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Why are declined meetings deleted on Outlook for Mac?

Anonymous
2025-06-04T02:04:55+00:00

If you decline an invite, its deleted from your calendar with completely no way to undo it.

I've been using Outlook on Mac (always updated) for a couple years now and it seems like this has never been resolved. Why is this so difficult to understand that users may sometimes accidentally decline an invite, or simply a change of mind? All you need is a switch in the setting to not delete a declined invite and there is no such thing on Mac???

Outlook | MacOS | New Outlook for Mac | For home

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-07-01T15:06:30+00:00

    Hi Tina,

    The screenshot you posted looks to be from Windows. Can you show me how to access this setting on a Mac, as I cannot find it?

    Thanks,

    Christian Watson

    I echo Christian's frustration. Declining a meeting invite doesn't mean that I don't still want to see that meeting on my calendar - when will this be a feature on Mac and how can we move that timeline up?

    5 people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2025-06-23T15:02:08+00:00

    Hi Tina,

    The screenshot you posted looks to be from Windows. Can you show me how to access this setting on a Mac, as I cannot find it?

    Thanks,

    Christian Watson

    3 people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Reported
    Anonymous
    2025-06-04T03:47:03+00:00

    Hello Song J Y, 

    Good day to you! 
    Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Community! To help you understand more, I will explain the reason first. 

    In Outlook for Mac, declined meetings are deleted from the calendar to keep it uncluttered, reflecting only confirmed or tentative events. This design, rooted in Outlook’s Exchange/Office 365 protocols, moves declined invitations to the Deleted Items folder and removes them from the calendar to avoid showing events you won’t attend. 

     I will suggest you some possible workarounds: 

    1.Keep Declined Meetings Visible:

    If the customer is using New Outlook for Mac, they can enable the option to show declining meetings on their calendar. 

    • Open Outlook Calendar.
    • Go to View > Calendar Settings.
    • In the Settings dialog, select Calendar > Events and Invitations.
    • Under Save declined events, turn on Show declined events on your calendar.
    • Click Save.

     

    2. Recover from Deleted Items: 

    • If you declined to attend a meeting, check your Deleted Items folder in Outlook.
    • Right-click the invitation and select “Change Response” → “Accept” to restore it

    Once again, I’m truly sorry for the frustration you’ve experienced with this issue. As a forum moderator, I can share insights based on my knowledge and experience, but unfortunately, Outlook for Mac currently lacks a built-in option to retain declining meetings on the calendar. This is a limitation that needs to be addressed by the development team. 

    I encourage you to submit feedback through the Microsoft Community Hub or Outlook’s Help > Suggest a Feature to request this functionality. I’ll also escalate this issue to ensure it reaches the development team promptly. 

    If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out.    

    Best Regards,      

    Tina L - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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