Add, import, and overlay Calendars with SharePoint and Outlook 


Add, import, and overlay Calendars with SharePoint and Outlook 

This document provides instructions on how to:

Add a Calendar to Outlook

This works with the Outlook desktop client. 

Note: this is unsupported in the web version of Outlook and Macs. 

  1. Click into the calendar's name.
  2. Select the Calendar tab > Connect to Outlook.
  3. Accept all the prompts.

Initially, you may not see the calendar in the Outlook client, or it's added to SharePoint Lists on the Email pane, rather than the Calendar pane.

The first time you click on it, it will be added to the Calendar pane. It will be listed under Other Calendars.

You can use it like any other shared calendar in Outlook. Your capabilities will depend on the permissions set on the original SharePoint calendar. For example, it may be read only.

Import an entry from a SharePoint calendar into your calendar

If you want to add a single entry in a SharePoint calendar to your Outlook calendar:

  1. In the site, locate the calendar. Open an event.
  2. On the top ribbon, select Custom Commands > Export Event. This downloads an .ics file to your computer (owssvr.ics).
  3. Open the owssvr.ics.
  4. Select Save & Close to add it to your calendar.

Create a Calendar overlay

The Calendar Overlay feature in SharePoint lets you overlay multiple calendars on a single calendar view and colour code them. Calendar overlays work in any direction. For example, you can overlay a calendar from a subsite on a parent site calendar and vice versa.

SharePoint respects the permissions of the source calendar, so if you overlay a calendar from a restricted area on your homepage, only those with permissions to that area will actually see the overlaid entries.

Colours can't be customized and you can overlay a maximum of ten calendars.

To create the overlay:

  1. Create your "master" calendar that will show all the overlays.
  2. Create your individual calendars in their appropriate locations.
  3. In the "master" calendar, select the Calendar tab > Calendars Overlay.
  4. Select New Calendar.
  5. Enter a Calendar Name. Assign a Colour. In Web URL, make sure it is pointing to the location of the calendar to be added to the overlay. Select Resolve.
  6. Under the List dropdown, select the desired calendar.
    • If it is not there, check the Web URL.
  7. Select OK.
    • Repeat steps 3-7 for each calendar added to the overlay.

See also