Outlook 365 for Windows is the last to gradually get these features, Office 365 version 2103 or later is required (March 2021). Outlook 365 for Mac, Outlook mobile apps and Outlook on the web already support the faster shared calendars. Microsoft 365 hosted email and accounts have the server technology necessary. These improvements need changes to both the server mailbox hosting and the email software. Who gets the shared calendar improvements?

A meeting invitation can be replied or forwarded with the meeting attachments but more files can’t be added. Meeting attachments get some smarter control. If someone declined a appointment then changes their mind, the organizer can now easily resend the invitation. Only when the event is sent/shared will it appear for others. Now a draft (unsent) shared appointment is saved in the shared calendar but only visible to the event creator. Now Outlook figures that out automatically though we’re not sure removing that choice will suit everyone.ĭraft calendar items were saved in Drafts folder. Other shared calendar changesĬhanging the attendees to a meeting meant getting a choice of sending the edits to all involved or just the new/removed attendees. Now past recurring appointments keep their settings and notes. That was obviously silly and could cause legal troubles but it’s how Outlook/Exchange Server worked. “If you changed specific appointments in the series your changes will be cancelled and those appointments will match the series again.” Until now, changing an appointment series meant past event details would be altered to match the series for future meetings. Repeating calendar improvementsĪ big change is how recurring appointments are handled. The ‘Microsoft 365’ improvements go beyond speeding up calendar sync. The changes mean that shared and delegated calendars should update much faster across all the Outlook’s (Mac, mobile, web and now Windows. When several people are editing a shared event at the same time, it’s possible for the changes not to appear fast enough for all involved. Outlook and Exchange Server can have difficulties coping with fast changing appointment and meeting arrangements.

Leaving aside a particularly outrageous Redmond boast, the changes are welcome enhancements. Microsoft Outlook is in the final stages of a major improvement in the ‘plumbing’ behind synchronizing calendars across an organization.

Outlook calendar preview missing