How to add a file to Google Calendar appointments

Today I registered for Mac World and got a print out with a bar code to use at the door. Since Mac World isn’t until January 26th – 29th I didn’t want to actually print the bar code yet because I might accidentally lose it. On the one hand I don’t want to lose the file on my computer and on the other I don’t want to lose it in real life…

What to do, I decided to create a Google Calendar appointment and event for Mac World for the 27th through the 29th (since I’m not exhibiting on the 26th) and listed out all the notes. In addition to the details of where and when the event is I also wanted to include the PDF with the bar code print out so I can print it before I get to the conference hall. Google Calendar will let you add file attachments (either from your Google Docs or a new upload) you just have to enable the feature in Google Labs. I also recommend creating a new folder in your Google Docs account called Calendar so you can keep those items separate from the rest of your stuff.

Here’s how you can add files to Google Calendar events:

  1. Open Google Calendar either by going to http://www.google.com/calendar/ or logging into a Gmail account and clicking Calendar at the top left
  2. Once inside click Settings > Calendar settings at the top right
  3. Now click on the Labs tab at the top and scroll down to Event attachments, click the Yes radio button to enable file attachments here and then click Save
  4. Once you’ve done these steps and saved you can click the General tab and then « Back to calendar at the top left

Now when you’re editing the location and description of an event in Google Calendar you’ll see an option at the bottom that says Attachment: Add attachment. Remember that anything you upload here will be stored in your Google Docs which does have limited space and can get messy if you don’t have an organization strategy. Again, I recommend creating a folder in Google Docs called Calendar before you add any files to your Google Calendar.