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What's synchronized?

Google Workspace Sync for Microsoft Outlook

Email, calendar, and contact data are regularly synchronized between your Google Account and Microsoft Outlook with Google Workspace Sync for Microsoft Outlook (GWSMO).

However, some types of data aren't synchronized and some features in Outlook function differently when you use GWSMO. Data might also look a little different in certain Google Workspace products, such as Gmail.

Synchronization frequency

GWSMO synchronizes data every time your users start Outlook and on the following schedule:

  • Email—Every minute
  • Calendar—Every 10 minutes or immediately after you create or receive a meeting invitation
  • Contacts—Every 20 minutes
  • Global Address List—Every 24 hours
  • Notes—Every 60 minutes or immediately after creating or changing a note
  • Tasks—Every 2 hours

Synchronized data

Expand all  |  Collapse all

Email
Mail data in your old Outlook profile Imports to your Google Workspace profile in Outlook Can be used in Outlook with GWSMO Syncs with Google Workspace Notes
Email messages  
Email state (Read and Unread)  
Deleted items Import is optional.
Folders and subfolders Outlook folders map to Gmail labels. Subfolders appear as nested labels.
Subfolders nested under Inbox (and other system folders) Gmail doesn’t nest labels under Inbox, Sent Mail, or other system labels. Instead, labels appear as Inbox/folder_name.
Junk email Import is optional. Junk email is labeled Spam in Gmail.
Drafts    
Attachments Attachments larger than 25 MB don’t sync with Gmail.
Executable attachments       Not allowed in Gmail.
Posts in mailbox folders    
Importance levels  
Message flags Flags appear as stars in Gmail.
Follow-up dates and reminders (used with flags)     Not imported or synced with Gmail but can be used in Outlook after importing.
Arrow icons marking replies and forwarded messages   Appear for messages you reply to or forward in Outlook, but won't sync with Gmail or other Outlook clients.
Rules     Not imported or synced but can be recreated in Outlook. You can create equivalent filters in Gmail that apply for both interfaces.
Signatures     Not imported or synced but can be recreated in Outlook and Gmail.
POP messages   POP mail protocol messages in your primary inbox import from your old profile and are synced with Gmail (might not be desired). POP messages that arrive after importing aren’t synced.
POP or IMAP account     Account settings don’t import, but you can recreate the account in your Google Workspace profile.
Category definitions   Categories aren’t available in Gmail.
Category assignments     Not imported, but you can categorize messages in Outlook after importing.
S/MIME send       S/MIME send is not available in GWSMO.

Related topics

Calendars
Calendar data in your old Outlook profile Imports to your Google Workspace profile in Outlook Can be used in Outlook with GWSMO Syncs with Google Workspace Notes
Default calendar Includes events, descriptions, attendees, and locations.
Other calendars you own in Calendar Must reside in the Outlook Calendar folder, or in a Calendar subfolder.
Other calendars you own that aren't in Calendar     Calendars that aren’t in the Outlook Calendar folder don’t sync.
Free or Busy status for Google Workspace users  
Free or Busy status for non-Google Workspace users Requires admin to turn on the Google Calendar service.
Tentative/Out of Office status   Available in Outlook, but either status appears as Busy in Google Calendar and to other Outlook users.
Calendar attachments  

Available in Outlook, but attachments added to a calendar event in Outlook don’t sync with other users’ calendars. Instead, when looking at the event in Google Calendar, users receive the invite with a note in the description that the attachment was removed.

Category definitions   Categories aren’t available in Google Calendar.
Category assignments    
Optional attendees  
Rich content in event descriptions (images, links, tables, bold, or italic) You can add rich content to a calendar description in Outlook but the formatting might not show on other users' calendars. If you're using Outlook 2016, save events in RTF format for the formatting to be synced. Learn more.
Event reminders  
Calendar resources Calendar resources added using the Outlook address book aren’t synced to Google Workspace. For details, go to Calendar resources added using the Outlook address book don't sync.

Related topics

Personal contacts
Personal contact data in your old Outlook profile Imports to your Google Workspace profile in Outlook Can be used in Outlook with GWSMO Syncs with Google Workspace Notes
Personal contacts in Contacts Includes all fields (for example, File As, images, or notes).
Personal contacts not in Contacts     To sync, contacts need to be in the Outlook Contacts folder or in a subfolder of Contacts.
Multiple contact folders Contacts folders from Outlook don’t sync to Google Workspace. Instead, all contacts appear in Google Contacts. You can organize your contacts using labels within Google Contacts.
Rich formatting in notes   Rich formatting remains in Outlook only if you don’t update contacts from your Google Account.
Personal distribution or mailing lists Your mailing lists from Outlook don’t sync to Google Workspace. You can still email a list from Gmail by creating a Google Group.
Notes larger than 16 KB   These notes are truncated in Google Workspace, but the full note remains in Outlook.
Follow-up flags, dates, and reminders   Flags aren’t available in Google Contacts.
Category definitions   Categories aren’t available in Google Contacts.
Category assignments   Categories aren't available in Google Contacts.
User-defined fields for a contact    
Attachments   Attachments aren't available in Google Contacts.

The phrase "Attachments could not be synced" is appended to the contact's Notes field. The attachment is still available in Outlook.

Related topics

Global contacts

Your domain’s Directory is available in Outlook if it's turned on by the domain administrator. Learn more about how to Set up and manage the Directory.

Global contact data and features Imports to your Google Workspace profile in Outlook Can be used in Outlook with GWSMO Syncs with Google Workspace Notes
Domain contacts (individual and group addresses)  
Out-of-domain contacts Added to the global Directory.
Autocomplete Works for user, group, and resource addresses you’ve emailed at least once.
Rich field data for each user

Outlook shows the attributes that match the fields assigned to a contact in Google Workspace Directory.

Custom attributes won't be visible.

Sender/recipient information from the Global Address List (GAL)       You can't view GAL information for a sender or recipient when you point to their email address in an Outlook message.
Check Names (aliases from the GAL)       The GAL doesn't sync email aliases so Outlook's Check Names feature cannot find them.

You can't check the group members list from Outlook when you use GWSMO with Outlook. 

Notes
Outlook Notes in your old Outlook profile Imports to your Google Workspace profile in Outlook Can be used in Outlook with GWSMO Syncs with Google Docs Notes
Notes (in top-level Notes folder) Outlook notes sync to plain text files stored in Docs.
Notes (in subfolders) Notes subfolders in Outlook sync with folders in Docs.
Category assignments   Categories aren’t available in Docs.

Related topic

Synchronize with Outlook Notes

Tasks
Outlook Tasks in your old Outlook profile Imports to your Google Workspace profile in Outlook Can be used in Outlook with GWSMO Syncs with Google Tasks Notes
Tasks  
Notes in tasks  
Due dates  
Task status marked complete Marking a task completed in Outlook checks it off in Google Tasks. However, marking it completed in Tasks doesn't complete the task in Outlook.
Other task status (In Progress or Deferred)   Not available in Google Tasks.
Reminders   Not available in Google Tasks.
Start dates   Not available in Google Tasks.
Category assignments   Not available in Google Tasks.
Top-level folders in Tasks   Appears as separate task lists in Google Tasks.
Subfolders in Tasks   Google Tasks only has top-level task lists. Tasks in Outlook subfolders sync to the parent list in Google Tasks.

Related topic 

Manage lists using Outlook Tasks

Journal entries
Outlook Journal data in your old Outlook profile Imports to your Google Workspace profile in Outlook Can be used in Outlook with GWSMO Syncs with Google Docs Notes
Journal entries    


Google, Google Workspace, and related marks and logos are trademarks of Google LLC. All other company and product names are trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.

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