Outlook for Mac calendar entry reply not possible with message as buttons are not visible.

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Outlook for Mac calendar entry reply not possible with message as buttons are not visible.

Roland 20

When I try to reply to a calendar entry in Outlook for Mac (Version 16.106 (26020821), macOS Tahoe Version 26.2 (25C56)), I can't add a comment to the organizer of the meeting anymore because of what looks like an UI bug for several versions right now.

In case that was already reported, I could not find it anywhere.

This issue is very annoying in daily business, as you have to always write separate mails to add context.

Screenshot 2026-02-16 at 09.19.35

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Answer 1

Matthew-P 11,475 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Roland,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Forum!

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

I completely understand how frustrating this UI issue must be for you. It is indeed very annoying to have your daily workflow disrupted by having to send separate emails just to add context to a meeting response.

Based on my testing in a virtual environment with Outlook version 16.106 (26020821) on macOS, everything appears to be working correctly on my end, and the action buttons remain visible when the "Email organiser" toggle is On.

User's image

Since I cannot reproduce this on my side, this might be an isolated glitch on your specific instance. Could you please try the following troubleshooting steps?

1. Check for Updates: First, please double-check to ensure that your Outlook client is updated to the absolute latest version available.

2. Clear the Cache: Sometimes, cached data can cause UI display errors. Please try clearing the cache to remove any potentially corrupted data: Clear the cache in Outlook for Mac

3. Re-add your Account: If the issue persists, try removing your email account and adding it back. This refreshes the configuration and often fixes strange UI behaviors. 

While troubleshooting, if you need an immediate solution to avoid the "double-email" hassle, I suggest temporarily switching to Legacy Outlook.

In the Legacy interface, the Accept/Tentative/Decline buttons feature a dropdown arrow (Respond with Comments) as shown in the image below. This will allow you to add your message directly within the response, keeping your workflow smooth in the short term. User's image

I hope this helps, at least partially. Please give the steps above a try and let me know how things go. If you have any concerns, questions, or if I misunderstood anything, please feel free to reach out anytime.

Best regards.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

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Roland 20 Reputation points

2026-02-16T09:48:38.69+00:00

Many thanks for the fast reply Matthew! The Account reset did not work, tried this already several times and solved other issues in the past like that. ~~It really took re-adding the account and closing the software in between.~~ I did not think an UI issue was linked to the account – thanks for pointing out to that.
EDIT: actually only worked once, now it is back immediately. I am using the same software version as you do without a newer one publicly available for me. I am using a corporate level Exchange account, in case that helps.
Matthew-P 11,475 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-16T12:11:14.77+00:00
Hi Roland,

Thanks for the update. Since the problem returned so quickly, it seems like a specific configuration file or cache might be regenerating incorrectly.

Could you please try these advanced troubleshooting steps to perform a deeper clean?

1. Manually Delete Profile Cache: Ensure Outlook is completely closed. Open Finder, press Cmd+Shift+G, paste the path below, and delete the contents inside the Caches folder: ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/Outlook/Outlook 15 Profiles/Main Profile/Caches

2. Reset Outlook Preferences: Sometimes the preference file responsible for window states causes display glitches.

Quit Outlook.

Open Terminal and run this command: defaults delete com.microsoft.Outlook

Relaunch Outlook.

(Note: This will reset your view settings, but your data remains safe).

3. Isolate the Environment: If possible, please try logging into your account on another Mac or create a new User Profile on your current Mac. This will help us determine if the issue is tied specifically to your device's current OS environment or if it follows your Exchange account everywhere.

If these steps don't permanently resolve it, please continue using Legacy Outlook as we discussed, or try using Outlook on the Web. The web version often mirrors the New Outlook interface but bypasses local macOS rendering issues.

Hope this helps partially.
Roland 20 Reputation points

2026-02-16T12:59:41.9133333+00:00
Hi Matthew,

I was able to clear the caches and delete the settings as described, but it did not resolve the issue. Investigating further why it worked immediately after fresh account reset once, I tried out several new calendar entries and found a pattern: after resetting my account, my Copilot integration needs to read an invite for a moment before suggestion "Prepare with Copilot".

What I could reproduce:

1 Meeting opened 1st time without "Prepare with Copilot" => Buttons visible

2 Meeting opened 2nd time:
(sometimes happens on 1st opening already)

Copilot detects agenda and people relevant for preparation

"Prepare with Copilot" gets dynamically injected as new line in UI

Buttons remain visible as dynamic injection pushes UI elements below down

3 Meeting opened 3rd time:

"Prepare with Copilot" is loaded directly

Instead of the "Meeting Details" being pushed down again, it takes space from above

RSVP message field height reduced, Buttons hidden

This looks very much like a Copilot integration issue.
Matthew-P 11,475 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-16T14:28:28.04+00:00
Hi Roland,

I truly appreciate the time and effort you put into investigating this. Pinpointing the "Prepare with Copilot" injection as the cause makes perfect sense given the behavior you described.

Since we know Copilot is the culprit consuming the UI space, could you try these two specific checks?

1. Instead of viewing the invitation in the reading pane, try double-clicking the email invitation in your Inbox to open it in a separate window (Pop-out). Does having a dedicated window give enough vertical space for the buttons to appear, even with Copilot loaded?

2. If you don't need the AI assistance immediately, try turning it off to see if the UI restores itself.

Navigate to Settings > General > Copilot.

Uncheck "Turn on Copilot" and restart the app.

As a forum support moderator, I do not have direct access to modify the application's source code or UI design. Based on your detailed screenshots, this is clearly a CSS/Layout conflict where the dynamic Copilot element is not pushing the container down correctly, but rather overlapping the input field.

Besides the workarounds we discussed (Legacy Outlook or Web), I strongly encourage you to report this directly to the engineering team so they can patch this layout issue:

Go to Help > Give Feedback within the app and attach those exact screenshots you shared here.

Alternatively, you can post on the Microsoft Feedback Portal.

The more detailed reports and upvotes they receive, the faster the product development team will prioritize a UI fix in future updates.

I hope the insights and troubleshooting steps we discussed throughout this thread will be helpful for your daily workflow in the meantime.

Thank you again for sharing these valuable insights with the community!
Roland 20 Reputation points

2026-02-16T15:24:00.2233333+00:00

On 1.: great tip, this actually works. I was always opening going to RSVP directly via righ-click on a calendar-entry and "Respond with Comment". Opening the full invitation and then hitting RSVP seems to trigger a fresh load of those UI elements, avoiding displacements.
On 2.: Turning off Copilot in the settings panel works as well to avoid the issue.

As both are just workarounds, I opened this feedback as suggested:

https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/c42b1b6b-4a0b-f111-83da-6045bdb860a8
Roland 20 Reputation points

2026-02-16T15:26:37.9466667+00:00

I can confirm both suggestions as viable workarounds. Wrote more details and added a link to the feedback portal post, but the system here deleted my comment as "violation of your Code of Conduct" – no idea what triggered it, but I am not writing it again.
Matthew-P 11,475 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-02-18T07:00:44.9166667+00:00

Hi Roland,

I am glad to hear that! It is great news that populating the full invitation triggers a fresh UI load and allows the buttons to render correctly.

Thank you for taking the time to submit the feedback to the engineering team. Hopefully, a permanent fix for the Copilot UI displacement will be included in an upcoming update.

If you still have any concerns or questions, please feel free to reach out anytime. I'm just here to assist in whatever way works best.

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Outlook for Mac calendar entry reply not possible with message as buttons are not visible.

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