EventLane help
Short answer: In your spreadsheet, open Extensions → EventLane → Open EventLane. Choose the sheet tab and its header row, the calendar, and which columns hold the title and the start date. Press Preview to see what will happen, then Sync now. Run it again whenever the sheet changes: events are updated, never duplicated. EventLane is not on Google Workspace Marketplace yet. To hear when it is, write to info@bilingoplus.com or use the support page.
1. Install and open EventLane
- Install EventLane from Google Workspace Marketplace (the listing goes live at launch).
- Google shows the permissions EventLane needs, each with a checkbox. The boxes start unticked: tick every one. If one is left unticked, EventLane cannot open or sync. Why each one is needed is under Permissions.
- Open a spreadsheet and click Extensions → EventLane → Open EventLane. The EventLane panel opens on the right.
The same menu has Sync now, which syncs without opening the panel once EventLane is set up.
2. Choose the rows
Under 1 Rows from, pick the Sheet tab and the Header row: the row with your column names, usually row 1. Every row below it is one event. A row with neither a title nor a date is skipped.
If the header row is empty, EventLane says so. Type column names such as Title, Date and Start time into it, then reopen EventLane.
3. Choose the calendar
Under 2 Events go to, pick a Calendar. The list shows the calendars you can add events to, with your main calendar first. A separate calendar, for example “Team rota”, makes the events easy to show, hide or share as a group.
4. Columns
Under 3 Columns, EventLane fills in its best guess from your column names. Check it and change any choice. Only Event title and Start date are required. The other fields are under More fields: end date, duration, location, guests….
| Field | What to put in the cells | Column names it recognises (examples) |
|---|---|---|
| Event title (required) | Any text | Title, Event, Name, Subject, Task, Shift, Class, Meeting, Appointment |
| Start date (required) | A date, with or without a time: 11/16/2026, 2026-11-16 9:00, Nov 16, 2026 | Start, Date, Start date, Begin, From, When, Due date, Deadline |
| Start time | 9:00, 9:30 AM, 21:00, noon | Start time, Time, Starts at |
| End time | Same as start time | End time, Finish time, Ends at |
| End date | A date: for events that span several days | End, End date, Until, To, Finish |
| Duration | Minutes (90), 1:30 or 1h 30m. If the column name says hours, for example “Duration (h)”, plain numbers are hours | Duration, Length, Minutes, Hours |
| All-day flag | TRUE, yes, x, 1 or ✓ makes the event all-day | All day, All-day, Full day |
| Description | Any text | Description, Details, Notes, Agenda |
| Location | An address or a room | Location, Place, Venue, Address, Room |
| Guests | Email addresses separated by commas or semicolons; Ann <ann@example.com> works too. Up to 100 per event | Guests, Attendees, Invitees, Participants |
| Colour | A number from 1 to 11, or a name: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, gray, or Calendar’s own names (tomato, tangerine, banana, basil, sage, peacock, blueberry, lavender, grape, flamingo, graphite) | Color, Colour, Event color |
| Reminder (min) | Minutes before the start: 10, 1h, 1 day. Several, separated by commas, up to 5. Empty means the calendar’s default reminders | Reminder, Reminders, Notification, Alert |
- No time anywhere in the row: the event is all-day. With an end date, it spans those days.
- A start but no end time, end date or duration: the event lasts the default length, 60 minutes. Change it in Length when there is no end or duration (minutes).
- Dates like 03/04/2026 are read the way your spreadsheet’s locale writes them: month first in the United States. Dates with dots, like 10.11.2026, are read day first.
- A column named “Email” is never picked for guests automatically: on a Google Forms sheet it holds the person who filled in the form. Choose it yourself if you want them on the event.
Under the columns, EventLane shows the first row as the event it would become, for example Row 2 becomes: Front desk — Ana · Mon 16 Nov 2026, 09:00–17:00. If that row has a problem, you see it there.
5. Preview, then Sync now
Preview changes nothing. It says what a sync would do, for example 3 to create · 1 to update · 1 to delete (rows removed) · 12 already up to date, and lists the first events and any rows that need fixing.
Sync now does it and reports the result, for example 3 created · 1 updated · 12 unchanged, with a link to Open the calendar ↗.
A very large sheet may not finish in one go: Google stops any add-on run after a few minutes. EventLane stops a little before that and says Run Sync again to finish; nothing will be duplicated. Rows it has not reached show ⏳ Not synced yet — run Sync again.
6. The two columns EventLane adds
On the first Sync now (never on a Preview), EventLane adds two columns at the right edge of your header row:
- EventLane status: the result of the last sync for each row. ✓ Created or ✓ Updated with the time, linked to the event in Google Calendar; ✓ In calendar when nothing changed; ⚠ and the problem when a row could not be synced.
- EventLane ID: links each row to its event, so the event is never created twice.
Both are safe to hide. Do not type in them, edit them or delete them. Sorting and filtering the sheet is fine: the ID moves with its row.
7. Time zones
EventLane reads each cell as you see it: “9:00” is 9:00. What changes is which time zone that 9:00 is in.
- By default, the calendar’s time zone. People type times as they live them, and their calendar is set to where they live. A new spreadsheet often has a different zone, and that is why events copied from a sheet so often land an hour off.
- When the spreadsheet and the calendar are in different zones, the panel shows A time like “9:00” in the sheet means. Choose the calendar’s zone (recommended) or the spreadsheet’s zone. When they match, it simply says which zone times are read in.
- Night shifts: a row from 22:00 to 06:00 with no end date ends at 06:00 the next day.
- The event is saved with its time zone, so a change to or from daylight saving time between now and the event does not move it.
8. Why there are no duplicates
- Each synced row keeps its event’s ID in the EventLane ID column.
- Each event EventLane creates carries a private tag naming this spreadsheet and tab. EventLane uses it to find its own events, and nothing else.
- If a row lost its ID (the cell was cleared, or the row typed again), EventLane matches it back to its event by title and start before it creates anything.
- A copied row that carries another row’s ID becomes a new event: two rows, two events.
9. Deleted rows
With Delete an event when its row is deleted or emptied ticked (the default), a sync removes the events whose rows are gone. Untick it to keep them. EventLane deletes only after a complete pass over the sheet, so a run that stopped early never deletes anything. Only events EventLane created from this sheet are ever deleted.
10. Editing in Calendar or in the sheet
The sheet is the source of truth for the columns you mapped. EventLane rewrites an event only when its row changed, and then every mapped field comes from the sheet: an edit you made to that title or time in Google Calendar is replaced. Clearing a mapped cell clears that field on the event too. To change an event for good, change its row.
Anything the sheet does not hold stays as you set it in Calendar: a Google Meet link, an attachment, or guests when you have not mapped a Guests column.
If you switch the setup to another calendar, EventLane offers to remove the events it already created from the old one, so you do not end up with them in both.
11. Guests and invitations
Guests from the Guests column are added to the event silently: Google Calendar sends them nothing. Tick Email invitations to guests (off: guests are added silently) if you want them to get invitations, updates and cancellations.
12. Google Forms to Google Calendar
- In your form, open Responses and link it to a spreadsheet. Google adds a responses tab, usually called “Form Responses 1”.
- Open EventLane in that spreadsheet and choose the responses tab, with header row 1.
- Map the questions: for example the event name question to Event title and the date question to Start date.
- Press Sync now whenever you want new responses on the calendar. With Pro, tick When a Google Form response arrives and each response is synced as it comes in.
13. Automatic sync (Pro)
Under Automatic sync, Pro adds three options:
- When a row is added, edited or deleted: an edit in a mapped column, or a deleted row, is synced on its own. Changes to the header row are not, because they change the setup.
- When a Google Form response arrives: each new response row is synced.
- Every hour (catches formulas and imports): a full pass, for values that change without anyone editing the cell.
Automatic sync runs under the account of the person who turned it on, even when they are not in the spreadsheet. Only one person can run it for a spreadsheet, so changes are not synced twice. If the Pro subscription ends, automatic sync switches itself off and the panel says why; Sync now keeps working.
14. Free and Pro
- Free: Sync now as often as you like, with no row limit, every field, Preview and undo.
- Pro: $4.99 a month or $39 a year, for automatic sync on edit, on Google Form submit and every hour.
Checkout opens when EventLane launches on Google Workspace Marketplace. Pro will be bought from the panel, with Paddle as our Merchant of Record and a 14-day refund on any charge (see refunds). After paying, open Already paid? Activate and enter the email you used at checkout.
15. Undo: remove the events
Open Undo and data and click Remove events created from this sheet. EventLane deletes every event this sheet created in the chosen calendar, and nothing else. The rows stay, and the next Sync now would create the events again.
16. Permissions
When you install EventLane, Google lists each permission with a checkbox, and the boxes start unticked. Tick all of them. If one is left unticked, EventLane cannot open its panel or cannot sync. To fix it: Extensions → Add-ons → Manage add-ons, remove EventLane, install it again and tick every box.
| Permission | In plain English | Why EventLane needs it |
|---|---|---|
spreadsheets.currentonly | See and edit only the spreadsheet you use it in | To read your rows and write the status and ID columns. It cannot open your other spreadsheets or files |
calendar.events | Create, change and delete events | To create, update and delete the events it makes. It touches only events carrying its own tag |
calendar.calendarlist.readonly | See the list of your calendars | To show your calendars in the picker |
script.container.ui | Show its own panel in Google Sheets | The EventLane sidebar |
script.external_request | Connect to an external service | To talk to Google Calendar, and to check a Pro licence with Paddle |
script.scriptapp | Run when you are not present | Automatic sync for Pro: on edit, on form submit and hourly |
userinfo.email | See your email address | To match your Pro licence to your account |
None of these is a “restricted” Google permission, and none lets EventLane read your Gmail, your Drive or events you created yourself.
17. Troubleshooting
| Message | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| EventLane cannot open its panel, because the permission … was not granted | A permission was left unticked when it was installed | Remove the add-on and install it again, ticking every box (see Permissions) |
| Set up EventLane first: choose a sheet, a calendar and the columns. | Sync now from the menu before any setup | Open EventLane and finish the setup |
| ⚠ Title is empty / ⚠ Start date is empty | A row has a date but no title, or the other way round | Fill in the cell, or clear the row |
| ⚠ Start date is not a date I can read (…) | The cell is text EventLane does not recognise as a date | Use a date like 11/16/2026 or 2026-11-16, or format the column as a date |
| ⚠ End is before the start | The end date and time come before the start | Check the end date. A night shift needs no end date: 22:00 to 06:00 ends the next day |
| ⚠ Guests has something that is not an email address (…) | A guest cell holds a name or a typo | Use email addresses, separated by commas |
| ⚠ Colour is not a Calendar colour (…) | An unknown colour name | Use a number from 1 to 11 or a name such as red, blue or green |
| Google Calendar’s limit for creating events was reached. | Google Calendar’s own limit on creating many events quickly | Run Sync again in a few hours. Nothing is duplicated |
| ⏳ Not synced yet — run Sync again | A large sheet stopped early to stay inside Google’s time limit | Press Sync now again |
| Another sync of this spreadsheet is running. Try again in a minute. | An automatic or manual sync is already running | Wait a minute |
| Calendar not found, or you can no longer edit it. | The calendar was deleted, or your access to it changed | Choose another calendar in the panel |
| The sheet tab EventLane syncs from was deleted or renamed | The tab in the setup no longer exists | Open EventLane and choose the tab again |
| Automatic sync for this spreadsheet is already run by … | Someone else turned on automatic sync here | Ask them to turn it off first, or leave it to them |
18. Your data
EventLane runs inside your Google account. Your rows go from the spreadsheet to Google Calendar and are not sent to BiLingoPlus. The setup is saved inside the spreadsheet, and Erase my data at the bottom of the panel deletes the settings EventLane keeps for your account and switches off your automatic sync. Details are in the privacy policy.
19. Still stuck?
Write to info@bilingoplus.com or use the support page. Tell us the message you see and, if you can, what is in the row it is about. Please do not send us a spreadsheet with private data in it.
Questions
Can I hide the EventLane status and EventLane ID columns?
Yes. Hide them, or move other columns around them, as you like. Do not type in them, edit them or delete them: the ID column is what links each row to its event.
Will EventLane ever change events I created myself?
No. It lists, changes and deletes only events that carry its private tag for this spreadsheet tab. Everything else in your calendar is left alone.
Does a guest get an email when EventLane adds them?
Not by default. Guests are added silently. Tick Email invitations to guests if you want Google Calendar to send them invitations and updates.
Why does EventLane need so many permissions?
Each one covers one job: the spreadsheet, the events, the calendar list, the panel, the connection to Calendar and the licence check, automatic sync, and your email for Pro. None of them lets it open your other files.