Google Calendar Invitations Spam Protection

How calendar invitations are handled

The way an invitation is processed depends on whether the sender is categorized as a Known Sender or an Unknown External Sender.

Known Senders Calendar Invitations (Auto-add)

Events from Known Senders are automatically added to your calendar without requiring any action in your email inbox.

What is a Known Sender?

A sender is defined as “known” if they meet any of the following criteria:

• They share the same organizational email domain (e.g., @lafayette.edu).
• They are listed in your personal Google Contacts.
• You have previously interacted with them through Google services (such as Gmail).

Unknown External Senders Calendar Invitations (Manual Approval Required)

If you receive an invitation from someone outside your organization with whom you have no prior history or contact saved, the event will not automatically appear on your calendar.

Instead, you will receive an email invitation in your Gmail inbox. To add the event to your calendar, you must manually interact with the email by clicking “Yes,” “Maybe,” or “No.”

This manual step is a security measure to ensure you are in control of your schedule and to prevent unsolicited spam events from entering your calendar.

best practice

If you frequently collaborate with individuals outside the College, we highly recommend adding them to your Google Contacts. This will designate them as a “known sender” and ensure their invitations are always added to your calendar automatically.