In computing, a Personal Storage Table (.pst) is an open proprietary file format used to store copies of messages, calendar events, and other items within Microsoft software such as Microsoft Exchange Client, Windows Messaging, and Microsoft Outlook. The open format is controlled by Microsoft who provide free specifications and free irrevocable technology licensing.

1. Outlook Email For Mac
2. Outlook Like For Mac Osx
3. Outlook Like For Mac Catalina
4. Outlook Like For Mac Shortcut

The file format may also be known as a Personal Folders (File) or Post Office File. When functioning in its capacity as a cache for Outlook's Cached Exchange Mode feature, it may be called an Off-line Storage Table (.ost) or an Off-line Folders (File).

Overview[edit]

In Microsoft Exchange Server, the messages, the calendar, and other data items are delivered to and stored on the server. Microsoft Outlook stores these items in a personal-storage-table (.pst) or off-line-storage-table (.ost) files that are located on the local computer. Most commonly, the .pst files are used to store archived items and the .ost files to maintain off-line availability of the items. This is an essential feature of Microsoft Outlook.

Nov 04, 2019 Microsoft is bringing some much-needed improvements to its Outlook for Mac app. Starting this week, Outlook for Mac beta testers (in the Fast Ring) will be able to access a new design that comes. Outlook for Mac training. Outlook 2013 training. LinkedIn Learning. It sounds like it might be helpful to connect you to one of our Office support agents. If you would like to share an Outlook calendar to other people rather than open a shared calendar from others in Outlook 2016 for Mac, see Share your calendar in Outlook 2016 for Mac. The sharing invitation that you receive resembles the following screenshot.

The size of these files no longer counts against the size of the mailbox used; by moving files from a server mailbox to .pst files, users can free storage space on their mailservers.^[1] To use the .pst files from another location the user needs to be able to access the files directly over a network from their mail client. While it is possible to open and use a .pst file from over a network, this is unsupported, and Microsoft advises against it, as .pst files are prone to corruption when used in this manner.^[2]

Both the .pst and .ost files use a fixed-block-based allocation scheme; the file is enlarged by a fixed amount of bytes, and the file internally maintains information about the allocated and non-allocated blocks. So, when data files like email messages are added to a .pst file, its file size is automatically adjusted by the mail client (if necessary). When mail is deleted from a .pst file, the size of the .pst file will stay the same, marking the space as unallocated so that it will hold future data items. Recently removed data items can actually be recovered from .pst and .ost files.

To reduce the size of .pst files, the user needs to compact them.^[3]

Data access[edit]

Password protection can be used to protect the content of the .pst files.^[4] However, Microsoft admits that the password adds very little protection, due to the existence of commonly available tools which can remove or simply bypass the password protection.^[5] The password to access the table is stored without the first and last XOR CRC-32 integer representation of itselfin the .pst file. Outlook checks to make sure thatit matches the user-specified password and refuses to operate if there isno match. The data is readable bythe libpst project code.

Microsoft (MS) offers three values for the encryption setting: none,compressible, and high.

• None the .pst data is stored as plain text.
• Compressible the .pst data is encrypted with a byte-substitution cipher with a fixed substitution table.
• High (sometimes called 'better') encryption is similar to a WWII German Enigma cipher with three fixed rotors.

Note that neither of the two encryption modes uses the user-specified password as any part of the key for the encryption.

Support[edit]

The .pst file format is supported by several Microsoft client applications, including Microsoft Exchange Client, Windows Messaging, and Microsoft Outlook; in the previous two, it was often used with a Personal Address Book (.pab) file, which stores address book. The .pst file format is an open format for which Microsoft provides free specifications and irrevocable free patent licensing through the Open Specification Promise^[6]

The libpst project includes tools to convert .pst files into open formats such as mbox and LDAP Data Interchange Format. libpst is licensed under the GPL and is now included in Fedora 10. MVCOM is a commercially licensed COM Component that provides access to .pst files without MAPI.

There are tools to convert .pst to other formats or to upload to other online e-mails like Gmail, for example.^[7]

Formats and size[edit]

The file is structured as a B-tree with 512 byte nodes and leaves.^[8]

Outlook 2002 and earlier use ANSI (extended ASCII with a codepage) encoding for their .pst and .ost files. This format has a maximum size of 2 GB (2³¹ bytes) and does not support unicode. A file exceeding this size is likely to give error messages, such as '.pst has reached maximum size limit,' and could become corrupted. Although superseded, this format continues to be supported by Microsoft Outlook 97 and later (98, 2000, 2002 (XP), 2003, 2007), by Internet Message Access Protocol Version 4rev1 (IMAP4) accounts and by HTTP accounts.^[9]

From Outlook 2003 and onward, the standard format for .pst and .ost files is Unicode (UTF-16 little-endian). The use of 64-bit pointers instead of the 32-bit pointers of the earlier version allowed to overcome the 2 GB limit. Now, there is a user-definable maximum-file size: up to 20gb for Outlook 2003-2007, and 50gb since Outlook 2010. ^[10]This format is supported by Microsoft Outlook 2003 and later.^[9][11] A file that is created in the personal-folders format in Outlook 2003 or in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 is not compatible with earlier versions of Microsoft Outlook and cannot be opened by using those older versions.^[1]If this limit is reached or sometimes exceeded, retrieval of the .pst file can be difficult if not impossible.

According to documentation from Microsoft, all PST files begin with the four-byte magic string '!BDN', a four-byte CRC number, and a two-byte magic string of 'SM'.^[12]

As with any file, .pst files can become corrupted. Prior to Outlook 2003, the default .pst file format was ANSI and had a maximum size of 2 GB. If the .pst file were allowed to grow over 2 GB, the file would become unusable. Microsoft provides PST2GB, a tool that can be used to truncate a .pst file that has grown over 2 GB. Microsoft also provides scanpst.exe, that can be used to repair other .pst file-corruption issues. In Outlook 2003 and 2007, .pst files are created in the Unicode format and have a default maximum size of 20 GB.

Entourage and Outlook for Mac[edit]

Microsoft Entourage is Microsoft's email and personal information program for Mac OS X. While superficially similar to Outlook, it is an entirely different application, and uses a unique database format which cannot be imported or exported, though user data can be imported and exported to and from another unique format called .rge (a bundle consisting of many individual files plus metadata). Entourage 2008, the current version as of May 2010, has no support for .pst files, though there exists Microsoft's .pst import tool for Entourage 2004; however, the tool could only import .pst files from Outlook for Mac 2001, and not any Windows versions. Entourage is being replaced by Outlook for Office 2011 for Intel Macs, which will be able to import Outlook .pst files from Windows;^[13] however, data will be stored as many individual files, rather than in a single database such as .pst or the Entourage database.

Outlook for Mac 2001, which runs under Mac OS 9 or the Mac OS X Classic Environment, connects exclusively to Exchange servers, and to this day is closer to its Windows counterpart than Entourage is. It works directly with 'Outlook 97-2002' .pst files, and can freely interchange those files with Outlook for Windows, as recent versions are still compatible with the older .pst format.The limit for Outlook 2011 is 10GB.

References[edit]

1. ^ ^ab'Introduction to Personal Folders files (.pst)'. Microsoft.com. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
2. ^'Personal folder files are unsupported over a LAN or WAN link'. Microsoft.com.
3. ^'Reduce the size of a .pst file'. Microsoft.com. Retrieved 2015-10-21.
4. ^'Create a .pst file in Outlook 2003/Office Outlook 2007 format'. Microsoft.com. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
5. ^'XCLN: Improving the Security of PST Files'. Microsoft.com. Retrieved 2009-08-12.
6. ^[MS-PST]: Outlook Personal Folders File Format (.pst) Structure Specification
7. ^Migrating from Microsoft Outlook to Gmail
8. ^'Binary analysis of the pst file format'. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
9. ^ ^ab'The .pst file has a different format and folder size limit in Outlook 2007 and in Outlook 2003 (KB830336)'. Microsoft. 2007-02-05. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
10. ^'The file size limits of .pst and .ost files are larger in Outlook 2010 (KB982577)'. Microsoft. 2011-09-02. Retrieved 2011-12-08.
11. ^'How to configure the size limit for both (.pst) and (.ost) files in Outlook 2007 and in Outlook 2003 (KB832925)'. Microsoft. 2007-02-13. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
12. ^'[MS-PST]: Outlook Personal Folders (.pst) File Format - 2.2.2.6 HEADER'. Microsoft. Retrieved 2014-10-07.
13. ^'Introducing Office for Mac 2011: The Quintessential Teammate'. Microsoft.com. Retrieved 2010-07-09.

External links[edit]

• Microsoft has released some of the format specification and reference implementation.
• libpst project - contains many utilities to convert .pst files to other mailbox formats
• A great deal of information about the format has been documented by the libpff project. See also:

MAPI definitions.

• OLM to PST Converter - convert Mac (.olm) file to Outlook PST for Windows

Original KB number: 10106

Note

If you would like to share calendar or folder to others, or change permissions after sharing rather than opening, check the following articles at first:

• Outlook 2016/2013/2010/2007: Share an Outlook calendar with other people
• Outlook.com: Share your calendar in Outlook.com
• Outlook on the Web or Outlook Web App: Share your calendar in Outlook on the web for business
• Outlook 2016 for Mac: Share your calendar in Outlook 2016 for Mac
• Outlook for Mac 2011: Share a folder in an Exchange account

Who is it for?

Users of Outlook, Outlook for Mac, Outlook on the Web and Outlook Web App who can't open shared calendars from an invitation.

How does it work?

We'll begin by asking you questions about the Outlook version you are using and the issue you're experiencing. Then we'll take you through a series of troubleshooting steps that are specific to your situation.

Important

The third party mail services such as Gmail,AOL,Yahoo are not supported by Microsoft and this guide might not apply to them.

Estimated time of completion:

10-15 minutes.

Select your version of Outlook

Don't know which version of Outlook you are running

First determine which outlook version you are using.

For Windows

If you find Office Account:

If you find Help:

If you do not find either Office Account or Help on the File menu, then follow these steps:

1. Start Outlook.

2. Select File, and then find either Office Account or Help, and follow the steps for which option you find. If you do not find either option, see the steps below.

   1. Select Office Account, and then select About Outlook.

   2. The product version will be listed here.

   3. Select OK.

   Or

   1. Select Help, and then select Additional Version and Copyright Information.

   2. The product version will be listed here.

   3. Select OK.

   Or

   1. On the Help menu, select About Microsoft Office Outlook.

   2. The product version will be listed here.

   3. Select OK.

For Mac

1. Start Outlook for Mac.

2. On the Outlook menu, select About Outlook.

3. The About Outlook window will appear similar to one of the following, depending on your version of Outlook for Mac.

   Outlook 2016 for Mac	Outlook for Mac 2011

For Outlook on the web or Outlook Web App

If you are using browser to connect an Office 365 or Exchange mailbox, select Outlook On the Web/Outlook Web App.

Or

For Outlook app on mobile or tablets devices

If you are using Outlook App on mobile devices or tablets, including Windows Phone, iPhone, iPad, Android phones, select the option Outlook App on mobile/tablet devices at the bottom.

Open a shared calendar in Outlook 2010

Note

If you would like to share an Outlook calendar to other people rather than open a shared calendar from others in Outlook 2010, please check Share an Outlook calendar with other people.

To open a shared calendar from the Outlook sharing invitation, select Open this Calendar in the sharing invitation.

If you see something different, what problem do you encounter?

Open a shared calendar in Outlook for Mac 2011

Note

If you would like to share an Outlook calendar to other people rather than open a shared calendar from others in Outlook for Mac 2011, see See and share multiple calendars.

The sharing invitation that you receive resembles the following screenshot. Notice that there's no option to open the shared calendar.

To open the shared calendar, follow these steps:

1. On the File menu, point to Open, and then select Other User's Folder.

2. Select Find User .

3. Type the name of the person who granted you access, select Find, select the person's name, and then select OK.

4. On the Type menu, select Calendar, and then select OK.

   The shared calendar appears in the navigation pane under the Shared heading.

If you cannot open the shared calendar, what problem do you encounter?

Open a shared calendar in Outlook Web App

Note

If you would like to share an Outlook calendar to other people rather than open a shared calendar from others in Outlook Web App, please check Sharing your calendar in Outlook Web App.

To open a shared calendar from the sharing invitation, select Accept to open the shared calendar, and then you will see the shared calendar in the left pane under Other Calendar and the events in the right pane.

If you see something different, what problem do you encounter?

There is no Accept option

To work around this problem, open directly into the shared calendar.

For example, assume that your Outlook on the Web (formerly known as Outlook Web App) URL is https://yourdomain/owa, and that a user (user@yourdomain.com) shared his or her calendar with you.

You can use the following URL to open the user's calendar:

https://yourdomain/owa/user@yourdomain.com/?cmd=contents&module=calendar

Did this solve your problem?

• If yes, see Additional resources.
• If no, see Additional help.

There is no Open this Calendar option

This problem occurs when the person who shared the calendar with you is running a later version of Outlook.

In the invitation, notice whether Microsoft Exchange appears before the shared calendar name, as in the following screenshot.

If Microsoft Exchange appears before the shared calendar name

If Microsoft Exchange appears before the shared calendar name, this typically indicates that the shared calendar is an Outlook default calendar. To open it, follow these steps:

1. On the File menu, point to Open, and then select Other User's Folder.

2. In the Open Other User's Folder dialog box, type the name of the user who shares the calendar with you in the Name box. In the Folder type box, select the type of shared calendar, and then select OK.

If Microsoft Exchange does not appear before the shared calendar name

If Microsoft Exchange does not appear before the shared calendar name, this typically indicates that the shared calendar is not an Outlook default calendar. In this situation, first add the user's Exchange mailbox to your Outlook profile.

1. In Outlook, select Account Settings on the Tools menu.

2. In the E-mail Accounts dialog box, select the E-mail tab, select your Exchange Server account, and then select Change.

3. Select More Settings.

4. In the Microsoft Exchange dialog box, select the Advanced tab, and then select Add.

5. In the Add Mailbox dialog box, type the name of the person who shares the calendar with you, and then select OK.

6. Select OK > Next > Finish > Close.

7. In the navigation pane, expand Mailbox - UserNameOfFolderOwner, and then select the calendar that the user shared with you.

Note

If you cannot expand the mailbox, see the Cannot expand the mailbox of another person section of this guide for the workaround.

Did this solve your problem?

• If yes, see Additional resources.
• If no, see Additional help.

Cannot expand the mailbox of another person

To work around this problem, ask the person who shared the calendar with you to grant you the Reviewer permission for his or her mailbox.

Important

The following steps are performed on the computer of the person who shared the calendar with you.

1. Use one of the following methods, depending on the version of Outlook that you're running:

   In Outlook 2007, right-click Mailbox - UserName, and then select Change Sharing Permissions.

   In Outlook 2010 or Outlook 2013, right-click your email address at the top of the folder list, and then select Folder Permissions.

2. Select the Permissions tab, and then select Add.

3. In the Add Users dialog box, specify the user with whom you want to share the calendar, select Add, and then select OK.

4. In the Name list, select the name of the user whom you added, select Reviewer in the Permission Level box, and then select OK.

Did this solve your problem?

• If yes, see Additional resources.
• If no, see Additional help.

You see nothing or you don't have the necessary permission to open the shared calendar

Ask the person who shared the calendar with you to perform the following steps on his or her computer.

For Outlook Desktop Client:

1. Use one of the following methods, depending on the version of Outlook that you're running:

   In Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013 or Outlook 2010, right-click the calendar you want to share, select Share, and then select Calendar Permissions.

   In Outlook 2007, right-click the shared calendar, and then select Change Sharing Permissions.

   Note

   If the Change Sharing Permissions is grayed out or unavailable, you might be using an internet calendar managed by third-party services, such as Gmail, Yahoo or AOL. Although you can modify most Internet calendars, calendar permissions are not supported.

   It is also possible that your organization restricts access to sharing permissions in your account for security purposes. In this case, contact your system administrator for help.

2. On the Permissions tab, select the user for whom you want to grant the permission.

3. In the Permission Level list, select Reviewer, and then select OK.

For Outlook on the Web or Outlook Web App:

In Outlook on the Web or Outlook Web App, select on the left top corner or the bottom in the left pane to open the calendar. Right-click the calendar you want to share to others, and then select Sharing Permissions. Next, follow the instructions in Sharing your calendar in Outlook on the web.

Did this solve your problem?

• If yes, see Additional resources.
• If no, see Additional help.

Open a shared calendar in Outlook 2016

Note

If you would like to share an Outlook calendar to other people rather than open a shared calendar from others in Outlook 2016 or Outlook 2013, check Share an Outlook calendar with other people.

To open a shared calendar from the Outlook sharing invitation, select Open this Calendar in the sharing invitation.

If you see something different, what problem do you encounter?

Open a shared calendar in Outlook 2016 for Mac

Note

If you would like to share an Outlook calendar to other people rather than open a shared calendar from others in Outlook 2016 for Mac, see Share your calendar in Outlook 2016 for Mac.

The sharing invitation that you receive resembles the following screenshot. Notice that there's no option to open the shared calendar.

To open the shared calendar, follow these steps:

1. At the bottom of the navigation bar, select Calendar.

2. On the Organize tab, select Open Shared Calendar.

   In the Search box, type the name of the person who has granted you access to their calendar, and press Enter.

3. Select their name, and select Open.

   Note

   The shared calendar appears in the left navigation pane under the Shared Calendar heading, with the person's name who shared the calendar below it.

If you cannot open the shared calendar, what problem do you encounter?

The Open Shared Calendar is not available

Symptoms

When you open your Calendar in Microsoft Outlook 2016 for Mac or Outlook for Mac 2011, the Open Shared Calendar button on the ribbon is unavailable.

Additionally, when you point to Open on the File menu, the Calendar option is unavailable.

Cause

This issue occurs if the Group similar folders, such as Inboxes, from different accounts check box is selected and the Hide On My Computer folders check box is cleared in General Preferences.

Workaround

To work around this issue, use one of the following methods:

Select the Exchange folder in My Calendars

1. Open the calendar.

2. Expand My Calendars to display the Exchange mailbox calendar, the On My Computer calendar, and calendars that are associated with any other accounts that are open in Outlook for Mac.

3. Select the Exchange check box.

After you do this, the Open Shared Calendar button on the ribbon is available.

Open another user's Calendar

1. On the File menu, point to Open, and then select Other Users Folder.

2. Search for and then select the user whose calendar you want to open.

3. In the Folder Type box, select Calendar.

4. Select Open.

Change the preferences settings that are related to the On My Computer folders

1. On the Outlook menu, select Preferences.
2. Select General.
3. Clear the Group similar folders, such as Inboxes, from different accounts check box.
4. If you want, select the Hide On My Computer folders check box.

Did this solve your problem?

• If yes, see Additional resources.
• If no, see Additional help.

Open a shared calendar in Outlook 2013

Note

If you would like to share an Outlook calendar to other people rather than open a shared calendar from others in Outlook 2016 or Outlook 2013, please check Share an Outlook calendar with other people.

To open a shared calendar from the Outlook sharing invitation, select Open this Calendar in the sharing invitation.

If you see something different, what problem do you encounter?

Open a shared calendar in Outlook 2007

Note

If you would like to share a Outlook 2007 calendar to other people rather than open a shared calendar from others, see Share your calendar information.

To open a shared calendar from the Outlook sharing invitation, select Open this Calendar in the sharing invitation.

If you see something different, what problem do you encounter?

Additional resources

Congratulations! We are glad that this guide helps solved your problem.

Here are some additional resources that you may find useful:

Additional help

We are sorry that this guide didn't solve your problem. We recommend that you go the Microsoft Community for more help.

Here are some additional resources that you may find useful:

Workaround for opening shared calendar on Mobile/Tablet devices

If you are using Outlook App on mobile or tablet devices, such as Windows Phone, iPhone, iPad, Android Phones, you cannot see other user's calendars on these devices as they only sync your own calendars. The workaround is that you need to use Outlook on the web or Outlook Web App to view the shared calendar, or view it when on a Desktop Outlook for Windows or Mac client.

To use Outlook on the web or Outlook Web App to open the shared calendar from an invitation, sign in with your exchange or office 365 account, you will see the share invitation like this:

Select Accept to open the shared calendar, and then you will see the shared calendar listed in the left pane under Other Calendars and the events on this calendar in the right pane.

Did this solve your problem?

• If yes, see Additional resources.
• If no, see Additional help.

Outlook 2016 stops responding when you try to open shared calendar

This issue might occur when you upgrade to Outlook 2016 without fully uninstall the previous Outlook version, which makes Outlook 2016 offline. The solution is completely removing the older Outlook version and restart Outlook 2016. Follow the instructions:

1. Tap Windows key, search Control Panel and open it.
2. Select Programs > Program and Features.
3. Check the list to find the older Outlook version, right-click on it and choose Uninstall to remove it.
4. Reboot your computer and restart Outlook 2016.

Did this solve your problem?

• If yes, see Additional resources.
• If no, see Additional help.

Get other errors when you try to open shared calendar

If the other solution doesn't work for you and you get a different error message, try the instructions below:

1. Make sure you have installed the latest Outlook version and fully patched.

2. Enable Download shared folders.

   1. Select the File tab.

   2. Select Account Settings, and then select Account Settings.

   3. On the E-mail tab, select the Exchange account, and then select Change.

   4. Select More Settings, select Advanced tab, select Download shared folders

   5. Select OK, select Next, select Finish, and then select Close in the Account Settings window.

   6. Quit and restart Outlook.

3. If still doesn't work, try to turn off Cache Exchange Mode with following steps:

   Caution

   We do not recommend turn off cache Exchange mode, especially you are using Office 365 mailbox. If you take this action, do remember to turn it on after resolving shared calendar issue.

   1. Select the File tab.

   2. Select Account Settings, and then select Account Settings.

   3. On the E-mail tab, select the Exchange account, and then select Change.

   4. Under Offline Settings, clear the Use Cached Exchange Mode check box.

   5. Quit and restart Outlook.

Did this solve your problem?

• If yes, see Additional resources.
• If no, see Additional help.

You receive error message when you open shared calendar in Outlook 2013

What error message do you receive?

Solution for receiving error messages when open shared calendar in Outlook 2013

This problem occurs when the following conditions are true:

• You have Outlook 2013 configured to use a MAPI over HTTP connection.
• Your primary mailbox is in cached mode.
• The Download Shared Folders option is disabled.

Outlook Email For Mac

To resolve this issue, use this workaround to enable Download Shared Folders in Outlook 2013:

1. In Outlook, select File, select Account Settings, and then select Account Settings (again).
2. Select the Microsoft Exchange account, and then select Change.
3. Select More Settings.
4. Select the Advanced tab. Select the Download Shared Folders option.
5. Select OK, select Next, select Finish, and then select Close in the Account Settings window.

Did this solve your problem?

• If yes, see Additional resources.
• If no, see Additional help.

General troubleshooting for other errors when open shared calendar in Outlook 2013

If you get other errors, try the following instruction for general troubleshooting:

1. Ensure the user has shared the calendar with you, with proper permissions. You can check Share an Outlook calendar with other people to get instructions about how to share calendar and grant proper permission.

2. Check the right bottom corner in Outlook to see if the status looks like below to make sure Outlook is connected to the network and able to receive mail successfully, and isn't too busy performing other tasks such as updating folders.

   If you see , it indicates that the Outlook 2013 is connected to the network and Exchange server successfully.If you see , it indicates that the Outlook 2013 isn't connected to the network or Exchange server, check your network cable connection or contact your Network Admin.

3. Try again later to see if the shared calendar works.

Did this solve your problem?

• If yes, see Additional resources.
• If no, see Additional help.

You don't have permission to view a shared calendar in Outlook 2016 for Mac or Outlook for Mac 2011

When you try to open a shared Calendar folder in Microsoft Outlook 2016 for Mac or Outlook for Mac 2011, you receive the following error message even though you were granted permission to the folder:

Outlook cannot open the folder. You do not have permission to open this folder. Contact<Calendar owner's name> for permission.

This issue occurs because the owner of the folder that you want to access shares the sub calendar folder with you but does not share their default (primary) Calendar folder. To fix this issue, the calendar owner must share both the primary and the secondary Calendar folders with you. For more information, see 'You do not have permission' error message when you try to open a shared Calendar folder in Outlook for Mac.

Did this solve your problem?

• If yes, see Additional resources.
• If no, see Additional help.

You get blank calendar or permission error on Mac even if you have free/busy permission in Outlook 2016 for Mac or Outlook for Mac 2011

A user grants you Free/Busy permission to their calendar, but when you try to open that user's calendar in Microsoft Outlook 2016 for Mac or Outlook for Mac 2011, you receive the following error message:

Outlook cannot open the folder. You do not have permission to open this folder. Contact <user_name> for permission.

This issue occurred because the Free/Busy feature is only available in Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2013 for Windows. To open a shared calendar in Outlook for Mac, the user must grant you permissions of Reviewer or higher. Or, you can view the user's Free/Busy information by creating a new meeting request and then adding that user in the Scheduling Assistant. For more information, see User with Free/Busy permission can't open another calendar in Outlook for Mac.

Dis this solve your problem?

• If yes, see Additional resources.
• If no, see Additional help.

Can't open one or more of the shared Calendar folders in Outlook 2016 for Mac or Outlook for Mac 2011

In Outlook 2016 for Mac and Outlook for Mac 2011, you cannot open a shared Calendar folder that is not a subcalendar of the user's shared default Calendar folder.

• Calendar

• Second Calendar

• Third Calendar

In this example, the Second Calendar folder is a subcalendar of the user's shared default Calendar folder. Therefore, you can open the Second Calendar folder in Outlook for Mac. However, the Third Calendar folder is not a subcalendar under the default Calendar folder. Therefore, you cannot open this folder in Outlook for Mac. To resolve this issue, have the calendar owner create all shared calendars under the default Calendar folder.

Did this solve your problem?

Outlook Like For Mac Osx

• If yes, see Additional resources.
• If no, see Additional help.

Workaround for opening shared calendar on Mac system

We recommend using Outlook on the Web or Outlook Web App as a workaround to open shared calendar in Mac system.

Log in Outlook on the Web or Outlook Web App with your Exchange or Office 365 account in browser, select Accept in the invitation email, and then you will see the shared calendar in the left pane under Other Calendar and the events in the right pane.

Note

If you don't know the Outlook web url, please contact your system admininistrator for help.

If you see something different, what problem do you encounter?

Open a shared calendar in Outlook 2016 (only for Office 365 users on Monthly Channel)

To open a shared calendar from the Outlook sharing invitation, select the Accept button in the sharing invitation. The shared calendar will be added to your Calendar pane under the Shared Calendars section.

Did this solve your problem?

• If yes, see Additional resources.
• If no, see Additional help.

Open a shared calendar in Outlook on the web

To open a shared calendar from the sharing invitation, select the Accept button in the sharing invitation. The shared calendar will be added to your Calendar pane under the People's calendars section.

Did this solve your problem?

• If yes, see Additional resources.
• If no, see Additional help.

Open a shared calendar in Outlook mobile apps for iOS & Android

Outlook Like For Mac Catalina

To open a shared calendar from the Outlook sharing invitation, select Accept button in the sharing invitation. The Accept button will then change to View and you can then select it to view shared calendar. You can also locate the Calendar pane in your Outlook app to view a shared calendar by selecting the hamburger menu icon and then selecting that shared calendar from the list of calendars that is displayed in that menu.

Did this solve your problem?

• If yes, see Additional resources.
• If no, see Additional help.

Open a shared calendar from Outlook.com

When you share your Outlook.com calendar with people, they can add it directly to their calendar view in Outlook. Depending on the permission that you give them, they can view your calendar or edit it.

For detailed information about how to share a calendar in Outlook.com, refer to Share your calendar in Outlook.com.

Did this solve your problem?

Outlook Like For Mac Shortcut

• If yes, see Additional resources.
• If no, see Additional help.