Outlook Calendar keyboard navigation is unintuitive!

Question

When navigating the calendar with arrow keys, pressing Right Arrow on the last day of a displayed week should move to the first day of the following week, and Left Arrow on the first day should move to the last day of the previous week.

The current behavior requires users to learn separate shortcuts for moving between days and moving between weeks. This is not discoverable and does not match the way many users expect grid-based calendars to work. I've already seen other comments from users complaining about this (yes, I searched the topic because it was so frustrating). This was one of the most common features I used in outlook classic.

Please implement continuous day-to-day navigation across week boundaries or providing a setting that allows users to choose this behavior.

Answer 1

Hi Katherine, 

Thank you for sharing your experience and for taking the time to explain how this impacts your workflow. 

I completely understand how inconvenient it can be when keyboard navigation does not behave as expected, especially for a feature you used frequently in Outlook classic.  

After reviewing your description carefully, I agree that this type of continuous navigation would be very useful, especially for users who rely heavily on keyboard shortcuts to manage their calendar efficiently. A smoother day-to-day navigation experience across week boundaries could help reduce extra steps, make the calendar easier to use, and provide a more natural experience for users who are familiar with grid-based navigation. 

New Outlook is still actively evolving, and Microsoft continues to improve the experience based on customer feedback. I appreciate you raising this, especially since you mentioned that other users have shared similar concerns. 

• In the meantime, if this behavior is important to your daily workflow, you may consider using Outlook classic as a workaround where needed, since it better supports the navigation experience you are familiar with. 
• As an alternative, New Outlook also supports some keyboard shortcuts for Calendar navigation, although I understand these do not fully match the continuous arrow-key behavior you are requesting. For example:
  • Ctrl + 2 to go directly to Calendar.
  • Ctrl + Alt + Right Arrow or Ctrl + Alt + Left Arrow in Day view to move to the next or previous day.
  • Alt + Up Arrow or Alt + Down Arrow in Week or Work Week view to move between weeks.
  • Alt + Page Up or Alt + Page Down in Month view to move between months.

For your reference, you may find this Microsoft article helpful: Keyboard shortcuts for Outlook | Microsoft Support

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, please feel free to share them in the comment below. I'm very happy to help.   

Thank you again for your patience and understanding. 

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