Connect Google Calendar

Open Settings → Integrations, open the Google Calendar card and click Connect Google Calendar; sign in with Google, then pick the one Calendar where this location's appointments are written and the Direction: Two-way (the default), To Google only, or From Google only. Appointments booked in FrontDesk appear on that calendar with the client's name as the title and the service in the description; events on the calendar are imported as appointments (from today forward, all-day events skipped) and block the AI from double-booking. Changes arrive at once when Google can notify FrontDesk and otherwise within fifteen minutes; Sync now forces one and Last synced shows the time. The connection is per location, not per provider. Disconnect revokes FrontDesk's access and removes the connection; what is already on either calendar stays.

Updated October 3, 20262 min read

Connecting Google Calendar keeps one Google calendar and one FrontDesk location in step: what the AI books shows up in Google, and what is on the Google calendar keeps the AI from booking over it.

Connect

Open Settings → Integrations and open the Google Calendar card ("Two-way appointment sync with Google Calendar").
Click Connect Google Calendar and sign in with the Google account that owns the calendar. FrontDesk asks for permission to read your calendars and manage events. Google then sends you back to FrontDesk, which finishes connecting for the person who started it, so do this step yourself, in the same browser or phone app.
Back in FrontDesk, choose the Calendar ("Where appointments are written"). One calendar per location; pick the practice calendar, not a personal one.
Choose the Direction: Two-way (the default), To Google only or From Google only.

The card then shows Connected with Last synced and a Sync now button.

What syncs

FrontDesk to Google: every appointment booked in FrontDesk, by the AI, by staff or through online booking, is written to the calendar with the client's name as the event title and the service (and phone, when known) in the description. Cancelling or rescheduling updates the event.
Google to FrontDesk: events on the calendar from today forward (up to five hundred) are imported as appointments, so the AI never offers a time that is already taken. All-day events are skipped, and a deletion in Google is not imported; cancel in FrontDesk instead.
Events that originated in Google are never deleted by FrontDesk.

How fast

When Google can notify FrontDesk of changes, they arrive at once; otherwise FrontDesk checks every fifteen minutes, with an hourly check as a backstop. Sync now forces one immediately.

One calendar per location

The connection belongs to the location, not to a provider. Multi-provider practices keep one shared practice calendar in Google, or give each provider a calendar feed of their FrontDesk schedule for their own calendar app. The AI's own schedule of who is free comes from provider availability in FrontDesk; see Add providers and doctors.

Disconnect

Disconnect on the card (it asks "Disconnect Google Calendar?") revokes FrontDesk's access, stops listening for changes and removes the connection. Existing events stay on both sides. Reconnect any time.

If sync misbehaves, see Troubleshoot calendar sync.

Frequently asked questions

Is the sync two-way?

By default, yes: appointments booked in FrontDesk are written to the Google calendar you chose, and events on that calendar come into FrontDesk as appointments so the AI never books over them. The Direction setting can limit it to To Google only or From Google only. If the chosen calendar is read-only in Google, FrontDesk switches to import only.

How quickly do changes sync?

Immediately when Google can notify FrontDesk (the normal case on the hosted app), and otherwise on a fifteen-minute cycle, with an hourly check as a backstop. Sync now on the integration runs one right away, and Last synced shows when the last one ran.

Can each provider have their own Google calendar?

No. The connection is one calendar per location. Practices with several providers use one shared practice calendar in Google, or give each provider a calendar feed from FrontDesk instead (see Calendar feeds), which puts their FrontDesk schedule into whatever calendar app they use.

What does an appointment look like in Google?

The event title is the client's name; the description holds the service and, when known, the client's phone. Titles are not configurable. Cancelling or moving the appointment in FrontDesk updates or removes that event.

I deleted an event in Google. Why is the appointment still in FrontDesk?

Deletions in Google are not imported. Cancel the appointment in FrontDesk; that removes the Google event too when FrontDesk created it. Events that came from Google in the first place are never deleted by FrontDesk.

Why are some of my Google events missing in FrontDesk?

Only events from today forward are imported, up to five hundred, and all-day events are skipped. Past events and all-day items are not needed to keep the AI from double-booking.

What happens when I disconnect?

FrontDesk revokes its access to your Google account, stops listening for changes and deletes the connection. Nothing is removed from either calendar; syncing simply stops. Reconnect any time.

It says the connection was started from another FrontDesk sign-in.

FrontDesk finishes connecting only for the person who clicked Connect Google Calendar, signed in where they clicked it. The message appears when the Google step was finished under a different FrontDesk sign-in, for example when the Google sign-in link was sent to a colleague. Nothing was connected. Start again from Settings → Integrations and do the Google sign-in yourself, in the same browser or phone app, without signing out in between.

The Connect button is greyed out.

The card says "Google Calendar integration requires configuration" when Google sign-in has not been set up for your FrontDesk installation. Contact support to have it enabled.

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