Getting Invites to Google Calendars on Accounts Other Than Gmail

Managing Non-Gmail Responses in Google Calendar

A lot of customers would rather use Google Calendar using an email account that isn't associated with Gmail, which presents some difficulties, especially when handling event answers. You are dealing with a typical problem if you have Google Calendar setup using a different email address but are only getting responses at your Gmail address. The administration of event updates and confirmations is made more difficult by this scenario, which frequently causes irritation.

So, the question is: Is there a direct method—that is, without utilizing forwarding functions—to direct these responses to your selected email address under Google Calendar settings? In order to improve the efficiency of managing your calendar events, this introduction will go over possible settings and workarounds to make sure that all event-related emails are delivered to the email address of your choice.

Detailed Email Redirection Script Functionality

The included scripts control how Google Calendar's automated event response alerts are redirected to email addresses other than Gmail. Using Google Apps Script, the first script makes advantage of the CalendarApp.getDefaultCalendar() function to retrieve the default calendar linked to a user's Google account. After that, it uses the getEvents(start, end) function to obtain events that happened inside a given window of time, which is usually the current day. An email notice is issued using MailApp.sendEmail(to, subject, body) for each visitor who has confirmed their attendance (identified using guest.getGuestStatus()). This function circumvents the usual Gmail notification system by creating and sending an email to a preset non-Gmail address.

In order to handle email operations outside of the Google environment, the second script is made for a Node.js environment and makes use of the well-known Nodemailer module. Here, the nodemailer.createTransport(config) command uses OAuth2 credentials to configure the required SMTP transport. An OAuth2 client setup through oauth2Client.setCredentials(credentials) is in charge of managing these credentials and authenticating API calls. Next, an email is sent using the transporter.sendMail(mailOptions, callback) function. In order to automate email responses, this script makes use of server-side JavaScript. This gives you flexibility and control over the location and method of processing Google Calendar event responses.

function redirectCalendarResponses() {
  var events = CalendarApp.getDefaultCalendar().getEvents(new Date(), new Date(Date.now() + 24 * 3600 * 1000));
  events.forEach(function(event) {
    var guests = event.getGuestList();
    guests.forEach(function(guest) {
      if (guest.getGuestStatus() === CalendarApp.GuestStatus.YES) {
        var responseMessage = 'Guest ' + guest.getEmail() + ' confirmed attendance.';
        MailApp.sendEmail('non-gmail-address@example.com', 'Guest Response', responseMessage);
      }
    });
  });
}

const nodemailer = require('nodemailer');
const { google } = require('googleapis');
const OAuth2 = google.auth.OAuth2;
const oauth2Client = new OAuth2('client-id', 'client-secret', 'redirect-url');
oauth2Client.setCredentials({
  refresh_token: 'refresh-token'
});
const accessToken = oauth2Client.getAccessToken();
const transporter = nodemailer.createTransport({
  service: 'gmail',
  auth: {
    type: 'OAuth2',
    user: 'your-gmail@gmail.com',
    clientId: 'client-id',
    clientSecret: 'client-secret',
    refreshToken: 'refresh-token',
    accessToken: accessToken
  }
});
transporter.sendMail({
  from: 'your-gmail@gmail.com',
  to: 'non-gmail-address@example.com',
  subject: 'Redirected Email',
  text: 'This is a redirected message from a Gmail account using Node.js.'
}, function(error, info) {
  if (error) {
    console.log('Error sending mail:', error);
  } else {
    console.log('Email sent:', info.response);
  }
});

Configuring an Alternate Email Address in Google Calendar

Gmail and Google Calendar are primarily connected to enable sending and receiving of event notifications. Gmail addresses are naturally prioritized in Google Calendar settings, which presents difficulties for users who would rather use a different email account. For individuals who want to consolidate their alerts into one non-Gmail account, this poses a challenge. Redirecting responses to an email address other than Gmail is not possible in Google Calendar by default. In order to properly manage their event communications, users may turn to scripting or manual email forwarding settings, which may not be the best option for ensuring timely and well-organized responses from event attendees.

The way Google Calendar integrates with Gmail by design implies that user settings should be more flexible. This would entail letting users, independent of their email provider, specify their primary communication settings straight within Google Calendar. The user experience for individuals who use several email platforms might be greatly enhanced by the implementation of this functionality, which would guarantee that all calendar event-related emails are properly consolidated to the user's preferred primary email account.