How to see Google Calendar on every new tab

If you open a new tab dozens of times a day, it’s the best place to glance at your schedule. Here’s how to put your Google Calendar there, with a quiet nudge before each meeting.

Option 1: connect your Google account

1. Add Pax to Chrome and open a new tab.
2. Press , (comma) to open Settings, then go to Calendars.
3. Choose Add a calendar, then Google.
4. Pick your Google account and tick the calendar boxes on Google’s screen. If you leave them unticked, Pax can’t read your events and will ask you to connect again.
5. That’s it. Your events sync every few minutes, in your calendar colours.

Once connected, you can drag events to move them and add new ones by typing them the way you’d say them. Your Google Tasks come along too.

Option 2: a read-only link

If you’d rather not connect your account, Google gives each calendar a private address. In Google Calendar on the web, open Settings, pick the calendar on the left, scroll to Integrate calendar and copy the Secret address in iCal format. In Pax, choose Add a calendar → Subscribe by link and paste it. You’ll see your events but can’t edit them from the new tab. Keep that link private: anyone who has it can read the calendar.

Get reminded without the noise

Ten minutes before a meeting (or whatever lead time the event has), one line appears in your agenda: the title, how long until it starts, a Join button if there’s a video link, and Snooze. It doesn’t make a sound. You can also turn on system notifications if you want them.

That matters more than it sounds. In a peer-reviewed 2017 survey, forgetting was behind 26% of missed medical appointments. A reminder you see where you already look is hard to miss and easy to ignore when you don’t need it.

Other calendars too

Pax can show iCloud, Outlook, any CalDAV server and any .ics link next to Google, each in its own colour. See iCloud in Chrome and Outlook on your new tab.