Add New Internet Calendar is Greyed Out

Question

I am trying to add my google calendar to my outlook and the option to add new internet calendar is greyed out in Account Settings. Why is the option greyed out and can I fix this so I can add my calendar to Outlook?

Answer 1

Hi @Becky Taillon ,

According to my research and test, the issue appears to be caused by enabling shared calendar improvements. You can turn off it follow the below steps:

In Outlook, select File >Account Settings >Account Settings. 

Select the Microsoft Exchange account and choose Change.... 

Choose More Settings, followed by the Advanced tab.

Unselect the checkbox next to: Turn on shared calendar improvements.

Restart Outlook and check.

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Answer 2

I opened an MS Support case for this issue. The issue I have is that Internet Calendars, when added while the shared improvements are enabled, will be read-only. But if you add one while the improvements are disabled, they will be read+write (I think the writes remain local, but nonetheless it lets users add details into their ICS calendars).

Thankfully for now you can disable the improvements just long enough to add the Internet Calendar(s) the good way, then re-enable the improvements and the read-write ability is maintained.

It's bothersome to me that Microsoft didn't document this change whatsoever. The list of improvements doesn't even mention Internet Calendars. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/shared-calendars-updates-in-outlook-for-windows-7b856d16-840f-41cc-997d-a95dab7a6414 Now New Outlook is out and Internet Calendars are only read-only in there and there's no option to do anything about it.

Microsoft Support gave me this link: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/calendar-sharing-in-microsoft-365-b576ecc3-0945-4d75-85f1-5efafb8a37b4

In my case it got them off the hook from supporting my issue because of the statements in the table in section "Methods for syncing shared calendars". Essentially it describes how they work and supported clients/scenarios. I'm not sure exactly what in my scenario is not fitting, but figure I'd be fighting a losing battle to bother pursuing support any further.

You could say it's a breaking change that didn't get noticed enough to force any meaningful correction out of Microsoft.