Shared calendar is showing up on website and mobile app outlook, but not desktop app

Question

Someone shared a calendar with me. On the website, I received the invitation, clicked accept, and it appears in my outlook calendar. I did not click accept on my mobile app, but the calendars showed up in there, because I accepted on the website. This should have been the case for desktop app, but when I go to calendars, there is nothing.

I go to the calendar invite, and instead of it saying click accept, it gives me a message that says "For instructions on how to view shared folders on Microsoft Exchange, see the following article:"

there is a tiny little accept button at the top of this, so I click it and it says accepted. I go to my calendar; it is not there. I go back to the invite, and it no longer says accepted but has reverted back to accept.

I click the link about this Exchange thing, and it tells me to open up a shared calendar manually. I do so, and it asks for a name. I type in the name of the owner of the calendar being shared, but it adds their personal calendar, not the one they shared with me. I tried updating, clearing cashe, and trying a new invite, and nothing is working.

Answer 1

Hi @Elisa Figueroa,

Thank you for reaching out and for sharing the detailed explanation. I can understand how disruptive it is when the shared calendar shows correctly in Outlook on the web and on mobile, but does not appear in New Outlook on the desktop.

To narrow down the cause, I need a few details because shared calendars can behave differently depending on who the calendar belongs to, which calendar was shared (primary versus an additional calendar), and the exact type of sharing invitation.

1. Is the calendar owner in the same Microsoft 365 organization and tenant as you, or if they are in another domain?
2. Did they share their default calendar named Calendar, or an additional calendar they created (for example Team Calendar). This matters because adding a calendar by searching the person can sometimes add only the owner’s primary calendar rather than a specific shared calendar.
3. Please share a screenshot of the left calendar list in Outlook on the web showing where the shared calendar is listed (for example People’s calendars or Shared calendars).
4. Please share a screenshot of the invitation email in New Outlook desktop showing the message that mentions Microsoft Exchange and the Accept area.

Once I have this information, I will be able to provide the most appropriate next steps based on your exact setup.

Thank you for your patience and understanding during the troubleshooting process. I'm looking forward to your response.

Answer 2

In this scenario the shared calendar is correctly visible in Outlook on the web and on mobile, but not in the desktop Outlook client. This matches known issues with shared calendars and how/where invitations are accepted.

Use these steps and workarounds:

1. Accept the sharing invitation only in Outlook on the web or mobile
   • For Microsoft 365 business accounts, accepting a shared Outlook.com or Exchange Online calendar in the desktop Outlook client can fail with a “Something went wrong”–type behavior where the invite appears to toggle between Accepted and Accept.
   • The documented workaround is to accept the invitation from Outlook on the web, iOS, or Android instead of the desktop client.
   • Since the calendar already appears on the web and mobile, keep using those as the authoritative acceptance path.
2. If the invitation was ever accepted in classic desktop Outlook, have the owner re‑share
   • If the Accept button was clicked in Outlook for Windows and it failed, the invitation cannot be re‑accepted from another Outlook app until permissions are reset.
   • Ask the calendar owner to:
     1. Remove sharing permissions for the account from their calendar.
     2. Send a brand‑new sharing invitation.
   • When the new invite arrives, accept it only from Outlook on the web (or iOS/Android). Do not use the desktop client’s Accept button.
3. Ensure the shared calendar is a “modern” shared calendar
   • Only shared calendars that were accepted recently from Outlook on the web, iOS, Android, or Windows 10 Calendar automatically appear on mobile and participate in the newer shared calendar model.
   • If the calendar was shared long ago and then re‑used, ask the owner to remove sharing and share it again so the invitation is fresh, then accept it from web/mobile as above.
4. Do not use “Open a Shared Calendar” with the owner’s name for this case
   • Using Open Shared Calendar and entering the owner’s name will open the owner’s primary calendar, not the specific shared calendar folder that was shared.
   • Rely instead on the sharing invitation flow and the re‑share/accept steps above.

If, after a fresh re‑share and acceptance from Outlook on the web, the calendar still does not appear in the desktop Outlook calendar list, this falls under the known shared calendar issues in Outlook and requires support to investigate the specific mailbox and client build.

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References:

• Known issues with shared calendars in Outlook
• Why does my shared calendar not show up in mobile?
• Outlook for iOS & Android FAQs
• Error when sharing a calendar from Outlook.com personal or home account to an Office 365 business account