Why isn't iPhone syncing Calendar items with Outlook?

Question

I am trying to set up a new (Verizon) iPhone to sync Contacts and Calender entries with Outlook 2007 on a Windows Vista Ultimate PC. The Contacts sync both ways, and calendar entries created in Outlook sync to the phone, but calendar entries created on the phone don't sync back to Outlook. I only have one calendar in Outlook. How can I get the calendar items created on the iPhone to sync back to Outlook?

Answer 1

The best troubleshooting I have found for this problem is iPhone, iPad, iPod touch: Troubleshooting contact and calendar syncing via USB on Windows(Apple), mainly due to the fact that it explains how to reset sync history in iTunes, a process that reevaluates the contents of both devices and tries to resync them.

Another good little trick is to try a "Replace data on this iPhone" near the bottom of the info tab, that will wipe the specific data set off the iPhone and replace it with the computers, often a good way to get them talking to each other again.

Answer 2

I'll share simple solution that worked for me. My iPod Touch was syncing with calendar entries from Outlook 2007, but Outlook 2007 wasn't syncing with appointments entered on my iPod calender. As iPod Touch has same functionality as iPhone 4, I'm guessing the same resolution would work for iPhone also. Reason for discrepancies, was my default Calender on iPod, was set to a different Calendar than Outlook.

Verify "Calendar" is selected in Outlook 2007 under "My Calendars".
On iPod Touch:- Go to - "Settings"
Select - "Mail, Contacts, Calendars"
Move down to - "Calendar" section
Select - "Default Calendar"
Select - "Calendar" under "From My PC" heading (Blue dot)

Now go back to your iPod calendar and select "List" view. Any appointments that don't have the blue dot will need to be modified, as basically only those with blue dot will sync to Outlook 2007.

To Modify in "List" view:- Tap on appointment
Select - "Edit"
Under "Calendar" select "Calendar" "From My PC"
Select "Done" x2 to return to Event Details
Now you're all set. Simply go to iTunes on your PC and "Sync" once again. All should be in order.

Answer 3

I would check on your iPhone that the events aren't being added to another calendar. In the calendar app when adding an event there is the option called Calendar which lets you select which calendar events are being added to. I would try creating some test events on your iPhone in different calendars if you have multiple. If events are created in a calendar that syncs over the air (i.e. mobileme, gmail, yahoo) those events won't sync via an iTunes tethered sync. Outlook 2007 is supported to sync by iTunes so they should be syncing both ways. Update to the latest version of iTunes and Outlook 2007 if its not already. If that doesn't work, I would try backing up your data in Outlook, then unchecking that selection to sync calendars with outlook in iTunes, sync and remove the data from the phone when prompted, then check the selection to sync the calendars with Outlook again and syncing the info back to the phone. Create some test events and see if events sync then. Hope this helps

Answer 4

http://www.sync-iphone.com/contacts-calendars-email/sync-iphone-with-outlook.html#sync-iphone-with-outlook-two-way

• This is unfortunately a one-way synchronization from Outlook to iPhone. To sync iPhone with Outlook two-way, use Google Calendar Sync and select 2-way as the Sync option
• This procedure works for both Mac and PC
• Your calendars must be Outlook 2003 or above compatible
• Once you complete the above procedure, your iPhone Contacts will synchronize every time you connect your iPhone to your Computer
• In case of any iPhone Contacts synchronization problems, on your iPhone go to Settings->Safari->Clear Cookies and restart the Contacts application (if your iPhone supports multi-tasking, make sure you have actually closed the Contacts app)

If this isn't what you want, then you need to sync with an Exchange server, then you can do it in almost real time over the air.

Answer 5

Maybe this will help someone having some issues syncing "both ways" with outlook/iphone calendars....

Some background:

My boss got a new iPhone 4 and uses Outlook '03. We were having issues getting his calendar items to sync back and forth, as he used his iPhone on the road/at home, and the Outlook '03 in the office.

1. Certain events were syncing back and forth, but others weren't. It was partially syncing "both ways".
2. He created an iCloud account, and set up his calendars to sync through iCloud, but did not install the iCloud Control Panel for Windows (yet).
3. The events that he created on the iPhone were "iCloud home/work" calendar events, as opposed to "PC Calendar events".

So, I went into his iPhone, changed the home/work(green/purple color) back to "PC events (blue). All of the sudden, the events were all syncing both ways. Viola!

So, in final, make sure that with the iPhone 4/4S (iOS5) that you have iCloud set up TOTALLY.

My boss hadn't finished the process of creating his own "iCloud", therefore his iPhone wasn't able to send "iCloud" events to Outlook, because his PC had no clue what to do with iCloud, since the Control Panel wasn't installed.

Now, if you have iCloud control panel set up on your PC/Mac, you should have no problem syncing both ways, but in this case, my boss didn't do his homework on iCloud and the Outlook syncing process.

Answer 6

I recently ran into this same exact issue and, with the help from Sampson @ Apple, we worked thru the issue to resolve. Here is what we found.

In a nutshell: You have a calendar entry, or two or three ..., that are corrupt, in some way, and it/they are affecting all the other items in your calendar syncing properly.

Steps:

Depending on the version of MS Office, the exact menu choices are different.

1. But, either way, you want to creat a New Folder adjacent (not under) the existing "Calendar" and call it by any name you'd like (e.g.: New Calendar).

2. Make sure you set the Folder Contains field to be Calendar Items.

3. Now, go back to your original Calendar folder in OUTLOOK and change the view of your calendar to a List view.

4. Select ALL of the items in that list

5. Right-Click on any of the selected items and drag-n-drop them to your New Calendar folder ... Choose "Move" when given the option of Move or Copy

6. Now, Sync your iPhone

7. Now, create one new appointment in your ORIGINAL CALENDAR folder in OUTLOOK and Sync your iPhone, again.

8. If you see your one new entry, that's a good sign. If not, you're going to have to refer to Apple for more help.

9. So, if your one new entry showed up, go back to your NEW CALENDAR folder, put it in List view format, and select SOME items and MOVE them back to the original CALENDAR folder. Sync the iPhone.

10. Repeat this so long as these items you're moving back to CALENDAR are showing up on the iPhone. At some point you should come across the calendar item(s) that caused this issue.

HINT: Sort the calendar list by Start Date and do NOT copy/move these items back to the CALENDAR folder if they're stale/dead/defunct/moot.