation Settings.
Learn more about Booking & Cancellation Settings →
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Exclude external calendar all-day events: All-day events in Google Calendar, such as holidays, default to "Busy" and can block entire days of your Practice Better availability. Enabling this setting prevents all-day events from affecting your availability going forward.
- Add buffer time to events in my external calendars: When Google Calendar events sync into Practice Better, this setting adds invisible buffer time around those events, preventing clients from booking during the buffer window. This is distinct from the session buffer time setting described above, which applies in the opposite direction: from Practice Better out to Google Calendar.
📍 Note: You can also check which items are visible in your Practice Better calendar at any time. Go to My Schedule > My Calendar and review the Display options panel in the bottom left to confirm that Sessions, External calendar, and other relevant items are checked.
Unlinking Google Calendar
To disconnect your Google Calendar, go to Settings > 3rd Party Integrations and click Unlink next to Google Calendar.
Unlinking will:
- Remove all Google Calendar events from your Practice Better calendar.
- Remove all Practice Better events from your Google Calendar.
To reconnect or switch to a different Google account, click Link and follow the setup steps again.
📍 Note: If you're switching Google accounts, unlink first, then relink with the new account. All previously synced events will be removed from both calendars as part of the unlink process.
Troubleshooting Google Calendar Integration Sync
If you have already tried unlinking and re-linking your Google Calendar integration and are still experiencing unexpected behavior, please go through the steps in the following guide before contacting Practice Better support: