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How to set up a shared office in Outlook
Adding a calendar or a shared calendar to Outlook
This article explains how to update your Outlook calendar settings on:
- Outlook desktop application for Windows
- Outlook desktop application for Apple
- Outlook Web Access.
The instructions guide you on setting up your:
- Work hours
- Time zones
- Work locations
Table of Contents
Why it’s important to set up work hours and location(s)
By setting up work hours and location(s), teams and colleagues will be able to see when and where the rest of the team is working.
This information will appear when you add someone to a meeting. By hovering on the name added in the requested / attendee field, Outlook or Teams will show their information, including their work hours and their location.
You will see the icon of a building if they set the location as "Office", or the icon of a house if they set the location as "Remote".
You can also use Microsoft Places to get their location at a glance.
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Setting up your work hours
Windows users
New Outlook desktop application
1. Open Outlook desktop application
2. Select the settings icon
3. Select Calendar
4. Select Work hours and location
5. Go to the section Work hours and location
From there you can set up your work hours as follows:
- Select your working days (the example below shows a 5-day week from Monday to Friday)
- Add starting and ending hours.
Please note that you can add different timings (and locations) by using the + button to add new fields. - Add you location(s)
6. Select Save to save the changes and go live.
Classic Outlook
1. Open Outlook desktop application
2. Select File from the toolbar
3. From the bottom of the sidebar, select Options
4. Select Calendar
From there you can set up your work hours as follows:
- Add starting and ending hours
- Select your working days (the example above shows a 5-day week from Monday to Friday)
- Select the day of the week your calendar will start with
- Select how the week of the year will start with
5. Select OK to save the changes
Apple users - New Outlook and Outlook Legacy desktop applications
1. Open Outlook
2. From the app menus, select Outlook
3. Select Settings
4. Go to the section Other and select Calendar
From there, you can set up your work hours as follows:
- Add starting and ending hours
- Select your working days (the example above shows a 5-day week from Monday to Friday)
- Select the day of the week your calendar will start with
- Set up other settings such as reminders and time zones
Outlook Web Access (OWA) – from any browser
2. Select the settings icon
3. Select Calendar
4. Select Work hours and location
5. Go to the section Work hours and location
From there you can set up your work hours as follows:
- Select your working days (the example below shows a 5-day week from Monday to Friday)
- Add starting and ending hours.
Please note that you can add different timings (and locations) by using the + button to add new fields. - Add you location(s)
6. Select Save to save the changes and go live.
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Setting up your time zone
Windows users
New Outlook desktop application
1. Open Outlook desktop application
2. Select the settings icon
3. Select Calendar
4. Select View
5. Scroll down to the section Time Zones
From there you can set up your main time zone and add other time zones.
6. Select Save to save the changes
Classic Outlook desktop application
1. Open Outlook desktop application
2. Select File from the toolbar
3. From the bottom of the sidebar, select Options
4. Select Calendar
5. Scroll down to the section Time zones
From there you can set up your main time zone and add other time zones.
Apple users - New Outlook and Outlook Legacy desktop applications
1. Open Outlook
2. From the app menus, select Outlook
3. Select Settings
4. Go to the section Other and select Calendar
From there you can set up your main time zone and add other time zones.
Outlook Web Access
2. Select the settings icon
3. Select Calendar
4. Select View
5. Scroll down to the section Time Zones
From there you can set up your main time zone and add other time zones.
6. Select Save to save the changes
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Setting up or changing your work location
Windows users
New Outlook desktop application
1. Open Outlook desktop application
2. Select the settings icon
3. Select Calendar
4. Select Work hours and location
5. Use the drop-down menu close to the time available to set your location as "Office" or "Remote"
6. Select Save to save the changes
How to change your location on a specific day
If you need to change your location on a specific day or time, please do as follows:
1. Open Outlook desktop application
2. Select the Calendar icon in the sidebar:
3. You will see an office (or home) icon close to every day of your calendar. Please select the icon:
4. Below your profile picture, you will see your current location and work hours:
5. Open the drop-down menu and select the option that fits better for you:
The change will affect only that specific day.
Classic Outlook desktop application
At present this function is not available for the "old" Outlook desktop application.
To change your work location, please switch to the "new" Outlook desktop app or change your settings through Outlook Web Access.
Apple users – "New" Outlook and Outlook Legacy desktop applications
At present this function is not available for Outlook desktop application for Apple.
To change your work location, please use Outlook Web Access from any browser.
Outlook Web Access from any browser
2. Select the settings icon
3. Select Calendar
4. Select Work hours and location
5. Use the drop-down menu close to the time available to set your location as "Office" or "Remote"
6. Select Save to save the changes
How to change your location on a specific day
If you need to change your location on a specific day or time, please do as follows:
2. Select the Calendar icon in the sidebar:
3. You will see an office (or home) icon close to every day of your calendar. Please select the icon:
4. Below your profile picture, you will see your current location and work hours:
5. Open the drop-down menu and select the option that fits better for you:
The change will affect only that specific day.
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How to add recurring days / times when you are not working
At present, Outlook / Teams do not have any option to set up recurrent days off such as, for example, a fortnightly Wednesday when you are not working.
To avoid any issues, we recommend to set up a recurrent event as follows:
- Add a starting day
- Mark it as "All day"
- Add the frequency (every week, fortnightly, …, custom)
- Change your status to "Out of office"
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Microsoft Places - Overview
Microsoft Place is a workplace app designed to help you work within hybrid teams.
Through it, you can get an overview of the team / colleagues who are working remotely or in the office across the week.
You can choose between 2 different views:
- "Show in office summary"
- "Show collaborators"
This application is still in beta version.
To know more about Places:
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Related content
How to create automatic replies (Out of office) in Outlook
Set your work hours and location in Outlook (external source)
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