Shared calendar only showing busy or free despite having full edit capabilities

Question

I have a shared calendar with my family. Today the calendar instead of showing what the events are show free or busy. I access my calendar using the web and the app on my iphone. I have tried clearing the cache from both my laptop and phone, removing the app from my iphone. I have removed the calendar and had another family member share the calendar with me. When I do this, I will see the events, but when I look at my calendar a few minutes later is has reverted to free or busy. Is there anything else I can do?

Answer 1

Hi everyone,

Thank you for sharing your updates. I have noticed more recent reports on the forum about the same behavior, where shared Outlook.com calendars suddenly show only Free/Busy information even when the calendar was previously shared with edit or full-detail access.

Since this is affecting multiple users and also happens in Outlook.com on the web, it may not be caused by a local app cache or an individual device setting. As fellow users on this public forum, I cannot check or escalate calendar service status from the account side.

At this point, I suggest submitting feedback directly to Outlook so the Outlook team can collect similar reports:

1. In Outlook.com, select the Help icon.
2. Scroll down and select Feedback.
3. Describe that shared Outlook.com calendars only show Free/Busy despite edit or full-detail permission.

You can also submit or upvote similar feedback in the Outlook Feedback Portal.

1. Sign in with your Microsoft account  
2. Click the blue "Send Feedback" button on the right side of the page to open the form  
3. Fill in the title, platform, category, and description  
4. Select "Yes" to allow contact, then click Send     

Please avoid including full email addresses or personal details in screenshots. I hope this helps make the reports easier for the Outlook team to review.

Answer 2

As of June 16, 2026, my shared calendar is working correctly again in that it shows event details instead of free / busy. I made no changes so I assume Microsoft applied a patch.

Answer 3

For those of you having the issue, this isn’t something you’ve done; it’s clearly a change Microsoft has made to their system - let’s call it what it is; a bug. This started happing on June 10, and no amount of settings changes has resolved the issue, neither on my (calendar sharer’s) nor my family’s (calendar sharee’s) part.

I hope MS fixes this.

Answer 4

Hi,

this is a global issue - please check also german forum https://learn.microsoft.com/de-de/answers/questions/5917441/geteilter-outlook-kalender-zeigt-nur-noch-gebucht

Can microsoft please look into this internally?

Thanks

Answer 5

Hi Tara Maloney,

I understand that your shared family calendar is now showing only Free/Busy instead of the actual event details, and that this happens in both Outlook on the web and the Outlook app on your iPhone. Since you have already cleared cache, reinstalled the app, and removed/re-added the shared calendar, this is less likely to be only a local device cache issue.

Please note that this is a user-to-user forum, so contributors here cannot check or reset the sharing status of an Outlook.com calendar from the account side. However, this behavior is commonly related to the permission level set by the calendar owner.

Please ask the family member who owns the calendar to check the sharing permission again from Outlook.com:

1. Sign in to Outlook.com on the web.
2. Open Calendar.
3. Under My calendars, right-select the shared family calendar.
4. Select Sharing and permissions.
5. Remove your account from the sharing list.
6. Add your account again and set the permission to "Can view all details" or "Can edit", not "Can view when I’m busy".
7. After the invitation is sent, accept the new sharing invitation from your Outlook account.

For reference, Microsoft’s calendar sharing article explains that "Can view when I’m busy only shows availability", while "Can view all details" allows the shared user to see the event details: Share an Outlook calendar as view-only with others.

One more thing to check: if some events were marked as Private, Outlook may still show only the time for those specific events, even when the calendar is shared. If all events are affected and the permission is already set to "Can view all details" or "Can edit", the sharing state may need to be checked from the Outlook.com support side.

1. Go to Outlook.com and sign in.  
2. Click the Help icon (question mark) in the top right corner.  
3. In the Help pane that opens, type a brief description of your issue (e.g., "cannot receive emails"), then press Enter.   
4. Scroll down the page until you see "Still need help?", click Yes.   
5. Select "Chat with a support agent in your web browser."  
6. Review the description of your issue and confirm your email address (ensure it's an email you can access).  
7. Click Confirm to create the service request and then Start chat to connect with an agent.  
8. The screen will indicate that your request has been submitted and the system is connecting you to Outlook.com live chat support, which may take a moment to load.  

I hope this helps clarify the next place to check.

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