Did you dump your iPhone or Android device to come to Windows Phone? You might be using Gmail to keep a handle on your calendar and contacts. Here's how you easily sync your Google Contacts and Calendar to Windows Phone.
Windows Phone has some great support for accounts built right into the operating system. Adding your Gmail, and its associated calendar and contact list is as easy as signing in.
Here's how to add your Google Contacts and Calendar on Windows Phone 8.1
- Go to Settings
- Click on email + accounts
- Click 'add an account'
- Scroll down and select 'Google'
- Click 'connect' on the page asking you authorize Windows Phone to your Google account
- Sign in with your Google account information
- Click 'accept' to give Windows Phone access to your Google account
That's it! After clicking accept on the final step, you'll be taken back to your email + accounts page within your settings. You'll see your newly added Google account syncing. It's syncing your Google email, contacts and calendar.
You'll find the inbox of your newly added account on the bottom of your Start screen. Your Google Contacts will be inside the People Hub, which is a collected phonebook of your contacts. Your Google Calendar can be found within the default Calendar app on Windows Phone. Go into the settings of the Calendar app to see the control you have over your recently added Google Calendar.
Using 2-Step Verification?
If you're using 2-Step Verification with your Google account, you don't need to do anything too crazy to sync with Windows Phone. On Windows Phone 8.1, you'll just be prompted to enter your security code to verify you identity. You'll do that right after entering in your password.
On Windows Phone 8, you'll need to go create an App password in your Google account. Use this App password you created in place of your regular password on Windows Phone 8. Just go to accounts.google.com and click on the security tab. From there you'll click the settings tab next to App passwords to generate a unique password. This password is what you'll need to use instead of your regular Google account password.
Push or pull?
After you connect your Google account to your Windows Phone, you can control a few things. Go to settings -> email + account and click on your Google account. Here you'll be able to change the account name, email download patterns and more.
The account name is just how this Google account shows up on your Windows Phone when pinned to your Start screen. You can leave it the default Google, but you can change it to anything you want. This is useful if you have multiple Google accounts synced to your Windows Phone.
Next up you can control how your emails get downloaded. You can have your Windows Phone pull down new emails in intervals you set, manually or as they arrive. Feel free to select 'based on my usage' to let Windows Phone intelligently handle it for you. That's also the default, but change it to whatever suits your needs. By clicking the option to download new emails as they come in you'll be getting them instantly. This is a great setting for your most important email accounts.
Does your Google Calendar change often? Within the settings here you can also select how often your calendar and contacts sync for this Google account. You can set the interval or sync manually, but its set to a 2 hour sync interval by default and that should be fine for most people. Again, adjust for your needs.
Have any questions? Ask below or reach out to me on Twitter (@samsabri). We'll do our best to help you out!
