The fastest way to share a calendar in Outlook

To share a calendar in Outlook, you right-click the calendar name in the left sidebar, select Share, and enter the email address of the person you want to share with. Outlook then sends them an invitation. Once they accept, they can view your calendar in their own Outlook — and you can set whether they see only free/busy time, titles and times, or full details of each event.

The process differs slightly depending on whether you use Outlook on the web, Outlook desktop, or Outlook on mobile. Desktop is the most straightforward. Web-based Outlook has the same features but the menu is in a different place. Mobile apps let you share but with fewer permission options.

Sharing a calendar is not the same as creating a shared calendar that multiple people own together. If you want a calendar that you and your team both add events to, you will need to create a shared mailbox calendar instead — that is a separate process covered later in this guide.

Key Takeaways

  • In Outlook desktop, right-click a calendar name, choose Share, and enter the recipient's email address to send them a sharing invitation.
  • You can set permission levels: Free/Busy only (they see only whether you are busy), Limited Details (they see event titles and times), or Full Details (they see everything).
  • The person you share with must accept the invitation before the calendar appears in their Outlook, and they can decline or remove it at any time.
  • Shared calendars appear in the recipient's sidebar under "Other calendars" and can be color-coded or hidden without affecting the original.
  • If you want multiple people to add and edit events on the same calendar, you need a shared mailbox calendar, not a personal calendar share.

Sharing a calendar in Outlook desktop

Open Outlook and look at the left sidebar where your calendar names appear. Right-click the calendar you want to share — usually this is "Calendar" if you have only one. A menu appears with several options. Click Share or Sharing Permissions (the exact wording depends on your Outlook version).

A dialog box opens. Type the email address of the person you want to share with in the field provided. You can add multiple people by entering each address and clicking Add. Below each name, you will see a dropdown menu showing the permission level. Click it to choose what they can see: Can view when I'm busy (they see only blocks of time, no event names), Can view titles and times (they see what you are doing but not details), or Can view all details (they see everything on that calendar).

Once you have entered all the people and set their permissions, click Send or OK. Outlook sends each person an email invitation. They must open that email and click Accept to add your calendar to their Outlook. Until they do, they cannot see it.

Sharing a calendar in Outlook on the web

Log into Outlook.com or your organization's web version of Outlook. On the left sidebar, find the calendar you want to share. Click the three dots (menu icon) next to the calendar name, then select Share calendar.

A panel opens on the right side of the screen. Type the email address of the person you want to share with. Below the address field, you will see a dropdown showing permission options. Select the level of access you want them to have. Then click Share.

Outlook sends an invitation email to that person. They will see a link in the email that lets them add your calendar to their own Outlook. The calendar will not appear in their account until they click that link and confirm.

What permissions mean and when to use each one

Can view when I'm busy shows only blocks of time with no event names or details. Use this when you want someone to see your availability for scheduling purposes but do not want them to know what you are actually doing. A manager might use this to see when a direct report is free, without seeing the names of internal meetings.

Can view titles and times shows the event name and the time slot, but not the description, location, or attendee list. This is the middle ground — useful for team members who need to know what you are working on and when, but do not need every detail. A colleague coordinating a project might use this level.

Can view all details shows everything: event names, times, locations, descriptions, and who else is attending. Use this only with people who genuinely need the full picture — a close collaborator, an executive assistant, or a team lead. Once someone has this level of access, they can see private events too, so be intentional about who gets it.

You can change permission levels at any time. Go back to the sharing settings, find the person's name, and click the dropdown to select a different level. The change takes effect when ready.

How the recipient sees and manages a shared calendar

When someone accepts your sharing invitation, your calendar appears in their Outlook sidebar under a section called Other calendars or People's calendars, depending on their Outlook version. Your name appears next to the calendar. They can click the eye icon next to it to hide or show it without removing access.

They can also right-click your calendar name and choose to color-code it, rename it in their view, or remove it entirely. Removing it from their sidebar does not affect your calendar or your sharing settings — they can always re-add it later by asking you to send the invitation again.

The recipient cannot edit events on a calendar you have shared with them, even if you gave them full details access. Sharing a personal calendar is view-only. If you want them to be able to add or edit events, you need to set up a shared mailbox calendar instead.

Creating a shared mailbox calendar for team editing

If multiple people need to add and edit events on the same calendar, a personal calendar share will not work. Instead, you need a shared mailbox — a mailbox that belongs to a team or department rather than one person, with its own calendar that everyone can edit.

Creating a shared mailbox requires administrator access in your organization. If you are in a Microsoft 365 environment, an admin goes to the Microsoft 365 admin center, creates a new shared mailbox, and adds team members to it. Once the mailbox is set up, each team member can open it in Outlook and add events to its calendar. Everyone sees the same calendar and can edit each other's events.

For smaller teams or personal use, an alternative is to create a calendar in a shared Microsoft Teams channel. Team members can add events directly in the channel calendar, and everyone with access to the channel can see and edit them. This works well if your team already uses Teams for communication.

Troubleshooting shared calendars that are not working

If you sent a sharing invitation but the person says they never received it, check that you entered their email address correctly. Outlook does not always catch typos. Ask them to check their spam folder, or try sending the invitation again with a corrected address.

If they accepted the invitation but the calendar is not showing up in their Outlook, ask them to close and reopen Outlook. Sometimes the new calendar does not appear until they refresh. If that does not work, they can try removing the calendar from their sidebar and asking you to send the invitation again.

If you change the permission level but they still see the old level of detail, wait a few minutes — Outlook can be slow to sync permission changes. If it has been more than 10 minutes, have them close and reopen Outlook.

If your organization uses Exchange Server rather than Microsoft 365, the sharing process is the same, but the invitation may take longer to arrive — up to an hour in some cases. This is normal and not a sign something went wrong.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I share my calendar with someone outside my organization?

Yes, but it depends on your organization's settings. If your company allows external sharing, you can enter any email address. If external sharing is blocked, Outlook will show an error. Contact your IT department to ask whether external calendar sharing is turned on. Even if it is, the person outside your organization must have a Microsoft account to accept the invitation.

What happens if I delete an event after I have shared my calendar?

The event disappears from the shared view when ready. The person you shared with will no longer see that event on your calendar. They do not get a notification that you deleted it — it just vanishes from their view.

Can I share a calendar with a group email address instead of individual people?

In some organizations, yes. If your company has set up distribution lists or Microsoft 365 groups, you can enter the group email address and everyone in that group will receive the invitation. However, this does not work with all group types — ask your IT department whether your groups support calendar sharing.

How do I stop sharing my calendar with someone?

Go back to the sharing settings for that calendar, find the person's name, and click Remove or Delete. They will no longer see your calendar in their Outlook. You do not need to notify them — the access straightforward ends. If you want to share again later, you can send a new invitation.

Can someone see my calendar if they are not in my contacts?

No. You must explicitly share your calendar with them by entering their email address. straightforward knowing your email address is not enough for someone to see your calendar. The only exception is if your organization has a global address list and a manager has permission to see all calendars — but this is a setting your IT department controls, not something you do through sharing.