Outlook Calendar: Manage appointments - the best tips

Would you like to manage your appointments in the Outlook calendar more easily? We show you the best tips to better organize your Outlook appointments.

Tip 1: Invite participants to an Outlook appointment

If you are planning a meeting, you can invite the desired participants directly via the Outlook appointment created. To do this, proceed as follows:

1. Switch to the Outlook calendar view and open a new appointment with the "New appointment" button.
2. You can now leave a message to the participants in the text field, which will then appear in the email invitation.
3. In the "Start" menu, click on "Invite participants" under "Participants".
4. Enter the email addresses of all participants.
5. Check the time and date again and click on "Send".
6. If you subsequently change the time, date or the participants, you can send the information to all participants again or only to the new participants.

Tip 2: Share the calendar without private appointments

To make it easier to plan appointments with your colleagues, you should share your calendars with each other.

1. In the calendar view you will find a list of your calendars ("My calendars") on the left. Right click on the calendar you want to share.
2. Under the item "Share", choose "Share Calendar".
3. An email opens with the sharing options. Now enter the email addresses of all colleagues who should have access to your calendar. At the same time, you can also request that your colleagues' calendars be released.
4. Under "Details" you can determine how much the invitees can see from your calendar. For example, the "Only availability" option shows only the blocked appointments without further information about the respective meeting.
5. If necessary, add an information text to your invitation and click on "Send".

Tip 3: Create Outlook series appointments

For regular meetings, you can also create series of appointments in Outlook, for example for weekly meetings with the team:

1. In the appointment view in the "Start" menu under "Options", select the "Series type" button.
2. Now define the time of the appointment for the series.
3. Under "Series samples" you define the rhythm in which the appointment should take place, for example weekly, monthly or annually.
4. Under "Series duration" you can define a start date on which the appointment takes place for the first time, as well as the number of repetitions.

The tip shown refers to Microsoft Outlook Professional Plus 2013 in connection with a Microsoft Exchange Server. In other versions, the menu items can vary. In further practical tips, we explain how you can export your Outlook calendar to another e-mail program or how you can delete old calendar entries.