Delegate Access error

Question

Whenever a user in our organization tries to add users or make changes to the Delegate Access settings in Outlook, he gets the error, "Delegate Access settings cannot be saved, cannot activate free/busy information". I've already tried reloading the outlook profile and had the user sign out and sign in.

Answer 1

Dear Kylneedshelp,

Good day! Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community.

I understand that you're having issues making changes to the delegate access settings in Outlook. Can you kindly let me know of the following to narrow down the issue. Thanks in advance.

1. If there is an already existing delegate list, do you have any user who isn't part of the organization anymore? If so, please remove this user from the list.
2. Have you tried using the /cleanroamedprefs switch command-line switch to start Outlook? If not, please try and check if you get this error message. (Exit outlook >press windows key + R)

In the meantime, you may have to reconfigure settings that are related to the delegates. You can do so using Exchange PowerShell. However, you must have the administrator permission to run the PowerShell cmdlets to delete the free/busy configuration on the mailbox, and then add or recreate any necessary delegate permissions. You may reach out to your Exchange or M365 admin if you do not have the permissions.

1. After connecting to Exchange Online PowerShell, Connect to Exchange Online PowerShell | Microsoft Learn
2. Run the following cmdlet to export the current Calendar folder permissions, which may be needed to recreate any delegate permission settings:

    Get-MailboxFolderPermission -Identity <alias>:\Calendar
   

3. Run the following PowerShell cmdlet against the target mailbox: Remove-MailboxFolderPermission -Identity <alias>:\Calendar -ResetDelegateUserCollection #Note: See Remove-MailboxFolderPermission for more details on the ResetDelegateUserCollection parameter. The ResetDelegateUserCollection switch forces the removal of the LocalFreeBusy or the PR_FREEBUSY_ENTRYIDs files in case of corruption. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.
4. Run the following cmdlet one or more times, as needed, to add or recreate any necessary delegate permissions: Add-MailboxFolderPermission -Identity <alias>:\Calendar -User <delegate alias> -SharingPermissionFlag Delegate

You can also use the MFCMAPI tool to delete the PR_FREEBUSY_ENTRYIDS files. Please refer to this doc for detailed steps. Issues in Outlook when you try to configure free/busy information or when you try to delegate information - Outlook | Microsoft Learn

In case you have any further queries or need any clarification, please let me know.

Looking forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Ashraf | Microsoft Community Moderator