Shared Outlook Calender category colors won't show on others' calender

Question

I created a calendar under my email account and added colour-coordinated Categories but when I share the calendar, the other person only sees their personal Categories. The person I shared the calendar with is also listed as "Owner" under the permissions, so I don't understand why they don't have the same categories as I do in the calendar.

Answer 1

Hi Taneeta,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Forum!

Have a good day and I hope you're doing well!

I understand why this can feel confusing when someone has Owner permissions on a shared calendar, it often seems like everything should look identical, including color categories.

In reality, Outlook handles categories individually for each user. Every Microsoft 365/Exchange account has its own “Master Category List.” When you create and assign a color to a category (for example: “Project A” = red), that information only exists in your personal list.

Others, even with Owner rights on your shared calendar, still use their own category list. Outlook currently does not sync category colors across accounts, so the colors you set won’t automatically appear the same on their side.

After testing in my own environment, I observed the same behavior you described: category colors are personal settings and do not transfer to other users’ calendars, even if they have full permissions. This is how Outlook is designed to work, not a configuration or permission issue.

I hope this helps clarify how it works. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to let me know.

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Answer 2

In Outlook, color categories are specific to each user's account. When you share a calendar, the categories you have created do not transfer to the other user's calendar. Instead, the recipient will see their own categories. This is a limitation of the color categories feature in Outlook.

To ensure that the other person can categorize items similarly, you may need to communicate the category names and colors you are using so they can create matching categories in their own account.

If you want to use color categories effectively across shared calendars, consider using a consistent naming convention for categories that both users can apply on their respective accounts.