How to Create a Shared Calendar in Outlook

To create a shared calendar in Outlook, you make a new blank calendar, then share it with the people you choose and set their permission level. In the new Outlook for Windows and on Outlook.com, you do this from the Home tab in Calendar using Add Calendar to build the calendar and Share calendar to send access. This guide walks through every variant: creating a fresh calendar, sharing an existing one, opening a shared calendar that someone sent you, and using the automatic group calendar that comes with every Microsoft 365 group.

The exact buttons differ slightly between the new Outlook for Windows, classic Outlook, and the Outlook.com web app, so each section below names the labels for the version you're in.

Step 1: Create a new blank calendar in Outlook

A "shared calendar" usually starts as a separate calendar you create for a team, project, or family, kept apart from your personal one. Here's how to create it in each version.

New Outlook for Windows / Outlook.com (web):

1. Open Calendar from the left navigation pane.
2. On the Home tab, below the calendar grid, select Add Calendar.
3. Select Create blank calendar.
4. Enter a name for your new calendar. Under Add to, choose which account or category the calendar belongs to.
5. Select Save.

Classic Outlook for Windows:

1. In Calendar, select the Folder tab.
2. In the New group, select New Calendar.
3. In the Name box, type a name for the calendar.
4. In the Select where to place the folder list, select Calendar, then select OK.
5. The new calendar appears in the Navigation Pane. Select its checkbox to view it.

The calendar now exists but is private to you. Sharing it is the next step.

How to share a calendar in Outlook

Once the calendar exists (or if you simply want to share your default calendar), you invite people and choose how much they can see or do.

New Outlook for Windows / Outlook.com:

1. In Calendar, on the Home tab, select Share calendar.
2. If you have more than one calendar, choose which calendar to share.
3. In the Enter an email address or contact name box, type the person you want to share with. Select their name when it appears, or press Enter.
4. Select the drop-down next to their name and pick a permission level.
5. Select Share.

Permission levels you can grant:

• Can view when I'm busy - shows only free/busy blocks, no event details.
• Can view titles and locations - shows when you're busy plus event titles and locations.
• Can view all details - shows full event information.
• Can edit - lets the person add, change, and delete events.
• Delegate - can edit and also send or respond to meeting invites on your behalf.

On Outlook.com the list is shorter, with Can view all details and Can edit as the main options. Items you mark as private always hide their titles and locations regardless of the permission level. For a deeper breakdown of who can do what, see our guide to Outlook calendar permissions, and if you only need to send a one-off meeting, see how to send a calendar invite in Outlook.

Or skip the manual setup entirely when you just need to drop an event onto a shared calendar: highlight the event text anywhere in your browser, right-click, and the Text to Outlook Calendar extension creates the event for you - dates, times, and locations filled in automatically.

How to add a shared calendar someone sent you

If a colleague shared their calendar with you, you need to add it to your own Outlook to see it. There are two paths, depending on how the share arrived.

Accept an emailed sharing invitation:

1. Open the sharing invitation email in Outlook.
2. Select Accept (or Add this calendar) in the message.
3. The shared calendar appears under Other calendars (or People's calendars) in your calendar list. Select its checkbox to display it.

Add a shared calendar manually (within your organization):

1. In Calendar, on the Home tab, select Add Calendar.
2. Select Add from directory.
3. Choose the account to search from, then type the person's name or email.
4. Select the person, then select Add.

The calendar shows up alongside your own, and how much you can see depends on the permission level the owner granted. If a calendar you added stops updating, our Outlook calendar not syncing guide covers the common fixes.

Group calendars in Microsoft 365

If your team already uses a Microsoft 365 group (the same groups that power Teams and shared mailboxes), you don't have to build a shared calendar from scratch. Every Microsoft 365 group has a shared calendar automatically, and every member can schedule and edit events on it.

To use a group calendar:

1. In Calendar, look in the navigation pane for the Groups section.
2. Expand Groups and select the group whose calendar you want to open.
3. The group calendar opens. Select New event (or New meeting) to add an event.

When you create an event on a group calendar, it's organized by the group, you're added as an attendee, and a copy lands on your personal calendar. Any group member can create, edit, or delete events with no extra permissions beyond group membership. This makes group calendars the simplest option for departments that already live inside Microsoft 365, since there's nothing to share manually.

The trade-off: group calendars are tied to group membership, so they're less flexible than a standalone shared calendar when you want to give a single outside person view-only access. For that, the create-and-share approach from the first two sections is the better fit.

Which method should you use?

• Create a blank calendar and share it when you want a dedicated calendar (project, on-call rota, family schedule) and tight control over who sees what.
• Share your existing calendar when colleagues just need visibility into your schedule.
• Use a Microsoft 365 group calendar when a team already has a group and everyone needs equal edit access.

Whichever route you take, adding individual events is the part you'll repeat most often. Rather than retyping dates and times by hand, you can create a calendar event from an email in Outlook directly, or use the Text to Outlook Calendar extension to turn any highlighted text - an email, a webpage, a message - into an event on your shared or group calendar in one right-click. Dates, times, locations, and descriptions are parsed automatically, so the shared calendar you just built stays current without manual data entry.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a shared calendar and a group calendar in Outlook?

A shared calendar is one you create and then grant specific people access to, with a permission level you control (from view-only to full edit). A Microsoft 365 group calendar is created automatically with every group, and every group member gets equal edit access with no manual sharing. Use a shared calendar for granular control and a group calendar when a whole team needs the same access.

Can I share an Outlook calendar with someone who uses Gmail?

You can send the sharing invitation, but on Outlook.com non-Microsoft users such as Gmail recipients can only accept it using an Outlook.com or Microsoft 365 account. For pure view-only sharing to any email, publish the calendar and send the recipient the ICS or HTML link instead. To keep two calendars in step, see our guide on syncing Outlook with Google Calendar.

How do I give someone edit access to my Outlook calendar?

Open Calendar, select Share calendar on the Home tab, enter the person's email, then choose Can edit (or Delegate, if they also need to manage meeting invites) from the permission drop-down, and select Share. Edit access lets them add, change, and delete events on that calendar.

Why can't I see the shared calendar someone sent me?

First make sure you accepted the sharing invitation; the calendar then appears under Other calendars or People's calendars, and you must tick its checkbox to display it. If you accepted it but it's blank or outdated, the owner may have granted only free/busy permission, or the calendar may need a sync refresh. Restart Outlook or remove and re-add the calendar to force an update.

Can I create a shared calendar in the free Outlook.com web app?

Yes. In Outlook.com, open Calendar, use Add calendar to create a blank calendar, then select Share calendar to invite people. The web app offers Can view all details and Can edit as the main permission options, which is enough for most personal and small-team sharing.