Copilot can reschedule conflicting events in Outlook

Hi, Insiders! I’m Julia Foran, a Principal Product Manager on the Microsoft Time and Places team. I’m excited to share with you a new Microsoft 365 Copilot capability in new Outlook for Windows and Outlook for the web that can help you manage conflicting meetings and appointments in your busy calendar.

Copilot can reschedule conflicting events in Outlook

You can now have Copilot in Outlook reschedule personal appointments and one-on-one meetings if a conflicting event arises that takes priority.

Imagine you have a recurring check-in meeting, but it doesn’t have to be at the exact same time each week. Just ask Copilot to manage the meeting: It will keep an eye on your calendar and reschedule the event if you schedule or accept another meeting at the same time.

This feature offers numerous benefits:

• Resolve conflicts fast: You can easily fix overlapping meetings and avoid double-booking.
• Save time: Managing your schedule no longer requires manual intervention.
• Improve productivity and collaboration: Copilot provides seamless scheduling and a well-organized calendar.
• Remain in control: You decide the dates and times that are acceptable if Copilot needs to reschedule for you, and you can check what Copilot has rescheduled in the Outlook notifications pane and change your settings at any time.

How it works

1. Open new Outlook for Windows or Outlook for the web.
2. Select New > Event to create an event or a series, or open an existing event or series.
3. Toggle on If conflicts arise, let Copilot reschedule this event.
4. Under Acceptable times, select the day(s) and timeframe(s) you’re available to find the best alternatives if Copilot needs to reschedule the event or series for you.

NOTE: This step is optional, but you’ll get better results if you choose specific days and times.

Tips and tricks

• Copilot will automatically reschedule your event based on your acceptable days and times only if:
  • You accept a new event that occurs at the same time.
  • Schedule or reschedule a new event to occur at the same time.
• Only events with status of Busy or Out of office will be considered when evaluating conflicts. This means that if there’s a conflict on your calendar with an event that has automatic rescheduling with Copilot turned on, but your status for the conflicting meeting is set to Tentative, Copilot won’t reschedule it.

Known limitations

• This feature does not yet support delegates creating or updating meetings on shared calendars.
• If you create a series and automatic rescheduling with Copilot is turned off, you can’t turn it on for a single instance of the series later. If you create a new series and turn on automatic rescheduling with Copilot, the option can be turned off for a single instance later, but you can’t change your acceptable day(s) and time(s) for a single instance.
• For more information on this feature, visit our Support page. 

Availability

This feature is rolling out to Teams, Outlook for the web, and new Outlook for Windows (learn more) users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot Enterprise license.

Feedback

Tell us what you think of this feature by going to Help > Feedback in Outlook. You can also send feedback on a specific meeting by selecting the thumbs up or down button on the update that appears in your Outlook notifications pane (learn more).

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