How to skip events by color

To keep events of one color off the other calendar, add a sync rule on the Sync Rules screen. Set the field to Label / color (Google calendars) or Category (Outlook calendars), pick the color, and set the action to Don't Sync. Events that carry that color are not copied, and a copy that is already on the other calendar is taken off it.

There is no separate "skip colors" switch on a connection. The color is one of the things a rule can look at, which also means you can do more than skip: hide the details of those events, or mark the copy private instead.

How do I set it up?

1. Open Sync Rules and, under Add a Sync Rule, choose the connection the rule is for. A rule belongs to one connection.
2. Under Field, choose Label / color if the source calendar is a Google calendar, or Category if it is an Outlook calendar. The field is named after the source, the calendar the events are read from.
3. Pick the color. The screen shows the colors of that source calendar as small swatches. A swatch with a name beside it is a named label or category; the rest are shown by color alone.
4. Under Then, choose Don't Sync.
5. Choose Add. A confirmation shows how many events on your calendars the rule affects. Confirm to save it.

If Label / color or Category is missing from the Field list for a connection, that connection includes a calendar that is not connected directly, so it cannot offer color rules, and the screen leaves the field out rather than offer a rule that would never match.

How is a color chosen on Google and on Outlook?

On Google Calendar a color is a label. Every Google calendar starts with 24 colored labels, and most of them have no name, which is why you pick by swatch. The rule remembers the label itself, not just the shade, so renaming or recoloring it in Google does not break the rule.

On Outlook the equivalent is a category. A category has a name, and an event can carry more than one. The rule matches when the event carries the category you picked, and it follows the category if you rename it in Outlook.

The color list comes from the calendar the events are read from. The color you see on the other calendar, if any, does not matter.

What happens to events that are already copied?

Saving the rule goes back over the events already copied inside your sync window and removes the copies that match. Deleting the rule, or switching it off, does the reverse: those events are copied again. What happens when I add or delete a keyword explains how far this reaches and what a paused connection does. Events outside the window are left as they are; see how far back and forward does calendar sync go.

The original event is never changed. The rule only decides what appears on the other calendar.

What if I delete the color or category later?

Both Google and Outlook remove a deleted label or category from the events that carried it, so the rule can no longer tell which events it applies to. The rule is then shown with a notice that its label or category no longer exists. Events the rule had already stopped stay stopped, and events tagged after the deletion sync normally. Edit the rule to pick a color that exists, or delete it.

On Outlook, creating a new category with the same name does not repair the rule, because Outlook treats it as a different category.

Which plans include it?

Matching on a label, category or color is part of "Match on What an Event Is", which the 14-day trial, Premium and Pro include. Free and Basic do not.

On Free and Basic the Label / color option still appears in the list, tagged "(Upgrade to: Premium)". You can build the rule and see its preview, but the button reads "Save, switched off" and the rule does not run. Matching on words in the title, notes or location is included in every plan; see sync rules by event property. If a rule stopped after a plan change, see why a sync rule was switched off after a plan change.

What to know

• A rule has one condition. To skip two colors, add two rules; each also counts toward your plan's rule limit.
• A color rule only applies to events that carry that color. An event with no color of its own does not match.
• Instead of skipping, you can choose "Sync, but hide the details" to keep the time blocked; see how to hide event details but keep the time blocked, or how to stop certain events from syncing for the Don't Sync action in general.
• To send a color to a different calendar instead of dropping it, see how to send certain events to a different calendar.