Outlook 2016 shared calendar doesn't show appointments

Question

I'm using Outlook 2016 on my mac connecting to office 365.

I can add shared calendars fine, and most calendars work absolutely without an issue for calendars that have permissions set to User = Default, Role = Reviewer.

But on some calendars where the Properties are set to User = Default, Role = Free/Busy, time, subject, location (i.e. the owner of the calendar doesn't want me to see the notes on the meeting), I can't see any appointments at all. It simply shows a blank calendar.

When I use Outlook 2013 on Windows with the same account, I can see the calendar entries for that use just fine.

Does anyone have a pointer on how to make Outlook 2016 respect the privacy settings of the shared calendar but still display the appointments as it should?

Answer 1

Outlook 2011 users must be granted "Reviewer" access to another person's calendar to be able open that calendar and view details. If a user sets permission levels only to allow free/busy or free/busy limited details, an Outlook 2011 user will not be able to see any details of the shared calendar.

PC users must grant "full details" to the Outlook 2011 user. Mac users must grant the "Reviewer" role to Outlook 2011 users.

Basic free/busy time viewing is only viewable via the Outlook 2011 Scheduling Assistant feature, or via OWA. (Note: Outlook 2011 users who have a "Reviewer" role may also be able to select another users name within the Send As / From drop down menu. Unless you have explicit permissions to Create Items within the selected users mailbox, Exchange will not allow you to send on the behalf of that person).

Above is true for Outlook 2016

Answer 2

Empty appointments in a shared calendar could be caused by events that are marked as private from one of your colleagues. So it's a privacy feature in Outlook.

Answer 3

I'm seeing a similar problem in my organization. From what I can tell, the situation for us appears to be as follows:

• A user created a shared calendar.
• Another user became the "moderator" of the shared calendar. (All members have edit rights)
• The original user who created the folder's account has been removed.

PROBLEM: New users who are added will see the appointments added to the calendar up to that point, but any new appointments added by any user will not be seen by the new user[s].

So, in the current state, users who were granted access to the calendar before the user was removed are still able to use and sync the calendar. Any new user added to the calender will get a copy of the calendar in the state they were added to it, but then any new events will not sync to them after they've been added.

It seems like the earlier users maintain some sync between themselves, but new users can't accurately access the calendar.

Comparing OWA and Outlook versions helped me realize that must be what's going on in our case.

SOLUTION: In my case, I'll be looking into creating a calendar in either sharepoint or a shared mailbox.