Question

Google Forms to Google Calendar - Date and time fields not right

  • 21 June 2023
  • 1 reply
  • 385 views

Userlevel 1

I’m trying to create a form where someone can book a resource for a particular day and span of time, the form asks for the date they want, as well as the begin and end times, along with resource name and person requesting. However, no matter what formatting tricks I’ve tried (and I’m brand new to this service), it seems to be creating the event slightly after midnight on the day I submitted the form (usually shows as 12:06am on the following day).

 

What am I missing


This post has been closed for comments. Please create a new post if you need help or have a question about this topic.

1 reply

Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Hi @smitty451 

Good question.

Please post detailed screenshots with how your Zap steps are configured to give us more context, thanks.

 

GCal help articles: https://zapier.com/apps/google-calendar/help

 

Is the event created on the wrong date, specifically with the month and day switched?

Regardless of the settings in your Google Calendar, data sent through their API (as Zapier does) must be in MM/DD/YYYY format. So, if you try to send an event for April 7, 2021 as 07/04/2021, Google Calendar will interpret that as July 4, 2021. The dates need to be in MM/DD/YYYY format to ensure Google Calendar adds the event to the correct date(s). If your trigger is sending the data in DD/MM format, you can use a Formatter step to reformat the date.

 

My events are being created for the wrong date and/or time

There are a few reasons why events might be created for the wrong time or date by a Zap.

Are you creating an all-day event?

All-day events in Google Calendar end at midnight on the last day, so they're exclusive of the end date. For example, an event created via Zapier for August 10 - August 15 will appear to span August 10 - August 14 in Google Calendar, because the event will end at 12:00:00 on August 15.

To fix this:

  • Update your trigger data so that it lasts for an extra day.
  • Or, modify the end date in your Zap directly by adjusting the date/time to include +1d. This will cause the event to last for an extra day.

Are your timezone settings correct?

Check the timezone setting of both the trigger and action apps, and in Zapier. When the timezones don't match between apps, this can cause the event not to be created on the expected date and time. To fix this:

  • Change your timezone in your Zap settings
  • Check your Google Calendar timezone settings.
  • Refer to the help documentation of any other app in your Zap, to check the timezone on that app. You may also want to check that app's help pages on Zapier to see if there are any known limitations or restrictions for date/time fields.

Is the event created on the wrong date, specifically with the month and day switched?

Regardless of the settings in your Google Calendar, data sent through their API (as Zapier does) must be in MM/DD/YYYY format. So, if you try to send an event for April 7, 2021 as 07/04/2021, Google Calendar will interpret that as July 4, 2021. The dates need to be in MM/DD/YYYY format to ensure Google Calendar adds the event to the correct date(s). If your trigger is sending the data in DD/MM format, you can use a Formatter step to reformat the date.

Are you using the "Quick Add Event" action?

If you're using the Quick Add Event action instead of the Create Detailed Event action, there are some specific guidelines that must be followed to make sure that Google Calendar can interpret the date and time correctly.

Is your detailed event appearing in the calendar for the same time the Zap ran?

This may happen if the start and end time/date are invalid. Events created with an invalid start or end date will be created for the time your Zap runs.

None of these describes my problem

If none of these steps addresses your problem, try to use Formatter by Zapier or date/time modifications to correct any date differences between apps.