Outlook: Troubleshooting guide for missing, duplicated or unsynchronized calendar items

• Meetings are unexpectedly deleted from a calendar.
• Duplicate meetings appear on the calendar.
• Calendar information is not displayed correctly on the mobile device.

Any number of causes can account for these symptoms.

For calendar issues that cannot be easily reproduced, you need to gather and provide data for the Microsoft Online Services support engineer to effectively troubleshoot the issue. This is primarily due to the complexity of the Calendar feature set in Office Outlook and Exchange Server, and the varied scenarios and products that touch the data on a calendar. This includes, but is not limited, to the following items:

• Delegate/manage scenarios.
• Cached Exchange Mode versus Online mode.
• Third-party interaction (for example, BlackBerry, iPhone or other EAS devices).
• Outlook Web Access (OWA) interaction.

1. The first step is to ensure that all clients and devices that access the mailbox are running the most recent client version or device operating system (OS). This is important because often issues are addressed in the newest build of a client or device OS. Installing the newest version may often keep this issue from reoccurring in the future.
2. Look for outstanding known issues that may be addressed in a hotfix or upcoming device OS. For Microsoft client products you can research known issues at http://support.microsoft.com/.
3. Be very familiar with the best practices for using the Exchange calendar. Many issues may be addressed by making sure these are being followed. Please find the complete list in the More Information section of this article. Some of the more important best practices are:
   1. Always process meeting invites from the Inbox folder.
   2. Process all meeting invites that you receive. Do not just delete the invite if you do not want to attend.
   3. Use an "End Date" for recurring meetings.
4. If an issue continues to occur after following step 1 and 2, we require detailed information to start an investigation. This information should be documented using the Calendar Issue Escalation Template. The information is outlined and explained below.
   1. Client and device versions for all that access the mailbox.
   2. Delegates and the specific configuration of each.
   3. We require a very clear symptom statement that accurately describes the scenario. For example:

      When another user updates an occurrence of a recurring meeting, the updated time/date sometimes doesn�t show up in the delegator�s calendar

      If you do not have a clear symptom statement then it will be difficult to handle the issue in the most effective manner.

   4. Can this issue be reproduced? For example, if a meeting is removed from the calendar whenever it is accepted by one delegate, but not another it�s important for this to be noted along with the steps that can be taken to be reproduced.
   5. If the issue cannot be easily reproduced, what steps would a customer would normally take in the above scenario? For example:

      The user has three delegates, but only one of them manages her calendar at a time though the user will occasionally accept meeting invites from her device.

   6. If a specific example of an affected message can be provided, please make sure the following information is included:
      1. Meeting subject.
      2. Meeting organizer.
      3. Start date/time (including time zone).
      4. Type of meeting (single-instance or recurring).
         1. If recurring, is the problem with the whole series or just one instance?
         2. If single-instance, what is the date/time (including time zone)?
      5. Exact problem or error encountered.
      6. When the problem was first noticed.
      7. Name and alias for the affected user and their delegates.
      8. Any actions taken by anyone involved (such as update, accept, or BlackBerry, iPhone).
   7. In some cases there may be add-ins that contribute to the issue. A definitive list of add-ins can be provided from the registry in the following locations:

      HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\addins

      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Exchange\client\extensions

      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\addins

      In Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010 add-ins can be disabled by starting Outlook in Safe mode. Please note if the issue can be reproduced in Safe mode. In not, provide the list of add-ins in your escalation.

      In Outlook 2003, add-ins should be disabled manually by renaming the registry hive name. Please note if the issue can be reproduced with the add-ins manually disabled. In not, provide the list of add-ins in your escalation.

   8. If delegates are involved in the scenario, please provide the setting (checked/unchecked) for the Download shared folders option (Account Settings > More Settings).
5. It will be extremely helpful to have the appropriate client and device logging to ensure local information is captured to be used in the investigation. Client and device logging can be enabled without much impact to the end user and should be left enabled until the issue reoccurs and is captured with logging.
   1. Calendar logging can be enabled within Outlook.
      • Outlook 2010. What is the Enable logging (troubleshooting) option?
      • Outlook 2007. Description of the Calendar logging feature in Outlook
      • Outlook 2003. What is the Enable logging (troubleshooting) option?

      For calendar troubleshooting issues the following logs should be provided for analysis:

      %Temp%\Logcalb#

      %Temp%\OlkCalLogs\OLKCalLog_.etl

      Note The files are located in the client machine�s temporary directory. There will be multiple files depending on how long logging has been enabled.

   2. Logging for Exchange ActiveSync devices (Windows 7 Phones, iPhones and Android devices) can be enabled via Outlook Web App (OWA) in Exchange 2010 SP1.
      1. Log into OWA and choose Options in the top right of the window.
      2. Click See all Options.
      3. Click the Phone page.
      4. Click the Mobile Phone option.
      5. Highlight the appropriate device and choose Start Logging. When this is done, the server runs some Exchange Management Shell cmdlets that initiate Exchange Active Sync logging and tracks all interaction with the device.
      6. It is recommended to wait up to 3 minutes on a busy server to ensure the log has started and is ready to capture the problem being reproduced.
      7. When the logging starts, Start Logging changes to Retrieve Log.
      8. When clicking Retrieve Log, the logging is stopped and the log is e-mailed to the user. This information can be forwarded as appropriate.

         Note Once logging is enabled, the issue under investigation needs to reoccur. The logs will not be useful for analysis until the issue reoccurs.

Update Software

• Keep all Outlook clients updated with the latest Microsoft cumulative updates for Office/Outlook by running Windows Update.
• Exchange server should be up to date in order to avoid issues that may have been corrected in released Rollups or Service Packs.

 

Mobile Device Users

Users of BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Phone, Palm OS or other mobile devices should understand the interaction between their device and the Exchange Calendar. Very often users are synchronizing their mailbox and managing the calendar using mobile devices. For this reason it is also very important to update the software for these devices and 3rd party servers that are used for Exchange mailbox synchronization.

 

Outlook Client

• Software Version: Ensure that all users are running the same Outlook version, service pack and hotfixes when multiple users are working on the same calendar (for example while using delegation).
• Service Packs: When you use delegates in Outlook 2007, it is recommended that the manager or calendar owner and all the delegates use Outlook 2007 Service Pack 2.

 

Managing Invites

• Always process meeting invites from the Inbox folder.
  • When a recipient is invited to a meeting, an email message containing the meeting invite will appear in his Inbox folder.
  • At the same time the meeting will be placed in the Calendar as Tentative.
  • These operations are automatically made by Outlook and Exchange.
  • We recommend that the user that receives the meeting invite to process it using the meeting invite message (from Inbox).
  • We recommend to avoid deleting this message before processing the meeting. Deleting the meeting request message from Inbox before manually processing the meeting will delete also the Tentative meeting from your calendar.
  • Once the meeting is processed using the meeting invite message, you will see that the meeting will change from Tentative to Accepted.
• Process all meeting invites that you receive.
  • We recommend processing the meeting request by accepting, declining, etc.
  • This will inform the meeting organizer about your presence in the meeting or not (if you decline).
  • The same principle applies with updates for already accepted meetings.
  • Leaving the meeting as Tentative without processing it will potentially create conflicts and the information in your calendar won�t be accurate.
• Do not delete meetings from your calendar.
  • Once you have accepted a meeting and you are no longer able to participate do not delete the meeting from your calendar.
  • If you delete the meeting the organizer will not be informed that you declined the meeting and in his/her calendar you will still appear in the attendees list.
  • If you are not going to participate in a meeting that you previously accepted please use the Decline button to send the meeting cancellation message. Note: You will not receive any meeting updates for a meeting you declined.
  • When you decline a meeting the organizer will receive this message and you will be removed from the attendees list.
  • If you are not able to attend a meeting at the scheduled time you can use the Propose New Time feature of Outlook in order to inform the organizer.
  • Note: It is not possible to change the organizer of a meeting or recurring meeting.

 

Moving or Deleting a Meeting

Once a meeting was created (organizer) and accepted (attendees) it may be necessary to modify the time/date/etc.

• If you are the meeting organizer make your changes and make sure that you use the Send Update button in order to inform all attendees.
• If you are an invitee/attendee to this meeting, follow the best practices for managing calendar items as described above.

 

Accepting Meeting Cancellations

If you receive a meeting cancellation message, open the message and click Remove from Calendar. This ensures that the meeting is removed from the calendar in order to avoid a situation where a meeting was cancelled but still appears on your calendar.

 

Managing Recurring Meetings

In order to have a recurring meeting you will need to add a recurrence for it. This means that the meeting will take place according to the frequency you set (Daily/Weekly/Monthly/Yearly). You also have the option to set the range of recurrence:

• Start date.
• No end date.
• End After: Number of occurrences.
• End By: In this field, you can enter a date.

  We recommend using an End Date for a recurring meeting.

 

Recurring Meeting Exceptions

A recurring meeting exception is in fact an occurrence that is modified (date/time). A recurring meeting exception has essentially been converted to a single-occurrence meeting and will no longer correspond to the recurrence pattern.

 

Deleting a recurring meeting as organizer

• Do not delete the meeting from your calendar.
  • In order to delete a recurring meeting you will need to open the series (if you open the occurrence you will cancel only that occurrence) and click Cancel Meeting (this is the option for Outlook 2007).
  • The next step is to send this information to all attendees in order to update also their calendar. To do this, click Send Cancellation.
  • Attendees receive in their Inbox the cancellation message and have the ability to remove the meeting from their calendar by clicking Remove from Calendar.
• Note When cancelling a recurring meeting using the method above, all occurrences for the meeting are deleted.

Note This is a "FAST PUBLISH" article created directly from within the Microsoft support organization. The information contained herein is provided as-is in response to emerging issues. As a result of the speed in making it available, the materials may include typographical errors and may be revised at any time without notice. See Terms of Use for other considerations.