Sharing Windows Outlook Calendars with Outlook on Mac

Ok, it is not all that hard to share your Outlook for Windows calendars with Outlook for Mac, but there will always be a few annoyances. With that said let’s get this done!

This is for people with a common Microsoft Exchange account only! This method eliminates setting up individual deligates as described here and here

These instructions are only for sharing an Outlook for Windows calendar with people using the Outlook for Mac App on a Mac computer. When using Outlook for iOS(iPhone, iPad, etc.) or the online version of Outlook, calendars will share without any “extra” steps or help.

Mac users accepting a shared calendar go to Step 3. Windows users sharing calendars continue reading.

Step 1
Enable sharing of Personal calendar

Outlook users on Windows must share their top personel calendar folder with selected Mac Outlook users before other calendars can be shared.

To do this right click on your Main Top Calendar go to Sharing Permissions…

In the Calendar properties dialog box under the permissions tab you need to add the person or persons that you want to share calendars.

Use search or scroll to find the name of the person you want to share your calendar. Select that person and select Add, when you are done adding people, select OK. 

When your back to the permissions tab select the person or persons you have added and adjust their permissions if necessary.  I recommend selecting “Can view when I’m busy” for your top personal Calendar. Select Apply and OK when done.

CORRECTION NOTE ON ABOVE: If the permission setting here is “Can view when I’m busy” when the mac user adds the calendar to Outlook for mac all the categories colors will be white/nothing and very hard to see calendar items. Therefore I recommend using “Can view all details” for the initial permission setting for all people in your Top personal Calendar. Doing this will allow category colors to show in your shards calendar. (although they will NOT match the original shared calendar colors) – It is possable to switch the mac user permissions back after they have loaded the shared calendar, but if they ever have to delete and  re-open the shared calendar the catagory colors will not be available.

NOTE: When “Can view when I’m Busy” or “Can view titles and locations” is selected. People using Outlook on MAC Computers will NOT see any items on your calendar. This is a known issue with Microsoft. Choose one of the other options if you want people to view your calendar while they are using a Mac computer. Again, the online outlook and the moblie app will show calendar items as they should.

NOTE FOR CLAYTON: There is a known issue with Outlook for the Mac where granting someone Free/Busy or Limited Details access to your calendar will not allow the person you are sharing with to see any information on your calendar at all, including Free/Busy. Outlook for Mac users may grant reviewer permissions or higher to colleagues who need access to their calendar information.

WARNING: Every time you change permissions or add a new person Outlook for Windows will send an email to that person informing them. 

Step 2 
Create a custom calendar to share

Below, using Outlook 365 for Windows, I created a custom calendar called ConRoomShare by right-clicking on My Calendars>New Calendar. After creating ConRoomShare I moved it by right-clicking and selecting Move Down until was in my Shared Calendars Group.

Share your new CUSTOM Calendar.

Now you’re ready to share your new custom calendar. You will share it the same way you just shared your Top Personal calendar.

• Right-click the calendar you want to share.
• Choose Sharing Permissions…
• Choose Add..
• Add Users and click OK
• Select Users and adjust permissions. Choose “Can view all details” as a minimum. Select Apply and OK.
  

Step 3
Mac Computer users must do the following to view a shared calendar.

After a Windows user shares a calendar with you and you have to accept the share. Then it will automatically show up on your iOS device and your Outlook Online account.

 To view the shared calendar with Outlook for Mac you must do the following steps. Open Outlook on your Mac computer. Select Open Shared Calendar as shown below. Select the person that sent you the shared calendar by typing their name into the search field. Select their name when it pops up in the list then select Open.

Your Shared Calendar will appear as seen below. If you get one or two popups just choose to allow or continue.

Your permissions for the calendar will determine if you can only view or if you can make changes or add items. You can check and see the permissions that are assigned to you by the person that shared the calendar. Right-click on the calendar and choose permissions.

Choose your name in the Permissions list. You view permissions you have assigned. Only the calendar owner can change permissions.