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Outlook for Teams: shared mailboxes and scheduling

Step 8 of 9 in Library

Next in your path: 13.5.3 Teams for Projects: planning and meeting practice

What you'll be able to do
  • Share a calendar at the right level, from "busy only" to full details, and stop sharing cleanly.
  • Open other people's calendars and compare them side by side.
  • Give someone edit or delegate access, and know the difference between Send on Behalf and Send As.
  • Use a shared mailbox: add it, send from it and know its limits.
  • Choose between a shared mailbox and a Microsoft 365 group for a team.
  • Find a time for many people with a Scheduling poll, book rooms, and plan across time zones.

Outlook comes in several versions: new Outlook for Windows, classic Outlook for Windows, Outlook on the web, Outlook.com and Outlook for Mac. Menus differ between them, and many team features need a work or school account (Microsoft 365 or Exchange Online). Each lesson says which version a step is for. If a button is missing, your admin may have turned the feature off.

Words in this course 29Open the Vocabulary Hall
01

Share your calendar at the right level

In simple words

Sharing your calendar is like letting friends look through your window. You decide how much they see: just that the light is on (busy), the name of what you are doing, or everything on the table.

Before this course: Outlook Productivity: calendar, rules and tasks (course 13.4.2). You already create meetings, use the Scheduling Assistant, colour categories, rules, flags, My Day, Quick Steps and automatic replies. Now you will make Outlook work for a whole team.

Key facts
  • New Outlook for Windows: select Calendar, then on the Home tab select Share calendar and pick the calendar. Type a name in Enter an email address or contact name, use the drop-down next to the name to choose the access level, then select Share.
  • Outlook on the web and Outlook.com use the same path: Home > Share calendar.
  • Classic Outlook for Windows: in the Calendar, select Share Calendar on the Home tab, choose the calendar, then in Calendar Properties select Add, choose the person, select OK, pick their detail level and select OK.
  • The person gets an email invitation and can add your calendar after they accept it.
  • Publish a calendar (new Outlook and web): View > Calendar settings > Calendar > Shared calendars, then under Publish a calendar pick the calendar and permissions, select Publish and copy the HTML or ICS link. Select Unpublish to stop.
View level (all three versions)What the other person sees
Can view when I'm busyOnly the times you are busy, no details
Can view titles and locationsBusy times plus the title and location of each item
Can view all detailsAll item details, but they cannot change anything
  • In classic Outlook, the error "This calendar can't be shared" can appear when the address is not valid, belongs to a Microsoft 365 Group, or belongs to someone outside your organization. If Share Calendar is greyed out, your admin has probably blocked calendar sharing.
Step by step
  1. Decide who needs to see your calendar and why. Write it down in one line per person.
  2. Open Calendar and select Share calendar (Share Calendar in classic Outlook).
  3. Add the first person.
  4. Choose the lowest level that does the job. For "when can we meet?", Can view when I'm busy is enough.
  5. Select Share (or OK in classic Outlook).
  6. Repeat for the next person, choosing their level separately.
  7. Check: each person has the level you wrote down, and nobody has more than they need.
Watch on YouTube
How to share and delegate your calendar in new OutlookMicrosoft Copilot · YouTube · youtube.com

Videos by other creators on YouTube, for reference. They are not made by or affiliated with The Future Market.

LESSON 01Share your calendar at the right level
LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:00
Read the video script
[Host] "Sharing your calendar is not all or nothing."
[Screen: Home > Share calendar > access drop-down] "Open Share calendar, add a person, and choose a level."
[Text on screen: Busy only · Titles and locations · All details] "Busy only. Titles and locations. Or all details, with no changes allowed."
[Host] "Pick the smallest level that does the job. You can always give more later."
Try it now

Make a sharing plan for three people (for example a classmate, a team leader and a family member). For each, write the view level you would choose and one sentence explaining why. If you have a work or school account, share at the lowest level with one person.

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Outlook for Teams: shared mailboxes and scheduling" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "Share your calendar at the right level".

What the lesson teaches:
- New Outlook for Windows: select Calendar, then on the Home tab select Share calendar and pick the calendar. Type a name in Enter an email address or contact name, use the drop-down next to the name to choose the access level, then select Share.
- Outlook on the web and Outlook.com use the same path: Home > Share calendar.
- Classic Outlook for Windows: in the Calendar, select Share Calendar on the Home tab, choose the calendar, then in Calendar Properties select Add, choose the person, select OK, pick their detail level and select OK.
- The person gets an email invitation and can add your calendar after they accept it.
- Publish a calendar (new Outlook and web): View > Calendar settings > Calendar > Shared calendars, then under Publish a calendar pick the calendar and permissions, select Publish and copy the HTML or ICS link. Select Unpublish to stop.
- View level (all three versions) - What the other person sees
- Can view when I'm busy - Only the times you are busy, no details

The exercise I'm working on:
Make a sharing plan for three people (for example a classmate, a team leader and a family member). For each, write the view level you would choose and one sentence explaining why. If you have a work or school account, share at the lowest level with one person.

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.
I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "Share your calendar at the right level" from the course "Outlook for Teams: shared mailboxes and scheduling".

Here's what the lesson says:
Sharing your calendar is like letting friends look through your window. You decide how much they see: just that the light is on (busy), the name of what you are doing, or everything on the table.

The activity:
Make a sharing plan for three people (for example a classmate, a team leader and a family member). For each, write the view level you would choose and one sentence explaining why. If you have a work or school account, share at the lowest level with one person.

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.
Open Claude
Sources
My notes
02

Open, compare and stop sharing calendars

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

03

Edit and delegate access

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

04

Shared mailboxes

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05

Shared mailbox or Microsoft 365 group?

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

06

Find a time for many people: Scheduling poll and rooms

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

07

Scheduling across time zones and a team calendar agreement

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

++

Final project

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

??

Quiz

  1. Which view level shows only when you are busy, with no details?

  2. Can someone with Can view all details change your events?

  3. Where do shared calendars appear in new Outlook?

  4. What can a delegate do that an editor cannot?

  5. Can you give delegate access to someone outside your organization?

  6. A message sent "on behalf" shows how many names next to From?

  7. Who creates a shared mailbox?

  8. How much can a shared mailbox store without a licence?

  9. What does Microsoft suggest instead of a shared mailbox for more than 25 users or outside people?

  10. How many time options does Microsoft recommend in a Scheduling poll?

  11. How do people outside your organization vote in a Scheduling poll?

  12. In which calendar views can you see a second time zone?

EX

Final exam

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.

CE

Certificate

This lesson is part of full access: every course and every level for one payment.