Deleting a calendared entry

Question

I have access to my boss' personal calendar. I am trying to remove a calendared event from it since the date for that has been moved. It is not allowing me to cancel it. I am getting an error message of "You cannot make changes to contents of this read-only folder".

Answer 1

Dear @Michael Berryman,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Forum!

Thank you for reporting this issue. The error message “You cannot make changes to the contents of this read-only folder” may be expected behavior in Outlook and is usually related to calendar permissions or how the shared calendar is accessed. Here are my insights and recommendations for you to check in this case:

Even if you can see your boss’s calendar, Outlook will treat it as read-only unless one of the following is true:

• You are the meeting organizer, or
• Your boss has granted you Edit or Delegate permissions on their calendar.

If the calendar is shared with view-only permissions, Outlook will block deleting or modifying events, especially from the desktop or mobile apps. This is expected behavior in Microsoft Outlook. Please kindly review the different Outlook calendar permission levels in this helpful article here: https://businesstechplanet.com/a-complete-guide-to-outlook-calendar-permission-levels/

Therefore, I recommend trying these things (in order):

1.Confirm permissions with your boss:

Please ask your boss to verify how the calendar is shared. To delete or change events, the permission must be "Can edit" or "Delegate". You can consult the article above.

2.Use Outlook on the web (PC browser):

As a workaround, you can try opening the calendar in Outlook on the web. Edits or deletions may work there even when the Outlook desktop or mobile app shows the calendar as read-only.

3.Enable "Shared Calendar Improvements" (Outlook on PC):

Please try this method in a PC to enable "Shared Calendar Improvements", then restart Outlook. This may resolve many read-only issues with shared calendars, you can see more detailed instructions in here: https://forums.slipstick.com/threads/98760-unable-to-make-changes-to-an-existing-calendar-entry/

Note: This information is provided as a convenience to you. These sites are not controlled by Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot make any representations regarding the quality, safety, or suitability of any software or information found there. Please ensure that you fully understand the risks before using any suggestions from the above links.

If the issue persists on PC, please try the following suggestions and check if these can make any difference;

• To check whether Add-ins lead to this issue, try to open outlook in safe mode referring to Open Outlook in safe mode and check whether you will meet the issue there.
• Repair Office application: Repair your Outlook application on PC: You can refer to  Repair an Office application and then check the result.
• Create a new Outlook profile: You can try to create a new one according to Create an Outlook profile. And please do not delete the old one. If nothing works, you can change back the older profile.
• If your outlook is not the latest, please update to the latest.
• Additionally, if you are using Outlook for Android, please ensure the app is updated to the latest version, as older builds may not fully support shared calendar editing.

Finally, here are some important notes for you:

• If your boss is the meeting organizer, only they can cancel or reschedule the meeting for all attendees unless delegate permissions are explicitly assigned.
• Please let check and confirm:
  • What permission level your boss has granted, and
  • Whether the issue occurs in Outlook on the web versus the Outlook app.

Please let me know how things go on your side as your update can also assist others in the community who may be facing the same issue.

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