If you’re a fan of Google’s app ecosystem, you probably already know how useful Google Calendar can be. It helps you track your upcoming events, manage tasks, and even brings people together for group activities. What makes it even more convenient is its ability to automatically add events from emails, like flight details, hotel reservations, and even concert tickets. However, one of the things that Google Calendar hasn’t been able to do—until now—is manually adding birthday events.
While Google Calendar can pull birthdays from your contacts, it didn’t have a straightforward option for users to manually create birthday events. But the good news is that this is changing with a new update for Android devices. This update allows you to manually add birthdays to your Google Calendar, which is a handy feature for planning birthday celebrations or making sure you never miss an important date.
Step-by-Step Guide to Adding Birthday Events
Source: Google
Here’s a quick guide to help you manually add birthday events in Google Calendar on your Android device:
Open the Google Calendar App
If you don’t have it installed yet, you can download it from the Google Play Store. Once installed, open the app and sign in with your Google account.
Navigate to ‘Create’
Tap the ‘+’ button located at the bottom-right corner of your screen. This button allows you to create new events in Google Calendar.
Choose ‘Event’
After tapping the ‘+’ button, select ‘Event’ from the options that appear. This is where you can create your new birthday event.
Set the Event Title
In the event title field, type in something like "John's Birthday" or "Mom’s Birthday," depending on whose birthday you are adding.
Set the Date
Now, choose the correct date for the birthday event. You can also set this as a recurring event by selecting the option to repeat it annually, so you don’t have to add it every year.
Customize the Event
You can choose to set a reminder for the birthday so that Google Calendar notifies you a day or two before the event. Additionally, you can change the event color to make birthdays stand out more in your calendar.
Save the Event
After filling out all the necessary details, click ‘Save,’ and you’re done! The birthday will now appear in your Google Calendar.
Future Updates and Features
This new birthday feature is currently rolling out for Android users, but Google has confirmed that it will soon be available on the web and iOS devices as well. According to the Google Workspace Updates blog, users on the Rapid Release track will start seeing this feature on the web by the end of September 2024, with a full rollout expected within the next couple of weeks.
For users on the Scheduled Release track, the update will begin rolling out from October 9, 2024. This feature will be available to all Google Workspace users as well as those with personal Google accounts.