Planning guide
How to use Apple Calendar and Google Calendar with a digital planner
By Print Magic StudioX ·
People ask for a digital planner that syncs with their calendar. It helps to be straight about it: no PDF planner syncs. A PDF is a document, and what you write on it is ink the calendar cannot read. What a planner can do is hand off: a link on the page that opens your calendar or reminders with the date and time already in place, so the alert takes one tap and a few words.
The three hand-offs
1. The + beside each hour: Apple Reminders
On the daily pages of the All-in-One Digital Planner, every hour of the schedule has a small +. Tap it and an Apple Shortcut makes a reminder for that time in the Reminders app, so what you wrote at 3 pm also pings you at 3 pm.
2. The G beside each hour: Google Calendar
Beside the + sits a G. It opens a new Google Calendar event already set to that day and hour. Type the title, save, and it is on every device your Google account is signed into. Google Calendar opens in any browser, so this one works on Android tablets and computers too.
3. The Calendar chip: Apple Calendar
Planners with Apple Shortcuts carry a row of small round chips. The Calendar chip runs a Shortcut that shows what is already on and adds to Apple Calendar, without leaving the page you are planning on.
Setting it up once
- 1On your iPhone or iPad, open the Apple Shortcuts page and install the Calendar and Reminders Shortcuts. Each installs with a tap.
- 2Open the planner in GoodNotes and find its setup page near the front (page 2 in the All-in-One), which walks through the rest.
- 3Tap a + or a G on any daily page to check that it opens. After that it works from every page.
Tap with a finger
In GoodNotes, write with the Pencil and tap the + and G with your finger, or switch to Read Only mode. A pen tool turns taps into ink.
Which planners have it
- [All-in-One Digital Planner](/all-in-one-planner): the + and G beside every hour of every daily page, and Apple Shortcuts chips.
- Ultimate Study Planner 2026/27 (student planners): Apple Calendar, Google Calendar and Shortcuts hand-offs on every day.
- Planners built in the [studio](/studio): two add-ons, a dollar each. Reminders and calendar puts the two dots beside every hour of every day; Apple Shortcuts adds the chips to every month and day page.
- The reMarkable edition has no Shortcuts or Reminders links: the device does not run them.
A routine that works
Plan on the page as you always would. When something needs to interrupt you later, tap its + so a reminder fires. When other people need to see it, or it belongs on a shared calendar, tap its G. Once a week, check the calendar chip against your weekly spread so the two agree. The planner stays the place you think; the calendar only holds the alarms.
Quick answers
Can a digital planner sync with Google Calendar?
Not two ways. A PDF cannot read or write your calendar. A hyperlinked planner can open a new Google Calendar event already set to the right day and hour, so adding it takes one tap and a title.
Do the Apple Calendar and Reminders links work on Android?
No. They run Apple Shortcuts, which only exist on iPhone and iPad. The Google Calendar links open in any browser, so they work on Android and computers.
Do I need to install anything?
For the Apple links, the free Shortcuts from our Apple Shortcuts page, once. The Google Calendar links need nothing installed.
More planning guides
- GuideHow digital planner hyperlinks work, and how to tap them in GoodNotesWhy a tap sometimes writes instead of jumping, and the one setting that fixes it.
- GuideMonday or Sunday start planner: which week should you choose?What actually changes on the page, and a simple way to decide.
- GuideHow to choose a student digital planner for the 2026–2027 school yearAcademic or calendar year, the pages that matter, and where your notes should live.
New to digital planning? Start with the planner guide: importing into GoodNotes, the Read Only trick and copying pages.