Outlook.com deprecating subscribed .ics / iCal calendars

Question

So apparently Microsoft is deprecating subscribed .ics / iCal calendars from outlook.com. This is actually the second Microsoft support person to tell me this over the past month as I've been trying to get support for 2 subscribed .ics calendars that suddenly aren't syncing to my personal outlook.com calendar following the initial import, for example whenever the event organizers modify existing events or adds new events. Instead of trying to fix the issues, this is what they're telling me.

Not surprisingly, subscribed .ics calendars work completely fine in Google Calendar and interestingly they work even with my paid Microsoft 365 business account. Sure I can use my Microsoft 365 business account to subscribe to these, which actually isn't ideal. But the bigger problem is for others in my family who rely on a number of these subscribed .ics calendars that they're subscribed to for hobbies and sports activities that their coaches and team managers update constantly, which now will never update after the initial import.

Is there an official statement about Microsoft removing subscribed ics iCal calendar capability? Completely ridiculous if it's in fact true!

Answer 1

Hi jny977,

We have not heard a reply from you in the last 48 hours confirming if any of the suggestions have been helpful or not.

Feel free to reply to the thread if the latest suggestions have fixed this issue for you.

Respectfully,

 

Glenn Rue

Consumer M365 Forum Moderator

Microsoft Community

Thanks, yes this is now working again for the 3 subscribed calendars I'm a part of. Thanks for the updates and for resolving, glad to see a fix is in place.

Answer 2

Any update to this? Again, the listed "workaround" added here Fixes or workarounds for recent issues on Outlook.com (microsoft.com)

is not actually a workaround. It's only doing a new import of the calendar as opposed to being a subscription. That's a calendar import, not the previous subscription feature.

Please fix that incorrect information falsely listing it as a "workaround" and please provide information when a fix will be in place. It was mentioned almost 2 weeks ago this was being fixed as a priority. I believe tech media has also been on top of this. Please advise.

Hi jny977,

Greetings from the Microsoft Community Forum! Please accept our warmest regards and sincerest hope that all is well.

So it has been over 72 hours since my last first reply to your thread informing you of the rollout of the fix for this issue of yors and unfortunately we have not heard a reply from you confirming if it was helpful or not.

We want to make sure that we can deliver the support you need, and we know this issue you have in this thread may not be resolved yet. As such, we want to share the following support resources where you can get helpful troubleshooting articles, tips, solutions, videos and more.

1. Submit/create new thread in Microsoft Community using this link for new queries via https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/newthread
2. Office Self-Help Support site via www.Office.com/Support
3. Learn how to use the new Office on our Microsoft 365 Training site via https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/Training
4. Get the latest, know the newest and most improved Office features in Microsoft 365 via https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/what-s-new-in-microsoft-365-95c8d81d-08ba-42c1-914f-bca4603e1426
5. For users with active M365 subscription, you can get real-time ‘Phone or Chat Support’ with Microsoft Global English Support at http://Support.Microsoft.com/en-us/contactus

We highly recommend though that you submit/create new thread using the first link above if the issue is still unresolved or you have a different or new query since we will now close this thread.

Thanks again for choosing Microsoft! We’re here when you need us.

Sincerely,

Glenn Rue

Consumer M365 Forum Moderator

Microsoft Community

Answer 3

Hi jny977,

We have not heard a reply from you in the last 48 hours confirming if any of the suggestions have been helpful or not.

Feel free to reply to the thread if the latest suggestions have fixed this issue for you.

Respectfully,

Glenn Rue

Consumer M365 Forum Moderator

Microsoft Community