7 Steps to Share Your Outlook Calendar

Children of the 90s grew up on Microsoft and used Microsoft Office for practically everything computer-related – work or school.

And while Microsoft may not enjoy a monopoly when it comes to suite tools anymore, it’s still the top choice for many organizations.

Microsoft Office remains relevant with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and of course, Outlook. Out of the four, Microsoft Outlook is a software system that can bundle together email, contacts, calendars, among other things.

Outlook has become an office essential for companies, non-profit, schools, and other organizations alike, allowing users to coordinate with their colleagues and friends for meetings and events – something that Outlook Calendar makes easier.

But the question arises of how you can share your Outlook Calendar without having the recipient struggle to access it.

Read on as we discuss the best way to let people – both at work and home – know your schedule.

How to Share Your Outlook Calendar With Everyone – Well, Almost

As mentioned before, you can share your Outlook Calendar with friends, family and teammates. But you also have the option to give them permissions to become either co-owner or view-only access to your calendar.

Here’s what you need to do:

Step #1 Click on the Microsoft Outlook app on your computer.

Step #2 Your Microsoft Outlook screen will open. Click on the Calendar icon on the lower left-hand side of the screen.

Step #3 From the Organize tab, choose Calendar Permissions.

Step #4 A Calendar Properties box will appear. There, select the Permissions tab, and then choose ‘Add User…’.

Image Source: Microsoft Support

Step #5 Type in the name of the recipient you want to share your calendar with in the Search box. Once you start typing in the name, you’ll see their email ID and image appear in the list. Click on the ID, and then choose Add.

Image Source: Microsoft Support

Step #6 Again, in the Calendar Properties box, select the drop-down arrow near Permission Level. Once done, choose the appropriate permission levels to decide how the person can access your Outlook calendar.

Image Source: Microsoft Support

Please note that the settings for the recipient to Read, Write, Delete, and Other will change according to the permission level you select.

Step #7 Once you’ve chosen the settings according to your requirements in the four sections (Read, Write, Delete, and Other), select OK.

This will lead to every recipient you shared your calendar with to receive an invite through which they can then view your schedule.

Note: Although the process to share your Outlook calendar is most similar, steps may differ a bit depending on the Microsoft version you use.

How to Create a Shared Calendar From Your Outlook Online Account

One of the best ways to share your Outlook Calendar with almost anyone is to simply email a copy of your schedule to them.

The recipient will see a screenshot of your scheduled events and appointments but won’t have the permission to make any changes or updates to your calendar. And no, you don’t need the Microsoft Outlook application for creating a shared calendar.

Simply log in to your free Outlook Online Account to publish your calendar online, and then send anyone a link to view your calendar.

The following are the steps to create a shared calendar and then share it with your contacts:

Step #1 Search for “Outlook login” in your web browser and then put in the credentials to open your Outlook account.

Step #2 Open your Outlook Calendar on the lower left-hand side corner of your computer screen.

Step #3 Click on Share on the upper right-hand side of the screen and choose the calendar you want to share.

Step #4 A Sharing and permissions box will appear where you’ll have to enter the recipient’s email address.

Step #5 Click on the drop-down arrow next to the recipient’s email address. You can choose the access permissions you want the recipient to have to your calendar, and then finally select Share.

Image Source: Lifewire

Step #6 All your chosen recipients will appear in the sharing list below, along with their respective permissions. Click on Share once you’re satisfied with the email list.

Image Source: Lifewire

Step #7 Click on the cancel button or X to close the window.

All your chosen recipients will receive an email invite to view your shared calendar.

And that’s it!

Yep, it’s actually this simple.

Sharing Your Outlook Calendar Outside Your Organization

You can share your Outlook Calendar with somebody outside your organization quite easily, and contrary to popular belief, the process itself is very similar to how you would share your calendar with someone within your organization.

After selecting the Share button from your calendar, type in the email address of the recipients you want to share your calendar with.

From the Calendar Properties dialogue box, choose the level of detail that you want to share with that specific person.

Once done, select OK.

As you can see, there really is no difference between sharing your Outlook Calendar within your organization and outside your organization since before you can hit share, you’ll have to choose the permission level for every recipient.

How to Tell if Your Calendar Has Been Shared

The whole point of sharing your Outlook calendar is to enable other people – both inside and outside your organization – to know about your schedule.

As shown above, you can either email a screenshot of your calendar or give them direct sharing access.

If you choose to share your calendar via email, the recipient will only be able to view your schedule until the point of the screenshot. So if you update your calendar after sending the email, the recipient won’t be able to see your updated schedule.

You can check with the recipients with whom you’ve shared your Outlook calendar via email by opening the Sent Items folder.

On the other hand, if you share your calendar using an Office 365 or Exchange-Based account, you can check the Calendar Permissions to review the recipients with whom you shared which calendar

You see, the Permissions tab on the Calendar Properties window will have the whole list of people who have access to your shared calendar, along with the permission level for every recipient. You can also right-click on the calendar you want to check to access the Calendar Properties window.

How to Change or Revoke Other People’s Access to Your Outlook Calendar

It may happen that you don’t want to share your calendar with people you did before or change someone’s access permissions to your calendar folders.

If that’s the case, follow the steps below:

Step #1 After opening your Calendar, right-click on the calendar folder for which you want to change permissions.

Step #2 For this step, we’ll discuss steps according to two situations:

Situation A: You want to revoke or change access permissions for everyone

• On the Permissions tab, click Default in the Name box.
• Then in the Permission Level list, select None.

This will revoke permissions for everyone or any other option to change permissions. If you want to customize permissions, you have the option to choose the appropriate checkboxes and options under Permissions as well.

Situation B: You want to revoke or change permissions for a select few people

• On the Permissions tab, select the name of the recipient whose permissions you want to revoke or change in the Name box.
• From the Permission Level list, select None. If you want to customize permissions, you have the option to choose the appropriate checkboxes and options under Permissions as well.

Repeat this step for every person whose access permissions you want to modify.

How to Share Outlook Calendars Between Devices

It’s common for Outlook users to want to either view or edit their calendars – sometimes both – on other devices.

For instance, a user may have Outlook on their computer at the office and another computer at home and want to mirror the two Outlook installations for more convenience. This process is called ‘syncing’ instead of ‘sharing,‘ so you should know this before proceeding.

Here’s a handy guide to help you understand how to sync calendars on Outlook across multiple devices:

Option 1: Using an Exchange Server

You can set up a Microsoft Exchange account in Outlook, which will allow you to sync your calendar events, along with email messages, contacts, tasks, and notes across different devices.

Moreover, all your information will always be up-to-date on Outlook as well as on the server that runs the Microsoft Exchange server.

Option 2: Using Outlook.com

Generally, Outlook.com accounts are hosted on an exchange server.

When you use an Outlook.com account in Outlook, all folders – calendar events, email messages, contacts, tasks, and notes – will be synchronized automatically. As a result, your information will always be up to date in Outlook in addition to the server that hosts your mailbox.

Keep in mind that imported contacts (contacts imported from a connected account) won’t be synced across devices and apps through this method.

Wrapping Up

Whether it’s scheduling another virtual meeting or a phone call with a client or remembering Aunt Betsy‘s birthday, online calendars can be true lifesavers. And Outlook Calendar is the absolute best among them all.

Your work team, family members, friends – everyone will know what your schedule looks like without any extra effort on your part. Simply follow the steps we listed above to share your Outlook Calendar in the easiest way possible with people both inside and outside your organization or for work or personal reasons.