Bookings meetings sync with iPhone, but not with MacBook

Question

tl;dr — I have an issue where Microsoft Bookings reservations are synced from my institutional email address to Apple Calendar on my iPhone, but not to Apple Calendar on my Mac. This is extremely annoying.

Hardware and software

I have a 2019 Intel MacBook Pro running macOS Ventura 13.2.1 and an iPhone 13 running iOS 16.3.1. I use Spark as my email client and Apple Calendar as my calendar client, on both my Mac and my iPhone.

The problem

Through my institutional Microsoft Outlook email, I use Microsoft Bookings to schedule short meetings with my students. I'm notified via email whenever someone makes a reservation. These Bookings meetings show up on my online Outlook calendar and on my iPhone's Apple Calendar, but they do not show up on my MacBook's Apple Calendar. Bookings meetings are sent to my default "Calendar" calendar on Outlook and cannot be sent to a different calendar (at least based on my attempts!) — the Outlook default "Calendar" is synced with both my iPhone and MacBook. (While writing this, I got a Calendar notification for an upcoming meeting on my iPhone, but not on my MacBook! I don't want to miss meetings because I don't have my phone on me.)

What I've tried

I've tried enabling/disabling the default "Calendar" calendar on Outlook, enabling/disabling my institutional email on my MacBook, signing in/out of my institutional email address on my MacBook, and gone through many many pages of Outlook settings. This page won't let me upload images (they keep failing, not sure why), but I have the appropriate calendars selected in all three locations.

Any help would be greatly appreciated — this issue has been bugging me for months!

Answer 1

I have the same issue, including that i'm using it for students to schedule meetings.
After trying all the solutions i could find online and not fixing it, i ended up using Calendly instead.
Got to say is easier, a friendlier interface and is more customizable.
I integrates perfectly with outlook calendar and apps on iphone and mac.

Answer 2

Dear Anthony,

It seems like the issue is with the synchronization of your institutional Microsoft Outlook email with your MacBook's Apple Calendar. Here are a few suggestions you could try:

Check your calendar settings: Make sure that your MacBook's Apple Calendar is set to sync with your institutional Microsoft Outlook email. Open Apple Calendar on your MacBook, go to Preferences > Accounts > your institutional email > Account Information > Refresh Calendars. Check that the "Refresh Calendars" box is checked and the frequency is set to your preference.

Check your internet connection: Ensure that your MacBook has a stable internet connection. If the internet connection is poor, it might cause syncing issues.

Update your software: Ensure that both your MacBook and iPhone are running on the latest software updates. Software updates often fix syncing issues.

Check if you have any conflicting settings: Sometimes, if you have conflicting calendar settings, it can cause issues with syncing. Check if you have any third-party calendar apps installed on your MacBook that might be conflicting with the Apple Calendar.

Try adding your institutional email account as a separate account on your MacBook: Try adding your institutional email account as a separate account on your MacBook's Apple Mail app. This could help in ensuring that the calendar events sync properly.

As shown here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365.... Bookings integrates with Outlook to optimize your staff’s calendar. It’s possible that your MacBook’s Apple Calendar is not synchronized with Outlook properly. You may want to check if your Exchange account is added and enabled on your MacBook’s Calendar app. (there is a discussion similar to your problem on Apple's Community: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253787531 *) You may also want to contact Apple support: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/calendar/...*

I would also refer you to the response of a Moderator of this forum. Qian Zhang, here: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/fo....

Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.

Best Regards,

George A.

Answer 3

I have exactly the same issue.

Interestingly it also doesn't work with Fantastical on macOS.

Answer 4

I have the same issue. Please help. Tried deleting accounts and set them up again. Nothing seems to work.

Answer 5

Me too! I cannot see appointments made over bookings. They are synced with outlook on my mac but not with the calendar app. I can see them on my iphone and anywhere else - just not in the calendars app on macos.

I also deleted the account and added it back. I changed the synchronization settings from push to time based. nothing works.