Gmail now lets you schedule meetings right in your emails — here’s how it works

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Scheduling meetings via Gmail is about to become more streamlined thanks to new update. Instead of going to Google Calendar to schedule meetings and events, you can now do so directly from Gmail.

As posted on the Google Workspace Updates page, the company is adding a feature to Gmail that can help you find optimal meeting times with others. The post says this will be especially helpful when trying to a schedule time with folks whose Google Calendars aren’t visible to you.

You’ll see a new Calendar icon with all Calendar-related actions consolidated and discoverable when composing an email. Clicking on the icon brings up your calendar on the right. From there, you can select and insert proposed times. The person receiving the email can then review the suggested times and select one directly from the email. This will automatically create a calendar invite.

You can see the feature in action below:

You can also schedule a meeting and share the event information back in the email — with an event summary automatically inserted into the email body for easy sharing. If that sounds familiar, it’s because this specific option was once available in the three-dot menu at the top of an email’s conversation view.

Note that this feature only works for on- on-one meetings. As Google explains, only the first person to book an appointment will get added to the event automatically if multiple people are included in the recipient list.

This feature began rolling out for Rapid Release domains on July 11 and will begin rolling out on July 31 for Scheduled Release domains. As this is a gradual rollout, it will take up to 15 days for the feature to become visible to all Google Workspace users and those who have personal Google Accounts.

Outlook: Gmail keeps getting smarter

Many of us use Google for work, with scheduling meetings being an important part of our everyday routine. The ability to schedule meetings and negotiate the best available times with those you’re emailing will no doubt speed up one’s workflow. But even outside or work, using this feature for personal emails will be beneficial.

This latest upgrade comes after Google showed a new 'Help me Write' feature at Google I/O, which is designed to help you compose emails on the fly. And in May Gmail added blue checkmarks to fight phishing and scammers.

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Tony is a computing writer at Tom’s Guide covering laptops, tablets, Windows, and iOS. During his off-hours, Tony enjoys reading comic books, playing video games, reading speculative fiction novels, and spending too much time on X/Twitter. His non-nerdy pursuits involve attending Hard Rock/Heavy Metal concerts and going to NYC bars with friends and colleagues. His work has appeared in publications such as Laptop Mag, PC Mag, and various independent gaming sites.