How to Sync Your Canvas Calendar to Google Calendar
Canvas has a built-in calendar feed you can subscribe to from Google Calendar, so due dates and events show up alongside the rest of your schedule. It's a one-time setup, but it comes with a few real limitations worth knowing before you rely on it.
Getting your Canvas calendar feed URL
- In Canvas, click Calendar in the left navigation.
- Find the Calendar Feed link, usually in the sidebar or under a calendar settings menu.
- Copy the URL it gives you. This is a personal feed link tied to your account, containing events and assignments from every course calendar you have access to.
Adding it to Google Calendar
- Open Google Calendar and log into the account you want the feed in.
- On the left sidebar, find "Other calendars" and click the plus icon.
- Select From URL.
- Paste the Canvas calendar feed URL and click Add calendar.
Canvas events and due dates will appear as a separate calendar layer in Google Calendar, which you can toggle on or off like any other calendar you've added.
What doesn't sync, and other real limits
To Do list items are not included in the calendar feed. Only calendar events and assignments with due dates sync; anything you or an instructor added as a standalone To Do item stays Canvas-only.
- Sync isn't instant. Google Calendar checks subscribed URL feeds periodically, not in real time, so a new or changed due date can take up to 24 hours to show up.
- New courses need a manual refresh. If you add or get enrolled in a new course after you've already subscribed, its events won't retroactively appear; you'll need to re-copy and re-add the feed URL to pick up the new course calendar.
- It's one-directional. Nothing you do in Google Calendar writes back to Canvas.
If the sync delay is the part that bothers you most, GPA Plus's due-date feed reads directly from Canvas in real time inside your browser, no external calendar or sync delay involved. Free, no signup. See the full breakdown of due-date views for how it compares to Canvas's own options.
See how it works