Google introduced a handy Gemini-powered feature in Gmail last year that helps you schedule meetings. Appropriately named Help me schedule, the feature scans your calendar and the email you’re replying to, then suggests meeting times that fit your schedule.
It lets you offer a few options with a click, and once the recipient picks a time, the event automatically appears in both calendars. It’s a small but useful feature that has already saved users from countless back-and-forth emails. Now, Google is bringing a similar scheduling feature to Google Calendar.
According to a recent post on the Workspace Updates blog, Gemini in Google Calendar can now help you quickly identify optimal meeting times when creating an event, as long as you have access to the attendees’ calendars. The new “Suggested times” feature scans everyone’s calendars and highlights the best time slots based on availability, working hours, and potential conflicts, eliminating the need to manually check schedules.
Google has also made rescheduling simpler. The company explains that if multiple attendees decline your invite, you’ll see a banner in the event showing a time when everyone is available, letting you update the invite with a single click.
Availability and limitations
The Suggested times feature is rolling out starting today to Workspace Business Standard and Plus, Enterprise Standard and Plus users, as well as accounts with the Google AI Pro for Education add-on. It will be enabled by default and is expected to reach all eligible users over the next few weeks.
A support page about the feature notes that Suggested times won’t be available while using the Google Calendar app for Android, iPhone, or iPad, for events longer than 8 hours, if there are too many attendees, or if the date range is in the past.