Using the Outlook Calendar on a Desktop

Owned by Winter Morse (Deactivated)
Last updated: Apr 10, 2020
5 min read

How to Use the Calendar on the Desktop Outlook Application (PC):


Accessing Your Calendars:

  1. Once in the Outlook app, click on the small calendar icon in the bottom left to go to the calendar.
  2. On the left of that page, you can see which calendars are currently checked. Only the events of the checked calendars will show up. You must have at least one calendar checked at all times. Any events that you create or accept from your Westminster account will show up under the standard “Calendar”.
  3. Any additional calendars that you have access to will show up underneath the default calendars. You must request access to these other calendars by submitting Shared Outlook Calendar requests through the Help Desk Portal.


Creating Events:

  1. Once on the Calendar page, click “New Meeting” in the top left.
  2. In the “Title” line, enter the name of the meeting/event.
  3. In the “Required” line, enter the emails of anyone that is required to attend the meeting. In the “Optional” line, you can enter any non-required invitees.
  4. You can click the little calendar icon in the “Start time” line to change the date of the meeting. Next to the date, you can change the time by clicking the dropdown or manually entering a time. You can make the event last all day by checking the box next to “All day”. Once you have the start date and time, below that you can choose the end date and time.
  5. You can make the meeting recur by clicking on “Make Recurring”.
  6. In the “Location” line, enter the location that the meeting is taking place.
  7. Below location is a space where you can type in a description or any relevant details about the event.
  8. Click on the dropdown next to the bell icon that says “Reminder” to choose when and if you want to receive a notification about the event.
  9. You can click on “Response Options” to request that invitees respond to your invitation. If you “Request Responses”, you can then select “Allow New Time Proposals” which allows invitees to propose new times for the meeting. “Allow Forwarding” allows participants to forward the meeting to other people who were not previously invited.
  10. By clicking “Insert”, then “Attach File”, you can choose to upload any relevant documents to the meeting invite.
  11. When you are ready to send out the invite, click the “Send” button in the top left.


How to Use the Calendar on the Desktop Outlook Application (Mac):


Accessing Your Calendars:

  1. Once in the Outlook app, click on the small calendar icon in the bottom left to go to the calendar.
  2. On the left of that page, you can see which calendars are currently checked. Only the events of the checked calendars will show up. You must have at least one calendar checked at all times. Any events that you create or accept from your Westminster account will show up under the standard “Calendar”.
  3. Any additional calendars that you have access to will show up underneath the default calendars. You must request access to these other calendars by submitting Shared Outlook Calendar requests through the Help Desk Portal.


Creating Events:

  1. Once on the Calendar page, click “Meeting” in the top left.
  2. In the “To” line, enter the emails of anyone you want to invite.
  3. In the “Subject” line, enter the name of the event.
  4. In the “Location” line, enter the location that the meeting is taking place. You can choose to have the meeting take place on Teams by clicking the Teams icon in the top banner.
  5. Below location, you can choose the specific dates and times that the event is occurring.
  6. Click the “Recurrence” button to make the event repeat.
  7. Click on the dropdown next to the bell icon to choose when and if you want to receive a notification about the event.
  8. You can click on “Request Responses” to request that invitees respond to your invitation. If you request responses, you can then select “Allow Proposal” which allows invitees to propose new times for the meeting. “Allow Forwarding” allows participants to forward the meeting to other people who were not previously invited.
  9. By clicking “Format Text”, then “Attach File”, you can choose to upload any relevant documents to the meeting invite.


  10. When you are ready to send out the invite, click the “Send” button in the top left.