MS Outlook Calendar: How to Add, Share, & Use It Right

Meetings,
assignments, and other items that impact our schedule--they all have one thing
in common. We're often notified of them through email.

It
can be inconvenient to close your Microsoft Outlook email and open another app
to find your appointments and work. And then reopen Outlook again once you've
got the schedule info you need. It's inconvenient, and it's also unnecessary.

Many people don't realize the MS Outlook has a calendar
built right into it. If you know what to do, you can easily switch between your
email inbox and your Microsoft Outlook Calendar.

In
this tutorial, you'll learn how to use the Outlook Calendar. I'll explain how
to add tasks and appointments to your calendar. We'll also explore how to share
an Outlook calendar.

How to Use Your Microsoft Outlook Calendar—A Quick Overview
(Video)

Outlook has the perfect tool to help you create and maintain your schedule, which is the Microsoft Outlook calendar tool. 

If you want to use Outlook to track your appointments and meetings as well as your tasks, the Outlook calendar can help. Here is a quick video guide on how to use the MS Outlook Calendar:

Learn even more about the Microsoft Outlook calendar by following the step-by-step
instructions below.

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How
to Access Your Microsoft Outlook Calendar

Your
Outlook Calendar is a handy tool that you can reach quickly and easily from
with your email by just clicking on a single icon if you know how.

Step
1. View a Calendar Thumbnail

Start with your Outlook inbox open:

Find
the Calendar icon in the lower left
of your email interface (below the Navigation
pane). If you hover your mouse over the icon, you’ll see a thumbnail of your
calendar with your upcoming appointments.

Step
2. Open Your Calendar View

To
open your calendar, click the Calendar
icon. Your Microsoft Outlook calendar appears:

Notice
the default view is of about a month’s time. This is called the Month view. The current date is
highlighted, although you can select various calendar days to work with.

The Outlook calendar also includes some neat
features:

• There’s a local weather report at the top of the
  calendar. Customize this information by entering your city name or zip code.


• There are thumbnails of the months before and
  after the current month on the left of the screen. To hide these thumbnails,
  grab the right side of the pane containing the thumbnails and drag it to the
  left.


• There’s a search bar at the top right of the calendar. You can search through
  calendar events by key words or phrases.
  
  

Now that we've explored the month view, we can take a look at some of the views available.

Step
3. Change Your Calendar View

You
can change your Calendar View. At
the top of the Outlook calendar click View
from the menu:

On the View tab,
you’ll see various settings that will allow you to customize the way your
calendar looks. The five we want to focus on for this tutorial are:

1. 
   Day.
   The Day view allows you to see the
   events of a day. The Day view looks
   much like a page in a paper planner. Use the scroll bar on the right side of
   the Day view to move up and down on
   the page.


2. 
   Work Week.
   The Work Week view lets you see five
   days of your schedule (Monday through Friday) at a time.


3. 
   Week.
   The Week view is like the Work Week view, except it includes the
   weekends. This view can be helpful if you work non-traditional hours or if you
   include personal appointments on your calendar.


4. 
   Month.
   We’ve already examined the Month
   view, which allows you to see a month at a glance.


5. 
   Schedule
   View. The Schedule View allows
   you to see a day’s appointments in bar graph form. The let’s you spot conflicts
   and overlapping commitments quickly and easily.

To
open a view, click on the icon for the calendar view you want to open. For this
example, let’s click on the Schedule
View icon. The Schedule View
displays:

Notice
that this example Schedule View
already has two sets of overlapping appointments. Knowing about the schedule
conflict lets you manage your time efficiently. You can plan to attend only one
of the meetings and reschedule the other. Or, you could attend part of each of
the meetings.

Also,
this Schedule View illustrates that there’s
a breakfast meeting set to begin at 7:00 a.m.-- before the start of the work
day.

Note: The various views also appear on the Home tab of your Outlook calendar, and you
can also access them from there.

How
to Create an Appointment or Task

You
can add various types of items to your Microsoft Outlook calendar, including:

• 
  Appointments.
  An appointment typically just involves you and one other person. For example,
  you set appointments with your doctor or accountant. Often (but not always) an
  appointment is set with someone outside your organization.


• 
  Meetings. A
  meeting usually involved a group of people. If you’re the meeting organizer,
  you would be responsible not only for scheduling the meeting, but also for sending out meeting invitations.


• 
  Tasks. A
  task is time you block off on your calendar to meet certain goals and
  assignments.
  
  

You
can also set any item to be a recurring item or a multi-day item. 

Step 1. Set Up a New Appointment

Start
from any calendar view, but make sure that you’re on the Home tab. For this example, we’ll start with the Month view open: 

Click
the New Appointment icon. A blank Appointment screen displays:

Type your appointment information in appropriate fields.
Here’s a brief description of each field and how to fill each one out:

• 
  Subject.
  Type a brief description of your appointment.


• 
  Location.
  Enter the location where your appointment will occur.


• 
  Start
  Time. Type the date and time your appointment will begin. Click the
  calendar thumbnail to select a month and day. Click the down arrow to the right
  of the time to choose a time. Check the toggle box to the right of this field
  if the event will last all day.


• 
  End Time.
  Enter the date and time your appointment ends. Use the calendar thumbnail and
  down arrows.

To make your appointment last more than one day, select a
date for the End Time that is after
the Start Time date.

Caution: If your selected
dates and times overlap with another appointment or meeting, you may see a
warning in the upper left of the Appointment
screen. However, Outlook will still allow you to add the conflicting
appointment.

In
the big square below the appointment information, type any notes you’ve got
about the appointment. In the example below, I’ve filled the Appointment screen out with information
about a parent/teacher conference:

To
schedule a recurring appointment, click the Recurrence icon in the Ribbon
(it looks like a circle). The Appointment
Recurrence dialog box displays: 

Select
a Recurrence pattern for the
appointment. You can also define how long the appointment will continue to
recur. In the example above, I’ve set up a monthly parent/teach conference. When
you’re done, click OK to return to
the Appointment screen.

When
you’ve finished entering appointment information, click the Save & Close icon in the upper left
of your Appointment screen. The
appointment is added to your calendar.

Step
2. Set Up a New Meeting

Whether
you need to gather a group together for a business project or a social
gathering, you’ll find the New Meeting
tool helpful. Start with the Outlook calendar open:

Click
Home > New Meeting. A New Meeting
Invitation screen opens:

Use this screen to schedule a meeting and invite meeting
participants. Here’s a quick overview on how to fill out the meeting
invitation:

• The From
  field defaults to your primary or default email.


• Click on the To field to select participants for your meeting from your Address Book.


• Enter
  a brief description of your meeting in the Subject
  field.


• Type the meeting location in the location field
  or use the down arrow at the right of the field to select from recently used
  locations.


• Select
  a start date and time and an end date and time. If the meeting will last
  several days, make the start date after the end date.


• If
  the meeting will last all day, check the box next to All day event. 

Once
you’ve filled out the meeting information, use the box below the message header
to write a brief note to message participants. Here’s an example of what a
completed meeting invitation might look like:

If
this is to be a recurring meeting, use the Recurrence
icon in the Ribbon to define how
often the meeting will occur.

When
your invitation is ready to send, click the Send button in the upper left of the window. Your meeting is added
to the calendar. All the recipients you included in the To field will receive a meeting invitation attachment for the
meeting.

Learn
more about sending messages in MS Outlook in this tutorial:

• 
  Microsoft Outlook
  
  
  How to Compose & Send New Emails With Microsoft Outlook
  
  
  
  Laura Spencer

This article can help you to write an effective email to send with your meeting invitation:

• 
  Email
  
  
  How to Write a More Effective Email (15+ Best Tips & Tricks)
  
  
  Laura Spencer

Step
3. Set Up a New Task

Tasks
differ from appointments and meetings in that they typically just involve you.
You can set up tasks on your calendar to function as sort of an online to do
list. You can also use the task function in the Outlook calendar to assign a
task to another person or to send status reports.

To
set up a new task, once again start with an open calendar. Click Home > New Items. A pop-up menu displays:

Select
the Task option. The New Task window appears:

Type
the task name in the Subject line.
Pick a Start date and a Due date for the task. If you like, you
can also assign values to following fields by clicking the down arrow next to
each field and making a selection:

• Status 


• Normal


• % Complete

If
you want the system to send you a reminder, check the Reminder checkbox. You can also use the Recurrence icon in the Ribbon
to make the task a recurring one. Or define the task as lasting more than
one day by choosing a different start and end date.

Type
more information or instructions about the task in the box below the header
information.

When you’ve finished filling out the New Task window, click Task
> Save & Close. Your task is added to your calendar’s to do list,
but it won’t appear on your calendar unless you turn on the Task view.

To see
your calendar’s task list, Go to View
> To-Do Bar. A pop-up menu appears:

Click
the Tools option. A pane opens on
the right of your calendar. Your task list appears in the lower right of your
Microsoft Outlook calendar beneath the thumbnail of the month’s calendar:

To
open a task up and see more details or update it, double-click on the task. You
can also flag a task as urgent by clicking the checkbox to the right of it. The
task To-Do bar view remains open
until you close it. If you switch back to your email inbox, the task list remains
visible in the lower right corner of your MS Outlook window:

To
close the task list, click the X in the upper right corner.

Step
4. How to Delete a Calendar Item

Remove
an appointment or meeting from your Microsoft Outlook calendar quickly. Scroll
to the calendar view that contains the calendar item you want to remove. Click
on the calendar item to select it (in this case, an appointment), then
right-click. A pop-up menu appears:

Note: In
the illustration above I’ve selected an appointment with just one other
participant. If I had selected a meeting with more than one participant, the
pop-up menu option would be Cancel Meeting. Upon selecting the Cancel Meeting option, I’d be given the
opportunity to send a cancellation notice to all meeting participants.

Select
the Delete option from the pop-up menu.
If the item is recurring item, you’ll get the opportunity to choose whether you
want to delete all instances of the calendar item (Delete Series) or just the single occurrence (Delete Occurrence) you’ve selected. The calendar item is removed
from the calendar. The Delete Occurrence
option is great to use if you’ve got a regular appointment, but need to cancel
one instance of it due to a vacation or other schedule conflict.

The
process to remove a task from your task list is even simpler. Simply click on
the task in your To Do list, then
right-click on it. Select the Delete option
from the pop-up menu.

How
to Quickly Add a Meeting or Task From an Email Message

One
of the convenient things about the MS Outlook calendar is that your calendar
doesn’t have to be open for you to add a calendar item. Add a calendar item
directly from an email message. Here’s what to do:

Step
1. Select an Email Message

Start
with your email inbox open. Click on a message to select it. Then double-click
on the message to open it:

In
the example above, I’ve been sent an email invitation to a meeting. The email
wasn’t sent as a calendar invite, but I want to add the event to my Outlook
calendar. One way to do that is to use the Reply
with Meeting icon on the Ribbon.
(It looks like a calendar with an arrow.)

When
you click on the Reply with Meeting
icon, a reply opens—but most importantly it’s in the format of a meeting:

Notice
that the location information is blank and that the date and time default to
the current date and time. You’ll need to correct this info using the details
found in the original email. Next, type in your email reply to the original
sender. When you’re ready, click the Send
button on the left.

You’ve just emailed a response to the person who emailed you
the meeting notification and added the meeting to your calendar in a single
step!

Step
2. Add a Task to Your Calendar Task List from and Email

It’s
also easy to add a task to your MS Outlook task list if you’ve got the To-Do Bar view open. Start with your
email inbox open. Click on a message to select it, then drag the selected
message to the task list in the To-Do
Bar on the right of your inbox:

You’ll
see a red line in the task list where the new task is about to be inserted. Once
the email is inserted into your task list, double-click on it to view the
message details.

Note: Although Outlook will insert the email into your task list, the message will
also remain in your email inbox.

How
to Get Your Outlook Calendar to Send You Reminders

Another
convenient Outlook feature is the ability to have the system remind you before
an appointment or meeting. To activate the reminder feature as you’re setting
up a new meeting or appointment, click the down arrow on the Reminder icon in the Ribbon (it looks like a bell):

Select
how far in advance of the meeting or appointment you want the reminder to
appear from the pop-up. Then, click the Sound
icon at the bottom of the pop-up to select a reminder sound.

Once
your reminder has been set up, a reminder pop-up will appear each time you open
your email or calendar:

To
get a reminder to stop appearing, click the Dismiss button. If the window is reminding you of multiple calendar
items, you’ll need to click the Dismiss
All button.

How
to Share a Microsoft Outlook Calendar

Share
your calendar through email or by giving others access. This could be helpful
if you want to share parts of your calendar with a team member or if you’re
trying to schedule a time to get together with someone. There are three ways
you can share a calendar:

1. 
   Email. Share
   part of your calendar through email.


2. 
   Share feature. If your Microsoft Outlook installation runs
   through the Microsoft Exchange Server, you can give someone else access to your
   calendar. You can also use the Set
   Calendar Permissions icon to further define who can access your calendar
   and what level of access they have. 


3. 
   Publish online. Publish your calendar to an online server to
   provide access to others.

Since
my Outlook installation doesn’t run on a Microsoft Exchange Server we’ll focus
on the first and third methods of sharing your Microsoft calendar in this
tutorial.

1. Share
a Calendar through Email

With
your calendar open, go to the Home > E-mail Calendar. A blank email message appears with the Send a Calendar via Email dialog box on
top:

If
you’ve got more than one calendar set up, click the down arrow in the Calendar field to select which calendar
you want to share. Next, click the down arrow next to the Date Range field to specify which calendar dates to share. Then,
click the down arrow in the Detail box
to choose a level of detail to share—choose between the following detail
levels:

• 
  Availability only. The email recipient will see when you’re
  available and when you’re free. They won’t see what your meetings and
  appointments are.


• 
  Limited details. The email recipient will see only the subject
  lines of your meetings and appointments and when they’re scheduled. 


• 
  Full details. The recipient will see your meetings and
  appointments are and the location of each of them. They will also see more
  details about each meeting or appointment.

Mark the checkbox if you only want the shared calendar to show working hours. If your
working hours aren’t defined, click the Set
working hours hyperlink to set them. When you’ve finished, click the OK button in the Send a Calendar via Email dialog box. Then click the Send button to send the email.

The
email recipient receives and email with your schedule in the text of the email
and a calendar attachment showing your schedule.

2. Share a Calendar by Publishing It Online

You
can also publish your calendar online to a shared server. With your calendar
open, go to the Home > Publish Online icon. The Publish Calendar to Custom Server
dialog box appears:

Start by listing the URL for the server where you’ll publish
your calendar. Next, define the date range that you wish to share. For the Detail option choose between: Availability only, Limited Details, and Full
Details. If you only want to publish your calendar between working hours,
click the checkbox.

When
you’ve finished, click the OK
button. Follow any prompts that appear.

Conclusion

You've just learned how to use your Microsoft Outlook calendar
right. Getting your Outlook calendar set up properly can save you time and help
you to be more productive.

Now that you've got your schedule in order by using the Outlook calendar, you may want to tackle your email inbox. For a free guide to managing a cluttered inbox, grab a copy of our FREE eBook: The Ultimate Guide to Inbox Zero Mastery. It's packed with advanced email inbox management techniques.

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