Why does Microsoft Outlook calendar send a "Cancellation" Notice when I update the event?

This happens to me as well. Any time I update any calendar invite (new dates/new time/new link/new notes) attendees get an email that has “Cancelled” in the subject line … even though it is not cancelled, and does not disappear from the calendar.

It creates constant chaos and I have taken to including this as the opening sentence in the notes section: UPDATED NOT CANCELLED.

Not only is it frustrating for me and everyone with whom I communicate, but CSuite executives are not interested in hearing, “it’s an outlook glitch” … regardless of the origin of the problem, it is seen as an error on my part – 27 years as a Sr EA/CoS and I end up looking like a rookie every time I have to update an invitation. From an administrative team standpoint, outlook has always been the worst choice in terms of supporting our executives - we never have the access/features and consistency required … and features that do help us disappear whenever there is an update. Please share with the Outlook developers: professional career administrative leaders around the world express this frustration at every conference I have ever attended. I am certain we must be one of the largest communities relying on this software but I have never met anyone in this field who felt heard or supported by MS.

Thank you! Yes, you described the struggles and how I feel when I deal with these Outlook Calendar "glitches". It definitely makes me feel like a Rookie as well, and attendees can get easily annoying or confused. I tried all avenues on seeing if the problem was on my end to change (like to not notify the members of my recent updates), but couldn't find anything that I could do. I don't want to be rude, but it should definitely be taken seriously-- tested, looked into, and fixed by Microsoft.

Hello Jessica,

I have had four admins report the same issue, I still have a case open with Microsoft. What we found when we carried out the script to get calendar diagnostics is that we could see the update sent to new people, and a few people right at the same time got sent a cancellation. It was not all people on the calendar, only a few.

On the case I have open, Microsoft seemed to indicate it was a back end issue.

My users do have the "Turn on shared calendar improvements" - using Office M365.

It was for non reoccurring and reoccurring, it is very random also. The issue affected both the admin's own calendar and then the person they are supporting.

It seems like a glitch in the processing.

When I get more information I am glad to add it but is there any internal research at Microsoft on this?

Thanks!

Diane,

So I received a screenshot from an attendee regarding the event I created. On their end, it obviously shows "Cancelled". When I created this event, I did everything before sending it out (putting all the attendees in, attached 2 documents, and a description). So it is really odd that it would say "Cancelled" to people if I literally didn't even go into the event and edit/update like I did in the past.

The second image is my version and how it looks on my end. And it does not say "Cancelled".

I hope this helps, and let me know if you'd like any more information. Thank you for looking into this.

• Janessa

Hi, Diane.

Thank you for your quick reply. I use Microsoft 365 (web) to create calendar events. Some people don't have Outlook specifically, so would that be why? I might send invitations to a gmail or yahoo account, or county emails. Some people do notify me when it says "Cancelled". And I don't remove any attendees.

Thanks,

Janessa.