How to add events to calendar Outlook

Begin to type location details in the Add a location or a room field.  Rooms will begin to populate for selection. Select a location or room from the list OR continue to type location details and hit Enter when finished.

How to add events to calendar Outlook

Step 4 Add Start/End dates and times.

  • Add a start date
  • Add a start time
  • Add an end date
  • Add an end time

or

  • Select the All-day box for all day events

For private appointments, select the Private box.

 

How to add events to calendar Outlook

Step 5 Add People

Begin typing first name to add attendees. Be sure to select the correct attendee name from the list or manually add the email address.

How to add events to calendar Outlook

Step 6 Check availability – quick glance

A list of added people and rooms will display. Under the name or location name, availability will display as Free or Busy.

How to add events to calendar Outlook

Step 6 cont. Check availability using Scheduling assistant.

You will have a quick view of the availability of selected people and rooms. Additionally, a mini calendar will display for that selected date and time.

There are additional viewing options with the Scheduling assistant.

Select the Scheduling assistant link for more options.  

How to add events to calendar Outlook

Step 6 cont. Check availability using Scheduling assistant.

Use the Scheduling assistant to change dates and times to display availability of selected people and rooms.  You can change the dates and times to check for more open times to schedule the event. 

Using the Scheduling assistant is a great way to avoid double booking attendees for meetings and allows for better planning. Keep in mind the time “in between” meetings, taking into consideration locations and travel time between scheduled events. 

How to add events to calendar Outlook

Step 7 – Review and Send

Before you select the Send button, REVIEW the calendar event for accuracy.

  • Review the title
  • Verify the location is correct
  • Verify the date/time is correct
  • Verify the attendee list
  • Verify attachments and reminders are correct
  • Verify details are correct

Select Send once details are verified. 

How to add events to calendar Outlook

More Options:

Add an email reminder (optional)

Select the Add an email reminder link below the reminder options.

 

How to add events to calendar Outlook

  • Select a Time line or email reminder
  • Select reminder to Me or All attendees
  • Include a reminder message to send.
  • Select Close to save or Discard to delete.

 

 

How to add events to calendar Outlook

Once the add email reminder is saved, a reminder will display under date and time.

To edit, select the Edit button or to remove

Then select the Delete button.

 

How to add events to calendar Outlook

Attach a file

  • Select the Attach icon from the top menu bar.
  • Locate file from file location.
  • Attach as a copy or Attach as a OneDrive file (sharing and editing options available)

 

How to add events to calendar Outlook

A file icon will display the attachment. Verify it is the correct document and correct editing permissions before sending (select the arrow to change permissions of the file).

How to add events to calendar Outlook

Add a charm

To Add a charm, select the Charm arrow on the menu bar and choose a charm.

or

Select None to remove a charm.

 

How to add events to calendar Outlook

Add a category

To Add a category, select the Category arrow from the menu bar to display existing categories.

Select the Category from the list.

Category for now displays on the calendar event above the message box and below any attachments or reminders as illustrated.

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8 ways to share calendars or events in Outlook

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19 June 2022

There are at least eight ways to share an entire calendar or individual appointment in Outlook software.

Sharing can be ‘live’ and connected.  Any changes or updates to the event or calendar are automatically sent to everyone sharing.

Or it can be a ‘one-off’ item. A special attachment which is emailed or a little .ics file. Receivers can add it to their calendar by clicking on the incoming .ics file.

Some work best if you have an Exchange Server account or Outlook.com while others are OK with any connection (using the iCalendar standard and .ics files).. We’ll explain both options so anyone can share single events/appointments or whole calendars.

Our ebook Effective Outlook Calendars shows all the tricks possible with modern calendars.

Historical events Calendar

For this article we’ll use some Apollo 11 events from 1969 as examples.

How to add events to calendar Outlook

Most shared calendars are for current appointments but there’s a less well-known use as reminders of historical events. Add an event for the original date/time plus reminders for each year, 5 years or decade after that.

In an organization, a shared calendar could remind staff of important anniversaries.  Product Launch, moving head office, take over, arrival of important staff/managers.

Even families could use a shared calendar to track major events. Moving house, anniversaries of relatives/friends, school terms.  A single calendar that everyone in the family can see.

Birthdays are usually managed within Contacts but could be added to a shared calendar as well.

Share Calendar

An entire calendar can be shared with other people. Rather than share your personal calendar, make a separate or sub-calendar.  Multiple calendars can be viewed side-by-side or overlaid into a single view with your own calendar.

Make a separate calendar in Outlook by right-clicking on Calendar in the left Navigation Pane and choose ‘New Calendar’.

Add calendar items as usual. See Add events and reminders

Right-click on the Calendar then Share …

How to add events to calendar Outlook

E-mail Calendar

Send a copy of the calendar as an email attachment.  This is a one-time thing. Any later changes made to the calendar are NOT copied to others.

There are choices to send only events in a certain date range, the level of detail and attachments.  The email has both a list of events in the message plus a .ICS file that can be added to the receivers calendar or added as a separate calendar.

How to add events to calendar Outlook

Share Calendar

The better alternative is to Share Calendar. That’s a link to the calendar saved on a cloud service. Any updates to the calendar are seen automatically by anyone sharing the calendar.

Exactly how calendars are shared and what’s shared depends on your mailbox.

We recommend sharing calendars using the web browser version of your mailbox – not Outlook for Windows/Mac etc.  The online version will show the correct and latest sharing options available to you and receivers.  Outlook software might not show the same or all sharing available.

Find the calendar online, click the menu dots then ‘Sharing and permissions’.

How to add events to calendar Outlook

Enter the email address/es of people to share the calendar with.  Emails go to each person that might look like this.

How to add events to calendar Outlook

They click on Accept and View calendar.

(‘this URL’ at the bottom is the .ICS version of the calendar.  People with Gmail or other non-Microsoft systems can use that.)

Adding a shared calendar

The receiver clicks on the email link which opens a web page with the calendar link.  Copy that link.

How to add events to calendar Outlook

In Outlook or online version, Home in Calendar view, Add Calendar | From Internet. Paste in the web link (starts with webcal:// ends with .ics)

Then the linked calendar appears in Outlook. Either side-by-side other calendars or overlaid.

How to add events to calendar Outlook

Time Zone bonus!

Each person viewing the shared calendar sees the event at the right time in the computers current time zone! Here’s the ‘First Step’ calendar item in Outlook with two time zones (Sydney, Australia  just before 1pm and Europe in the very early morning).

How to add events to calendar Outlook

This also shows a long-standing problem with Microsoft’s time zone ‘support’.  The time zone columns don’t properly show the date, just the time. It’s not clear that the Sydney time is the day after Europe/USA.

Share an appointment

People can be invited to appointments or events on your calendar.

Outlook sends an .ICS file via email and sends updates whenever you change the appointment on your system.

Any type of Outlook connection does this – Exchange Server, Outlook.com, Gmail or whatever.

Office-Watch.com has promoted this for many years as something individuals can do to arrange things with friends and family.  In other words, it’s not just for businesses.

See Send and Receive appointments with Outlook

Save as ICS calendar item

To send a single event to many people can be done using an .ICS file.  It’s a plain text file with all the calendar details to be imported into the receivers calendar.

Find the event then choose File | Save As | Save Selected Appointment.

How to add events to calendar Outlook

That saves an .ics file which you can send to anyone by any means.  Email attachment, instant messaging, USB stick, camel train, whatever.

See Beating Bots, Spies and Cock-ups for advice on privately and securely sending files (big and small).

Save Calendar as ICS

It’s a similar thing to share a calendar with multiple events/appointments.

Select the calendar then File | Save As | Save Calendar.

How to add events to calendar Outlook

Choose the More Options … you like.

That saves an .ics file which you can send to anyone by any means.  Email attachment, instant messaging, memory stick, husky dog sled, whatever.

See Beating Bots, Spies and Cock-ups for advice on privately and securely sending files (big and small).

Copy to my Calendar

In Outlook an event in another calendar can be copied to your main calendar via Appointment Series | Actions | Copy to My Calendar.

How to add events to calendar Outlook

As the name suggests, a copy of the calendar item is made, not a link.  Later changes in the original event aren’t synced to your calendar.

Forward vs Forward as iCalendar

Appointment Series | Actions | Forward and Forward as iCalendar send a copy of the event/appointment via email.

How to add events to calendar Outlook

Forward sends an Outlook item that’s only compatible with Microsoft Outlook.

Forward as iCalendar uses the iCalendar standard to send the same information.  Choose this option, if you don’t know what software the receiver uses.

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How do I add events to my calendar?

Create an event.
On your Android phone or tablet, open the Calendar app ..
Tap Create Event ..
Optional: If you invite guests, add them to the event. Then, tap and drag the meeting block to a time that works for everyone. ... .
Swipe up to edit event details like: Title. Location. ... .
Tap Save..

Why can't I add an event to my Outlook calendar?

This issue occurs because the user does not have the required permissions to create a meeting in the calendar of the shared mailbox.