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Automatically copy events from one Microsoft Outlook calendar to another

By Elena Alston · January 5, 2024
Screenshot of Microsoft Outlook logo

Microsoft Outlook is a nifty calendar tool in its own right. But if you use a bunch of different calendars within Outlook to manage appointments, it can be hard to keep track of them all. 

Let's say you have a dentist appointment logged on your personal calendar. You'll probably want your team to know you'll be busy for that time so they don't double-book you. 

While Microsoft Outlook lets you duplicate events to your different calendars (we'll show you how to do this later on), that's only a one-time transfer. That means any new appointments you add to one calendar won't copy over to your other calendar. 

Fortunately, you can use Zapier to do this automatically. You can set up a Zap—our word for automatic workflows—that duplicates new meetings and adds them to your other calendar right away. 

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Automatically copy new events from one Microsoft Outlook calendar to another

You can create your own Zap from scratch without any coding knowledge, but we also offer quick templates to get you started. 

If you'd like to start with a Zap template, click on it below, and you'll be taken to the Zapier editor. You'll need to create a Zapier account if you don't already have one. Then, follow the directions below to set up your Zap.

Create calendar events for new Microsoft Outlook calendar events

Create calendar events for new Microsoft Outlook calendar events
  • Microsoft Outlook logo
  • Microsoft Outlook logo
Microsoft Outlook

Set up your Microsoft Outlook trigger

First, set up your trigger—the event that starts your Zap. If you're using the Zap template, Microsoft Outlook will already be selected as the trigger app and New Calendar Event as the trigger event. Click Continue.

Screenshot of Microsoft Outlook trigger

Next, connect your Microsoft Outlook account by clicking on the dropdown menu and selecting +Connect a new account. You'll need to give Zapier permission to access your account. Once you've connected your account, select it from the dropdown menu and click Continue.

Screenshot of Outlook account

Then select the correct calendar in the Calendar field. 

Screenshot of calendar inside Zap

Next, click Test Trigger so Zapier will create a test event to make sure the trigger is working properly. Once the test runs successfully, click Continue with selected record.

Screenshot of test step

Set up your Microsoft Outlook action

Now set up your action—the event your Zap will perform once it's triggered. If using the Zap template, Microsoft Outlook will already be selected as your action app and Create Event as your action event. Click Continue

Screenshot of Outlook action step

Next, select the Microsoft Outlook account and click Continue. Now, it's time to select the calendar you want your events to be copied to. 

Start by selecting the correct calendar.

Screenshot of calendar setting

Then, include the subject, start time and date, and end time and date. You can type in text or pull data from your previous trigger step by clicking in the field and selecting the data you'd like to use (like the subject) from the dropdown. If you're using the Zap template, the data from the copied event will already be added in each field. 

Screenshot of action set up

You can also choose whether or not the event will be an all-day event, but I don't recommend this as the length of your events will likely vary. 

Under the Description field, you can pull in the Body preview, which includes the event details. You can also show yourself as free or busy on your calendar. 

Screenshot of event description

Once you've finished customizing your fields, click Continue

It's now time to test your action. When you click Test & Review or Test & Continue, Zapier will send a calendar event to the calendar account you connected. 

Screenshot of Outlook event test

And here's what the event looks like in Outlook:

Screenshot of duplicated event in calendar

If you'd rather skip the test, just click Skip Test. If your test looks good, you're now ready to use your Zap.

Duplicate events from one Microsoft Outlook calendar to another manually

You can also manually copy your events from one calendar to another. To get started, open your Microsoft Outlook calendar using the account that includes the events you want to copy. 

Next, right-click on the event you want to copy to another calendar and open the event details. 

Screenshot of calendar event

Once you've opened your event, click Duplicate event in the top panel. 

Screenshot of duplicate event button in Outlook

From the calendar dropdown menu, you can select which calendar you want to duplicate the event to.

Screenshot of calendar option

In my case, I'll add it to my work calendar. Remember to click Save once you've finished!

Screenshot of different calendar

You'll now see that your specific event is saved to both calendars, like so:

Screenshot of duplicated calendar event

Remember: this is only a one-time transfer, so you'll have to do this every time a new event gets added to your Microsoft Outlook calendar. 

Related reading:

  • Popular ways to automate your Microsoft Outlook calendar

  • How to automate your Microsoft Outlook email

  • The easy way to connect Outlook to Notion

  • How to add Microsoft Outlook events to Google Calendar

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