Sync outlook calendar

Question

The scheduler is showing times that are marked as busy in my outlook calendar.

Answer 1

Hi @Diane LaSalle, 

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum. 

Thank you for taking the time to describe the behavior and for checking your calendar on your side first. Based on the details you shared that the scheduler is offering available time slots even when those periods are marked as Busy on your Outlook calendar in Classic Outlook.  

This situation may occur when the Free and Busy availability data published by Exchange becomes unsynchronized with the locally cached calendar information in Outlook. In addition, outdated Offline Address Book data or legacy delegate and permission entries within the Calendar folder can prevent your Busy status from being accurately reflected during scheduling. Consequently, the Scheduling Assistant may present those time slots as available even though your calendar shows them as occupied. 

To help ensure that your calendar availability is published correctly and interpreted accurately by the Scheduling Assistant, please follow the steps below, as these will suit your situation: 

1/ First, refresh Free and Busy publishing and rebuild the availability cache 

• Open Classic Outlook, then select File, choose Options, and go to the Calendar tab. 
• Scroll to Free and Busy Options and confirm that the publish location is set to https://outlook.office365.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx 
• Close Outlook completely, then navigate to C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook 
• Delete the Offline Address Book folder to clear locally cached availability data. 
• Reopen Outlook and allow it to download updated availability information from Exchange. 

2/ Next, rebuild hidden Calendar availability metadata using Outlook command switches 

• Close Outlook completely. 
• Press Windows and R on your keyboard. 
• Run the following commands one at a time, ensuring Outlook is closed before each entry: 

outlook.exe /cleanfreebusy  
outlook.exe /cleanviews  
outlook.exe /resetfolders 

• After completing all commands, reopen Outlook and test the Scheduling Assistant again. 

3/ Finally, validate Calendar permissions and remove legacy delegate entries 

• In Outlook, right click your Calendar, select Properties, then open the Permissions tab. 
• Confirm that the Default permission level is set to Free and Busy time or higher. 
• Go to File, select Account Settings, then choose Delegate Access. 
• Remove any delegate entries that are no longer in use or are not recognized. 
• Restart Outlook to allow Exchange to recalculate how your Busy status is shared with scheduling services. 

For your reference, you may review the following Microsoft documentation related to calendar sharing and Free and Busy availability: 

• About delegates: Allow someone to manage your mail and calendar in Outlook - Microsoft Support 
• Troubleshoot free/busy issues in Exchange hybrid - Exchange | Microsoft Learn 

I hope this response has helped address your question and clarify the behavior you're experiencing. Please feel free to reply if you have any further questions, I would be happy to assist further.   

Thank you for your patience and your understanding. I look forward to continuing the conversation. 

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Answer 2

In Outlook, the time shown to others in schedulers (Scheduling Assistant, free/busy views, or integrated tools) is controlled by the “Show As” status of calendar items.

If the scheduler is offering times that should be busy, check that those events are not marked as Free or Working Elsewhere instead of Busy or Out of Office:

1. Open the Calendar in Outlook.
2. Locate an event that should block time.
3. Right‑click the event.
4. Select Show As.
5. Change it to Busy or Out of Office.

Events marked as Free (or, in some mixed environments, Working Elsewhere) may not appear as blocked time to others using Scheduling Assistant, so schedulers can propose those slots even though they appear on the calendar.

If others still see slashed lines or cannot see correct free/busy, they may be affected by the known Working Elsewhere issue. In that case, change affected items from Working Elsewhere to Free or Busy:

1. In Outlook, go to Calendar.
2. On the View menu, select Change View > List.
3. Right‑click any column header and choose Field Chooser.
4. Change the drop‑down to All appointment fields.
5. Drag the SHOW TIME AS field into the column header row.
6. Sort or filter by SHOW TIME AS and change any Working Elsewhere items to Busy or Free as needed.

This ensures the scheduler respects those times as unavailable.

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References:

• Add your out of office event to the Outlook calendar of others
• Free/Busy shows slashed lines in Scheduling Assistant