New Outlook doesn't work!

Question

I am a delegate for an executive. I cannot manage her calendar efficiently like I can in Classic Outlook. Meeting requests come through and it won't show conflicts or availability for the meeting request date and time. I have to go into the calendar, check the meeting date and time, then go and accept or decline the meeting.

I also cannot edit with a response. I NEED this feature so I can let meeting organizer know why my executive can't attend or why it's tentative.

I've gone back to using Classic Outlook since it works how I need to do my job.

Answer 1

Hi @Manning, Charlotte, 

Thank you very much for sharing your experience regarding managing your executive’s calendar in New Outlook. I appreciate your detailed feedback, and I understand how critical these workflows are for your role. 
I'd like to provide the following information: 

A - Why this is happening 

In New Outlook, delegate availability no longer shows automatically inside meeting invitations and the inline “Edit response before sending” option is not supported meaning you must open the full event form to add a note because New Outlook has not yet reached full feature parity with Classic Outlook and Microsoft is still addressing these gaps. 

B - Recommended workarounds 

In the meantime, here are my recommended workarounds, please follow the steps below: 

1/ Send a response with a note: 

• Double‑click the meeting invitation > choose Accept/Tentative/Decline > add your message in the event form.

2/ Continue using Classic Outlook if needed: 

• If these delegate‑level functions are essential to your workflow, Classic Outlook remains the more complete option at this time. 

C - Submit Feedback to Microsoft 

As a forum moderator, I hope you understand that I don’t have the ability to modify or escalate product issues directly. However, I strongly recommend submitting your feedback through the Outlook (new) · Community. This is the most effective way to ensure your voice reaches the product team and can be considered for future improvements.  

Once you've submitted your feedback, feel free to share the link here in the comments. I’ll be happy to upvote it to help bring more visibility.   

If you are unable to submit feedback from your side, please let me know and I will be happy to submit it on your behalf.      

Additionally, since many other users have expressed similar concerns but may not know where to submit feedback, if my response has helped you better understand the situation and guided you toward a possible next step, please mark it as the "Accepted Answer". Your action will help pin this post to the top, making it easier for others in the community who are experiencing the same issue to find your feedback and support it.    

I hope this information is helpful. Should you have any further questions or need additional assistance, feel free to reach out.   

Thank you again for your time and for raising this important usability concern. 

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Answer 2

In new Outlook, delegate functionality is currently focused on Mail and Calendar basics and does not yet match all Classic Outlook delegate features.

For calendar delegation in Outlook on the web/new Outlook, delegates can:

• Receive meeting requests and updates in their Inbox on behalf of the executive.
• Respond Yes/Maybe/No (or Accept/Tentative/Decline) so the executive’s calendar shows Busy/Free correctly.
• Choose whether to notify the organizer; in new Outlook this is the Email organizer / Notify organizer option.
• Open an existing meeting on the executive’s calendar and edit or cancel it; updates are sent “on behalf of” the executive.

Limitations relevant to this scenario:

• The documentation does not describe automatic conflict/availability indicators for the executive’s calendar inside the meeting request window when acting as a delegate in new Outlook.
• The ability to “edit with a response” is available only by opening the calendar event and sending an update or cancellation with a message; there is no separate inline “edit with response” flow described for new Outlook.
• Some delegate and sharing capabilities (especially beyond core Mail/Calendar) are explicitly missing in new Outlook and require Classic Outlook, as seen with Tasks/Contacts delegation.

Practical workarounds based on current behavior:

1. Continue using Classic Outlook for advanced delegate workflows (conflict checking and rich response editing) where it works as required.
2. In new Outlook/on the web, when a request arrives:
   • Open the executive’s calendar in a separate window or side‑by‑side view to manually check conflicts.
   • Respond Yes/Maybe/No and use the message box to explain why the executive can’t attend or is tentative.
   • If the meeting is already on the calendar and needs changes, open the event from the executive’s calendar, edit the time/details, and send an update with an explanatory note.

If these gaps block day‑to‑day work, staying on Classic Outlook for now is the supported way to retain the full delegate experience until feature parity improves.

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References:

• Manage someone else's calendar in Outlook on the web
• New Outlook tips for executive admins and delegates
• Share and access a calendar with edit or delegate permissions in Outlook
• View other people's To Do/ Task List - Microsoft Q&A