How to Schedule a Meeting in Outlook

Coletta Teske is a Lifewire writer focusing on consumer electronics. She has 30 years' experience writing for Adobe, Boeing, Microsoft, and many others.

When you schedule a meeting in Outlook with another person or group of people, they receive an invitation email with the meeting details. From this email, they can accept or decline the meeting invitation. Outlook adds the meeting to your Outlook calendar, keeps track of your attendees' responses, and sends a reminder before the meeting starts.

Instructions in this article apply to Outlook for Microsoft 365, Outlook 2019, Outlook 2016, and Outlook 2013.

How to Send a Calendar Invite in Outlook

Here’s how to schedule a meeting in Outlook:

1. Select the Home tab.

In the Meeting invitation, enter a description of the meeting in the Title text box.

In the Optional text box, enter the email addresses of people you'd like to attend the meeting, but do not require them to do so.

Choose a Start time and End time for the meeting.

To block out an entire day on your calendar for the meeting, select All day.

In the Location text box, enter where you're holding the meeting.

To attach a file to the meeting invitation, Select the Insert tab, then select Attach File. To add a link to a document on your OneDrive, select the Link dropdown arrow.

By default, when you send a meeting invitation in Outlook, the invitation includes a request for a response and gives the recipient the option to suggest a new time for the meeting. To change these options, Select the Meeting tab, then select Response Options.

If your schedule changes or if your attendees must make other plans, either cancel the meeting or reschedule it.

How to Set Up a Recurring Meeting

Outlook also lets you set up recurring meetings. Use this option for gatherings you plan to repeat every week, month, or other period. With a recurring meeting, you only have to enter the details once, and it will add all future events to your calendar based on the interval you set.

1. Select the Home tab, then select New Items >Meeting.

The Appointment Recurrence dialog box will open. Enter the Start time, End time, and Duration of the meeting.

In the Recurrence pattern section, choose when the meeting will reoccur. For example, a regular weekly meeting that occurs every Monday.

In the Range of recurrence section, choose a length of time the recurring meetings will continue. You can tell a recurring meeting to cancel on a certain date or after a certain number of occurrences. Choose No end date if you don't want the meeting to expire.

Select OK.

In the Meeting invitation, select Send.

How to Use the Scheduling Assistant to Create a Meeting

If you use Microsoft 365 at work and are an Exchange user, use the Scheduling Assistant to find the best time to schedule a meeting with others. When you open the Scheduling Assistant, you’ll see the calendars for the people you invited to the meeting.

To use the Scheduling Assistant, create a Meeting invitation, the select the Meeting tab > Scheduling Assistant.

How to View the Meeting on Your Outlook Calendar

Once you create or accept a meeting, it will appear on your Outlook calendar based on the date and time info. Here's how to find upcoming events.

1. Select the View Switcher, then select Calendar.

To view the meeting details, double-click the calendar item.

To view responses, select the Tracking tab. The Response column shows which attendees have accepted the meeting invitation and which have not responded.

If you received a verbal acceptance from an attendee, select None, then select Accepted, Declined, or gave a Tentative response.

How to Add People to an Existing Meeting Invitation

You may set up a meeting and then have more attendees to invite later (for example, if you hire another employee and want to add them to regular staff meetings). Here's how to invite new attendees to a meeting you've already setup.

1. Find the meeting on your calendar.

Select the Scheduling Assistant tab >Add Attendees.

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In the Select Attendees and Resources dialog box, choose the name of the attendee.

Select either Required or Optional to indicate whether the attendee is required to be at the meeting or if their attendance is optional.

Select OK.

The attendee now appears on the the All Attendees list in the Scheduling Assistant.

Select Send Update.