We are rolling out a feature update that enables shared calendars to sync to mobile phones. This update will make it possible to sync all your Office365 shared calendars to your mobile phone for any permission level (view, edit, or delegate permissions). In addition, you can now share a calendar or accept shared calendar invitations from Outlook on iOS and Android. Existing shared calendars will not be upgraded as part of this change, and they will continue to sync only to Outlook on the web, Windows, and Mac. Only shared calendars that are accepted after these changes are released will sync to mobile phones. The shared calendar will only sync to mobile phones if: The calendar is shared between users who are both hosted in Exchange Online The calendar is accepted from a sharing invitation using Outlook on the web, iOS, or Android We'll be gradually rolling this update starting on 9/18 and rollout will be completed by 9/22. You can find more details about shared calendar improvements at the article located here.

Hi Andrew, John, & Jason, Thanks for your feedback! To answer the questions: Support article link: Good catch on that link. Sorry about that -- it's been updated to point to this support article. Shared mailboxes Yes, it works for shared mailboxes as well. You can share the calendar from any Outlook application, as long as you send a sharing invitation so that the recipient can accept from Outlook on the web, iOS, or Android. This applies to user, resource, and shared mailboxes. From Outlook on the web: Login to your own mailbox first, and then click your picture in the top right to view Account options. There will be an option to "Open another mailbox". Enter the shared mailbox name to login to the shared mailbox via OWA. After you're logged into the shared mailbox, you can navigate to the Calendar module & share the calendar to yourself or to other users. Then you (or the other users) just need to accept the invitation from Outlook on the web, iOS, or Android. From Outlook on Windows and Mac: These clients only offer an option to send a sharing invitation for read-only permissions. Accepting invitation sent from Windows/Mac will work, but people have asked how to grant edit permissions for a shared mailbox calendar (since it doesn't currently send an invitation)? A workaround would be to (1) send a sharing invitation from Outlook on Windows/Mac for read-only permissions, (2) update the calendar permissions in the Folder Permissions dialog (that doesn't send an email) to Editor, (3) have the recipient accept the calendar from the original sharing invitation. Even though the original invitation was for read-only permissions, the calendar will be added as editable because that is the effective permissions.

Does this cover Shared Mailboxes as well? Total game changer on the mobile side.

Will this be available for a hybrid Exchange environment?

So this is a great update and long over due, however I can not help but feel that this feels clunky. The fact that you can not use previously shared calendars and you have to accept it from the web or iOS is odd. Is this some sort of desktop issue this will be fixed at some point with Windows and Mac?

Does this include the ability to open a colleague's calendar? This has been a huge gap in the apps for years - really hope it can be added for Outlook for iOS/Android: go to settings, open shared calendar, type in the name of the individuals name and if you have permissions, it opens - just like on Outlook. My users have been asking for this for a long time.To echo comments below -shouldn't have to be reliant on this invitation exclusively as a result of this new update, but based on the existing permissions that have (in some cases) been in place for years, just relegated to desktop versions of Office (or a web browser).Thanks!

Shared calendars now sync to mobile phones

117 Replies

Laide_Olayinka
Copper Contributor
Sep 27, 2020
Quite innovative ideas I must say
billfigures
Copper Contributor
Sep 27, 2020
Julia Foran

Hi Julia....

It's been a while. We exchanged some messages a couple of years ago re: Outlook365 cross tenant "instant sync". At the time it seemed that this was just "on the horizon". I was wondering about any progress.

I also sent you a note regarding two issues with writing O365 calendar data with MSGraph. One issue was the inability of Exchange to handle a high "change" load. The other was a OWA UI issue where an all day event written by MSgraph would show on 2 days instead of the day it was scheduled. This goes away after you refresh the screen but it generates a lot of confusion (and customer support calls).

Here is the link to the message I sent and your response. https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/office-365-calendar/shared-calendars-now-sync-to-mobile-phones/m-p/163850#M100

Finally, I was wondering if we'll ever see the Outlook Scheduling assistant be able to deal with more than the user's main calendar. I saw where the ability to include personal calendars was released however I have customers who need to look at multiple calendars using this function. I've written a Power Automate script to move "other calendar" data into a user's main calendar when there are changes but it's basically a hack to get around this issue and isn't all that easy to deploy.

I'd appreciate it if you get back to me on some of these items.

BTW, nice summary video for new calendaring feature for Ignite2020

Regards

Bill Figures
RandallM
Copper Contributor
Jul 24, 2019
Hi Julia Foran
We're able to share a calendar with other Office365 users in our organization.
The updates sync readily between desktop Outlook 365 where we can view and edit, however, on Outlook for iOS, we can only see the event as "BUSY" -- we're not able to see the subject or the detailed description in the event from the iOS app. Is this a known limitation? Are we not sharing the individual calendar correctly?
Thanks for any insights here,
Randall
- dimitrispavl1400
  Copper Contributor
  Oct 10, 2019
  HiRandallM Julia Foran i am facing the same issue: Outlook on iOS shows the events as free/busy.
  
  Latest Outlook and iOS version.
  
  Any advice?
  
  Thank you.
  - Julia Foran
    Microsoft
    Oct 14, 2019
    dimitrispavl1400 Do you have permissions to the calendar only, or do you have permissions to the entire mailbox?
- Julia Foran
  Microsoft
  Jul 24, 2019
  RandallM That's not expected behavior; could you shoot me a private message with your email address and I'll follow up further with you.
Don_Nice
Copper Contributor
Mar 21, 2019
Julia Foran
Julia,
How do I delete shared folders in an IOS outlook app on my phone and IPad Pro?

Don
pilot1981
Copper Contributor
Mar 20, 2019
Julia Foran new feature have reached my installation yesterday...only after 2 years: thanks!
mapsjohn
Copper Contributor
Feb 07, 2019
I hate to jump on an old thread but can you clarify what exactly is needed on the mobile device to access the shared calendar?
- Julia Foran
  Microsoft
  Feb 07, 2019
  Hi, you just need to be using Outlook for iOS or Outlook for Android to add or view a shared calendar.
  
  1. From the Outlook app, tap to vie your calendar list.
  2. You'll see an icon in the top-left that is a Calendar+ icon. Tap that.
  3. Click "Add shared calendar".
  
  As long as your mailbox is hosted in Office 365, you can add the calendar of any other user, conference room, or shared mailbox within your organization that is also within Office 365.
  - mapsjohn
    Copper Contributor
    Feb 09, 2019
    Thanks Julia.
    
    This appears to work now with existing shared calendars without having to go through the re-inviting and re-accepting process mentioned in earlier posts.
    
    Is that correct?
Karl Burndorfer
Copper Contributor
Sep 25, 2018
If I have an O365 SharePoint calendar synced with my Outlook account, would this SPO calendar be accessible calendar on the outlook mobile app?
- Julia Foran
  Microsoft
  Sep 28, 2018
  Hi Karl, if you add it as an ICS (internet calendar subscription), it would show up on your mobile apps.
  - Karl Burndorfer
    Copper Contributor
    Sep 28, 2018
    We were aware that one could import an ICS file for a point in time snapshot of the calendar. What we need is an iCal subscription to the SPO calendar. Are you saying there is a way to do this?
    
    What we have are School SPO sites with calendars and Principals with personal outlook calendars.
    Our principals would like to see their school calendars with real time syncing to avoid situations like double booking themselves.
Ralph Gruisen
Copper Contributor
Sep 17, 2018
Why can't we just see the shared mailbox and shared calendar in the Outlook mobile app just like in the Outlook desktop app without the hassle? I seriously don't understand.

This workaround helps me to have a working shared calendar on my Iphone, but on my desktop I now have double calendar notifications because my shared calendar shows up twice.
- Julia Foran
  Microsoft
  Sep 17, 2018
  Hi Ralph, in order to have the calendars show up in mobile, we have to migrate them from the old model of calendar sharing to the new model of calendar sharing. We are currently in an "opt in" period until all Outlook client work is completed, and then we will begin the service-side migrations that will automatically upgrade users and have the behavior you describe above (the calendars just start showing up). If you want to see it sooner, you can learn more about the work in progress here: aka.ms/sharedcalendars
  - sami_fi
    Copper Contributor
    Dec 19, 2018
    Hi,
    When will you automatically upgrade all shared calendars to new spec?
    
    Julia Foran wrote:
    Hi Ralph, in order to have the calendars show up in mobile, we have to migrate them from the old model of calendar sharing to the new model of calendar sharing. We are currently in an "opt in" period until all Outlook client work is completed, and then we will begin the service-side migrations that will automatically upgrade users and have the behavior you describe above (the calendars just start showing up). If you want to see it sooner, you can learn more about the work in progress here: aka.ms/sharedcalendars
Deleted
Apr 25, 2018
When I click on the link in the OP it doesn't resolve for me https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=858731

I'm looking to fully understand how this is implemented, but I'm not finding more information from Microsoft, even just basic how-tos or KBs on these. I have a feeling I just don't know where to look.
- Julia Foran
  Microsoft
  Apr 26, 2018
  Hi Trevor, there are some issues with these links in the Safari browser. Here's the destination URL that should provide you the details you're looking for: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/calendar-sharing-in-office-365-b576ecc3-0945-4d75-85f1-5efafb8a37b4?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US
Sage Kincaid
Copper Contributor
Apr 17, 2018
Does this apply to shared resource calendar's as well? My current app that I use, OWA for iOS, says that it will be retired on May 15 so I have switched to Outlook for iOS, but I cannot see a shared resource calendar that am owner of (there are four owners so we can all edit the calendar).

Any advice you have would be welcome. Thank you!

Sage
- Julia Foran
  Microsoft
  Apr 24, 2018
  Yes, it applies to shared resource calendars as well. You'll need to login & share the resource calendar directly to you (or the admin can do it via a cmdlet), and then you'll need to accept that sharing invitation from Outlook on the web, iOS, or Android.
  
  We are investigating simpler ways to get this setup that doesn't require re-sharing the calendar -- stay tuned!
  - Alex Janes
    Copper Contributor
    Sep 14, 2018
    Julia Foran wrote:
    Yes, it applies to shared resource calendars as well. You'll need to login & share the resource calendar directly to you (or the admin can do it via a cmdlet), and then you'll need to accept that sharing invitation from Outlook on the web, iOS, or Android.
    
    We are investigating simpler ways to get this setup that doesn't require re-sharing the calendar -- stay tuned!
    You mention there is a cmdlet to send a sharing invitation. What is that cmdlet?

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Shared calendars now sync to mobile phones

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