How to Transfer Ownership of a Google Calendar to Another User

Whether you are leaving a company, handing over the management of a community event, or simply reorganising your personal accounts, there are times when you need to completely surrender control of a Google Calendar to someone else. Sharing the calendar with “Make changes and manage sharing” permissions is a temporary fix, but it leaves you as the ultimate owner, meaning if your account is ever deleted, the calendar goes with it.

To ensure a smooth transition and protect the data, you must formally transfer ownership of the calendar. This process permanently hands over all administrative rights to another Google Account, removing your ability to control the calendar unless the new owner grants it back to you.

Requirements for Transferring Ownership

Before you begin the transfer process, there is one crucial limitation you must be aware of: you cannot transfer ownership of your primary, default Google Calendar. The primary calendar (the one that shares the exact name as your Google Account) is permanently bound to your email address.

You can only transfer ownership of secondary calendars that you have manually created within your account. If you need to transfer your primary calendar’s events, you will have to export them as an .ics file and have the new user import them manually.

How to Transfer a Secondary Calendar

If the calendar you wish to transfer is a secondary one, the process is straightforward and takes place entirely within the Google Calendar web interface.

1. Open your web browser and navigate to calendar.google.com. Ensure you are signed in with the account that currently owns the calendar.
2. Look at the left-hand sidebar under the My calendars section. Hover your mouse over the name of the calendar you want to transfer.
3. Click the Options icon (three vertical dots) that appears next to the calendar name, and select Settings and sharing from the menu.
4. Scroll down the settings page until you reach the section titled Share with specific people or groups.
5. If the person you want to transfer ownership to is not already listed, click the Add people and groups button to invite them. Type their email address and grant them Make changes and manage sharing permissions.
6. Once they are on the list, click the permissions dropdown menu next to their name.
7. At the very bottom of that dropdown list, you will see an option labelled Make owner. (If you do not see this option, it means the calendar is your primary calendar or you do not have administrative rights).
8. Click Make owner. A warning prompt will appear, asking you to confirm the action. Read the warning carefully, as you will lose control of the calendar, and then click Save.

The transfer is instantaneous. The new owner will receive full administrative control, and the calendar will remain in your list, but you will only have the permissions the new owner chooses to allow you.