Sync your Google Apps Calendar with your Thunderbird Lightning easy guide

What you will need to have before we start

If you are reading this easy guide,  you are probably already using Mozilla Thunderbird for your email and calendar, or you are thinking about it. Before we start sync up your Google Apps calendar, you will need to have installed your Thunderbird with necessary add ons. If you haven't, here are some quick links.

First of all, download your latest Thunderbird here: http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/. (please follow the on screen installation instructions. When Thunderbird is first launched, you will be asked to enter your email account user name and password. Simply enter your Google Apps user name and password, and choose IMAP, thunderbird will just take care of the rest.

Then, you will need to install the lightning add on to set up you calendar. Within your thunderbird, go to Tools >Add ons, and you will most possibly find lightning right there ready for you to install. If not, you can always get it here. Download and save the add on on your local disk, and go to thunderbird Tools > Add ons and click install. Find the add on that you have just saved and follow the instructions. You will need to restart thunderbird to be able to see your calendar.

Then, there is another piece of essential add on to grab. It's called provider for google calendar. download and install it the same way as you just did with Lightning.

Now, you are ready to go.

Setup the sync between Google Calendar and Thunderbird Lightning

First of all, log into your Google Apps Calendar. On the calendar screen, you will find a list of calendars (yours or your colleagues' if they have choosen to share their calendars with you). Click on the down arrow next to your calendar and choose Calendar Settings, as in the image below.

On the next screen that you are taken to, you will find at the bottom of the page three buttons, XML, ICAL and HTML. Thunderbird Lightning support ICAL so that's what you need to click on. A pop up window with your ICAL url appears, as shown in the image below. You will need to copy the URL.

Now we are back to your Thunderbird. Go to File > New > Calendar. On the pop up window, select "On the network", and click next. On the next screen, choose Google Calendar, and paste your ICAL url into the location field, then click next. Here, give your calendar a name, and click next, and Finish. You are all set.

Now you should be able to view your Google Calendar right on your Thunderbird Lightning, isn't it great?

Haven't got a Google Apps account? We can help you setup Google Apps.