Integration
Cliniko and Google Calendar: what syncs, the delay, and the privacy setting
Cliniko can feed your appointments into Google Calendar through a subscribed calendar URL, but the sync only runs one way: Cliniko to Google, never back. Google can take up to 12 hours to show a change, and by default the feed carries the patient's name, which you can hide in Cliniko's patient privacy settings, according to Cliniko's help centre.
Last checked 25 Sep 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.
What syncs, and when
| What | Direction | When | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appointments | Cliniko to Google Calendar | Appointment created, moved or cancelled in Cliniko | Sent as a subscribed calendar feed (an iCal URL you generate once from My info > Edit your practitioner settings). Cliniko shows the URL only once, so it has to be copied straight into Google Calendar's Other calendars > From URL screen. |
| Appointment time and type | Cliniko to Google Calendar | With each appointment | The event carries the appointment time and type. Whether the patient's name shows as well depends on the patient privacy setting described below. |
| Patient name | Cliniko to Google Calendar | Controlled by Settings > Patient privacy | Cliniko's help centre says you can hide patient names so only the time and appointment type show in the external feed, using the dropdown in Settings > Patient privacy. |
What does not sync
- Anything from Google Calendar back to Cliniko. Cliniko's help centre is explicit that updating an event in Google will not update it in Cliniko, so the feed is read only.
- Real time changes. Google's own documentation, quoted by Cliniko, says a subscribed calendar can take up to 12 hours to show an update, so this is not a substitute for checking Cliniko itself before a shift.
- Patient notes, contact details or billing information. The feed is a calendar event only: time, type, and optionally the patient's name.
- Anyone else's calendar feed. Each practitioner generates their own URL from their own My info settings, so a practice manager cannot pull the whole clinic's book through one link.
Set it up
- In Cliniko, go to My info > Edit your practitioner settings and switch on the external calendar option to generate your feed URL.
- Copy the URL immediately. Cliniko only displays it once, and turning the setting off and back on generates a new one.
- If you want patient names hidden from the feed, set that first in Settings > Patient privacy, using the dropdown that controls how names appear on the calendar.
- In Google Calendar, open Other calendars and choose From URL.
- Paste the Cliniko feed address and click Add calendar. Leave it off making the calendar publicly available, since anyone with the URL can subscribe to it.
- Wait for the first sync. Appointments already in Cliniko appear, then new changes follow on Google's own refresh schedule, which can run up to 12 hours behind.
Why this is a feed, not a sync
Cliniko does not integrate with Google Calendar the way it does with Xero. There is no two-way connection and no live push. Instead, Cliniko publishes a subscribed calendar URL, the same iCal-style feed format used for iPhone Calendar and Apple Calendar, and Google reads from it on its own schedule. Cliniko's help centre is direct about the limit: "updating something in your Google calendar will not update it in Cliniko."
That one-way design means Google Calendar is a read-only mirror of your Cliniko bookings, useful for seeing your day alongside personal appointments, but not a place to move or cancel a session. Any change still has to happen in Cliniko first.
The 12 hour lag
Google, not Cliniko, controls how often a subscribed calendar refreshes, and Cliniko's help centre quotes Google's own statement that a subscribed calendar "may take up to 12 hours for changes to show." A same day reschedule may not appear in Google before the appointment happens, so this feed suits a general view of the week rather than a same day check of what changed.
Apple's calendar apps behave differently: Mac Calendar lets you set your own auto-refresh period rather than leaving it to a fixed schedule, so a practitioner who wants a tighter loop may get more predictable results there than in Google Calendar.
Deciding whether patient names should show
By default the feed can carry the patient's name alongside the appointment time. For a solo practitioner checking their own phone calendar, that may be fine. For anyone syncing to a shared or family Google account, or a calendar that other apps or people can see, it puts a patient's name and the fact they attended a health appointment on a screen outside Cliniko's access controls.
Cliniko's answer is a setting, not a warning: Settings > Patient privacy has a dropdown that governs how patient names appear across the external calendar feed, browser tab titles and practitioner booking notifications. Turning names off there means the Google event shows only the time and appointment type, which is enough for most practitioners to plan their day without exposing who they are seeing.
Sources
- The calendar feed is a one-way sync from Cliniko to the external calendar. Updating an event in Google Calendar will not update it in Cliniko. Cliniko Help, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Connecting to Google Calendar specifically uses the same subscribed calendar URL, added in Google Calendar under Other calendars > From URL, and Google has stated that subscribed calendars added to Google Calendar may take up to 12 hours for changes to show. Cliniko Help, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Patient names can be hidden from the external calendar feed so only the time and appointment type appear, using the patient privacy setting. Cliniko Help, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- The calendar feed URL is displayed only once when the external calendar setting is switched on, and anyone with the URL can subscribe to the calendar, so it should be kept secure. Cliniko Help, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- If the patient privacy setting to hide names is enabled but names still are not appearing correctly, Cliniko's help centre treats this as a known configuration issue with its own troubleshooting article. Cliniko Help, checked 25 Sep 2026.