Microsoft Outlook: Managing Your Calendar

You can use your Outlook calendar to create appointments and events as well as schedule meetings. Appointments are activities that you schedule in your calendar that do not involve inviting other people or reserving resources whereas other people are invited to meetingsIt is important to keep your calendar up to date so that others know your availability prior to sending you meeting requests.

This knowledge article demonstrates how to create appointments and schedule meetings.


Creating an Appointment:

Step 1

From your Inbox, click New Items and choose Appointment.

Title: Microsoft Outlook; Description: Image of New items button and options

OR

Select the time on your calendar then right-click and choose New Appointment.

Title: Microsoft Outlook; Description: image of Calendar right-click menu options

A blank appointment appears.

Title: Microsoft Outlook; Description: image of New Appointment

Step 2

Complete the following fields: Subject, Location, Start Time and End Time.  Note: Make sure the Show As option is set to Busy or Out of Office if necessary. If this appointment lasts all day, select the All day event check box.

Title: Microsoft Outlook; Description: image of new appointment

Step 3

Click Save & Close.

Title: Microsoft Outlook; Description: image of Save & Close button

The new appointment appears on your calendar.

Title: Microsoft Outlook; Description: image of calendar with new appointment

 

Scheduling a Meeting:

Step 1

From your Inbox, click New Items and choose Meeting.

Title: Microsoft Outlook; Description: image of New Items button and options

OR

Select the time on your calendar then right-click and choose New Meeting Request.

Title: Microsoft Outlook; Description: image of Calendar right-click menu options

A blank meeting request appears.

 

Step 2

Complete the following fields: Subject, Start Time and End Time. You can type a name in the To... field to access recent people you've emailed OR you can click the To... button to access the college's Global Address List.  Note: Make sure the Show As option is set to Busy or Out of Office if necessary. If this meeting lasts all day, select the All day event check box.

If you're reserving a conference or meeting room, make sure to invite it as an attendee (see Step 3 below). DO NOT type in the conference or meeting room in the location field as that doesn't reserve the room.

Title: Microsoft Outlook; Description: image of a new blank meeting request

Step 3

In the Search field, type the name(s) of those you wish to invite. Select the name from the list and click Required. Note: If someone is not required to attend the meeting, click Optional. For more information on marking attendees as optional, refer to the knowledge article entitled How to Mark a Meeting Attendee as Optional

Type the name of the conference or meeting room you wish to reserve and click Required or Resources. When finished, click OK. 

Title: Microsoft Outlook; Description: image of Select Attendees and Resources dialog

Step 4

Notice that the attendee(s) have been entered in the To... field and the requested conference room has been automatically added to the Location field.  To confirm availability, click Scheduling Assistant. The Scheduling Assistant will find a time that works for everyone who is invited to the meeting. Note: This is the reason why it is important to keep your calendar up to date.

Title: Microsoft Outlook; Description: image of Scheduling Assistant

The Scheduling Assistant appears. According to the Scheduling Assistant, neither attendee is available at the scheduled date and time.

Title: Microsoft Outlook; Description: image of attendee availability

If you need to find a conference room for a meeting, you can use the Room Finder feature. For more information on using the Room Finder feature, refer to the knowledge article entitled How to Find and Reserve a Conference Room for a Meeting.

Step 5

Click the Options drop-down menu.

Title: Microsoft Outlook; Description: image of Options button

Step 6

Highlight AutoPick and click Required People.

Title: Microsoft Outlook; Description: image of AutoPick options

The AutoPick feature finds and selects the next available time for the attendees. Note: This feature is extremely helpful if you have a number of attendees.

Title: Microsoft Outlook; Description: image of new available time

Step 7

Click Appointment to show the appointment/meeting screen.

Title: Microsoft Outlook; Description: image of Appointment button

Step 8

Type the body of the meeting request if necessary then click Send.

Title: Microsoft Outlook; Description: image of Send button

Note: Once the meeting request has been sent, you will receive a notification from the conference room either accepting or tentatively accepting the meeting request. 

Details

Article ID: 60540
Created
Thu 8/16/18 12:31 PM
Modified
Thu 3/31/22 3:14 PM