Motion can display availability from multiple Google Calendar accounts and schedule tasks around their busy events. It does not merge ownership of those calendars into one Google account. Events generally sync bidirectionally between Motion and connected calendars, while Motion tasks use a different model: they can appear as time blocks on a main external Google or Outlook calendar, but external edits do not update the task in Motion.
Inventory calendars before connecting them
List each Google account and calendar, its purpose, owner, sharing rules, and whether it should affect availability. Common examples are a company calendar, client calendar, personal calendar, family calendar, and subscribed holiday calendar.
Classify each as:
- Busy and visible: blocks Motion scheduling and appears in the unified view.
- Busy but private: blocks time, with details hidden from colleagues where provider permissions allow.
- Display only: visible for context but should not block task scheduling.
- Exclude: birthdays, duplicate subscriptions, or irrelevant shared calendars.
Remove duplicate subscriptions before connection. The same meeting appearing through two accounts can look like two conflicts and complicate troubleshooting.
Understand Motion’s sync model
Motion’s current help documentation supports Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, and iCloud. It describes bidirectional event sync: creating or changing an event in Motion or the external provider updates the other side after a short sync period.
Tasks remain owned by Motion. For Google and Outlook, scheduled tasks may be displayed externally, but moving the block in Google Calendar does not reschedule the Motion task. Change duration, deadline, priority, or placement in Motion.
| Item | Source of truth | External behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| Google event | Google or Motion through two-way sync | Edits normally mirror both ways |
| Motion task | Motion | Can display on main external calendar |
| External calendar “task” | Its original app | Does not become a Motion task automatically |
| Booking-link meeting | Connected host calendar | Must respect selected availability calendars |
| Private personal event | Original calendar | Busy status can block time; visibility depends on permissions |
Connect the first Google account
In Motion’s calendar settings, choose the provider connection flow and authenticate the primary work account. Review the Google consent screen carefully. Motion requires read access to display events and write access for event creation and updates.
Select the calendars to display and the calendars that should affect scheduling. Designate the appropriate main calendar. Motion uses the main calendar as the default host for new events and as the destination for task visibility options in supported providers.
Create a test event in Google Calendar and verify that it appears in Motion. Change its time in Motion and confirm the update returns to Google. Delete only a disposable test because bidirectional deletion can propagate.
Connect additional Google accounts
Add each account separately through the provider’s authentication flow. Do not share credentials or connect a company executive’s account through another employee’s login. Each user should authorise their own calendars.
For every account, choose only necessary sub-calendars. A personal account may contribute busy time without needing detailed titles in the work context. Review Google Calendar’s own sharing permissions because Motion cannot make private information visible if the provider does not grant access—and should not be used to bypass those rules.
Motion advertises support for syncing multiple calendars, but plan, workspace, and provider behaviour can change. Verify the current plan and help centre, particularly if using several organisations or managed Google Workspace accounts.
Configure availability correctly
Set working hours, time zone, minimum task duration, buffers, and protected focus blocks. Confirm that all “busy” events from the selected calendars remove availability. Mark optional or informational events as free only when it is genuinely acceptable for Motion to schedule over them.
Recurring events deserve special testing. Change one occurrence and the whole series in Google Calendar, then confirm Motion reflects both correctly. Complex recurrence is a frequent source of calendar disagreement.
Check all-day events. A birthday or reminder marked busy can erase a full workday. Standardise all-day status in the source calendar rather than repeatedly overriding the scheduler.
Decide where Motion tasks appear
Motion’s documentation describes options for keeping tasks only in Motion or showing them on the main external calendar with free/busy behaviour. Choose one policy.
If colleagues book from Google availability, show important Motion tasks as busy so focus time is protected. If the calendar becomes visually crowded, show only selected work or keep tasks inside Motion. Avoid sending task blocks to several calendars; that creates duplicates.
Always edit a task in Motion. The external block is a representation. If a user drags it in Google, the underlying task will not adopt the change and Motion may restore its own schedule.
Configure booking links
Choose which connected calendar hosts the meeting and which calendars contribute conflict checks. Use the work account as host for work calls even if a personal account is the default Motion calendar. Add buffers, minimum notice, daily limits, and the correct conferencing provider.
Open the booking link in a private browser and compare available slots with every connected calendar. Book a test, reschedule it from Google, and cancel it from Motion. Confirm invitations, time zones, and video links.
Do not expose event titles from private calendars on a public booking page. Availability should normally show only that a time is unavailable.
Troubleshoot duplicates and missing events
For a missing event, confirm the right Google account is connected, the sub-calendar is selected, the event is not declined or hidden, and the time zone is correct. Allow the documented sync delay, then reconnect only if needed.
For duplicates, search each source calendar for copies and check whether one calendar subscribes to another. Determine the original event owner before deletion. Disconnecting and reconnecting without fixing the duplicate source can make the problem return.
For incorrect task placement, verify working hours, deadline, duration, priority, availability calendars, and busy/free status. Motion schedules from these constraints; a “bad AI decision” often comes from an incorrect field.
Protect privacy and account security
Connect the minimum calendars and permissions needed. Review connected apps in each Google account periodically and revoke unused access. Managed organisations should evaluate Motion’s current security, data processing, SSO, retention, and administrative controls.
Avoid placing confidential event details in a calendar shared broadly. Use private visibility and neutral titles where appropriate. A scheduling tool can only honour the permissions it receives.
Pros, cons, and verdict
Motion provides one scheduling view across several accounts and automatically places tasks around fixed commitments. Bidirectional event sync reduces double entry, and external task blocks make workload visible to colleagues.
The trade-offs are subscription cost, broad calendar permissions, sync delay or edge cases, provider-specific differences, and task ownership that remains in Motion. It is not a general two-way task sync, and it does not turn several Google accounts into one shared account.
Connect one work and one personal calendar first. Test event create, edit, delete, recurring series, booking links, and task display before adding more. Make Motion the source of truth for tasks and the connected provider the source of identity and event ownership.
Our pick: Motion with all relevant calendars used for availability, one designated work calendar for hosting, and Motion retained as the task source of truth.