How To Set Up Calendar Integration in Excel
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Let’s face the facts: calendars are powerful.
No matter how old school it may sound, there are few things simpler in life than being able to see at a quick glance who’s off on which day. Now imagine combining that with another powerful tool like Excel and managing both simultaneously.
Yes, you read that right. Excel, the trusty software we all know and love for its ability to crunch numbers and create stunning charts, can now be your go-to for keeping track of your schedule. And let’s be real, who doesn’t love a little bit of efficiency and organization in their life?
But wait — it gets even better. You can choose from a variety of different methods to set up calendar integration in Excel, ensuring that you find the perfect fit for your needs. Whether you prefer to import data from an online calendar, use a third-party add-in, or go the old-fashioned route with a normal calendar, there’s a solution for everyone.
So say goodbye to the chaos of disorganized scheduling and hello to the bliss of calendar integration in Excel. Your future self (and your colleagues) will thank you.
Sounds pretty dreamy, right? In this article, we’ll walk you through the steps showing you exactly how to do so. Without further ado, let’s jump right into it!
4 ways to set up calendar integration in Excel
Unfortunately, there’s no native process for creating a dynamic link between Excel and other team collaboration platforms like Outlook. While it’s not directly possible to integrate your company’s leave data with an external calendar of your choice, here are a few ways you can streamline calendar integration using Excel.
Use the pre-made Calendars in Excel
This is the easiest way to add a calendar to your Excel spreadsheet. Open Excel, and choose a pre-made Calendar template depending on your needs. You can choose the type of calendar you want to insert (e.g. a monthly calendar or a yearly calendar). This feature is available in Excel 2013 and later versions.
Or instead of all this work, you can save yourself all this hassle by using our Excel Leave Tracker template instead.
Import leave data from another source
This method requires you to have an internet connection and is suitable for users who want to import data from an online calendar (e.g. Google Calendar) into their Excel spreadsheet. This process applies to Windows users. To use this feature, go to the “Data” tab and click on the “From Web” button in the “Get External Data” group. A pop-up window will appear, allowing you to enter the URL of the file you want to import. Just paste the URL, and you’re good to go.
If you’re a Mac user, this process will look a little different. You will have to go to the webpage you want to import data from. Then, choose the “Save as” button then save the page as an HTML file. Excel reads the HTML code of the web page and looks for table tags that specify the beginning and end of a table. Once that’s done, you can import the page by clicking on the “Get HTML” option from the “Data” tab.
Make use of the “date picker” option
Another method for inserting calendars in Excel involves using the date picker control option, which creates a date drop-down menu in a spreadsheet cell for those using the 32-bit version of Microsoft products.
If you are using the date picker control method to insert a calendar, you should start by opening your Excel program on your computer or another device. Then press the “File” menu at the top left corner of your page. This allows you to select “Options” at the bottom of the menu.
After that, select “Customize Ribbon” from the “Options” menu. Then, scroll down and select “Developer (Custom)” to highlight this option. The next step is to go to the bottom of your menu and press the “OK” button. After conducting the previous steps, you can now select the “Developer” menu at the top right corner of your spreadsheet. In the menu below, click the toolbox icon that states “Insert.” From there, click the bottom right option labeled “More Control.”
Next, select the “Microsoft Date and Time Picker Control” option in the “More Control” menu. When a shaded background appears behind this option, press the “OK” button. Following these steps will add a drop-down calendar in your selected cell.
Write VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) code
If you are familiar with VBA, you can use it to create a calendar in Excel. Here are the steps to do so:
- Start by creating a workbook.
- From the Developer ribbon, select Visual Basic.
- Then on the Insert menu, select Module.
- Paste the Visual Basic for Applications script from the “Sample Visual Basic procedure” section into the module sheet.
- On the File menu, select Close and Return to Microsoft Excel.
- Select the Sheet1 tab.
- On the *Developer ribbon, click Macros.
- Then, select CalendarMaker, and click on Run to create the calendar.
Furthermore, you can find VBA code for creating a calendar online, or you can choose to write your code. To use VBA code in Excel, you will need to enable the “Developer” tab in the Excel ribbon and then open the “Visual Basic” editor. Here’s what the code should look like.
Is this not quite what you’re looking for?
While Excel is a great tool for most basic use cases, it sure does come with some downfalls — like not being able to integrate calendars with your leave data.
Luckily, leave management software like Vacation Tracker has your back for all those needs, and much more.
Employee leave calendar
All Vacation Tracker users can access the employee leave calendar from the Dashboard for a quick overview of their team’s whereabouts. This information can also be filtered depending on criteria such as Locations, Departments, Labels, or a combination of all three. You can also view this information in list form!
https://cdn.vacationtracker.io/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/18051237/cal_1_AdobeExpress.mp4
In addition to that, our MS Teams users can also view their team leave calendar and filter it from the comfort of their workspace using Tabs. This easy accessibility ensures you can stay posted on all things PTO, right when and where you work.
Direct calendar integration with external tools
Furthermore, users can also stay on top of their schedule by integrating and syncing Vacation Tracker with iCal, Google Calendar, or Outlook to get synchronized leave information across all your platforms.
All you have to do is click on the Sync with your calendar option and copy the link to any calendar that supports iCal feeds. That’s right — syncing leave information could literally not get easier. The entire process takes less than a minute to set up and is as simple as 1, 2, 3.
I hope these tips will help make tracking leaves in your organization even easier. If you have any additional questions about automating your workflow, please let us know at hello@vacationtracker.io — we’re always here to help!
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Snigdha Gupta
An avid writer and aspiring marketer, Snigdha is a student at Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business.
