How to control Outlook recurrence patterns using Group Policy

Original KB number:   2548319

Summary

By default, recurring appointments, meetings, and tasks created by Microsoft Outlook have the No end date option enabled and have the default number of occurrences to end after set to 10. An example of these settings in a new meeting is shown in the following figure.

Screenshot of Appointments Recurrence settings window.

This article describes how to use Group Policy templates for Outlook 2003 and later versions so that you can make the following changes to recurring items:

  • Disable the No end date option for appointments, meetings, and tasks.
  • Configure the default number of days for the recurrence period of appointments and meetings.

More information

To configure recurrence settings in Outlook by using custom Group Policy templates, follow these steps:

  1. Download and extract the custom Group Policy template for your version of Outlook from the Microsoft Download Center:

    Important

    This step is not required for Outlook 2013 and later versions, as the recurrence administration settings are included in the main template.

  2. If you do not already have the main Group Policy template for your version of Outlook, download and extract the latest template from the Microsoft Download Center:

  3. If it is necessary, add the template file that you downloaded in step 2 to your domain controller.

    Outlook 2016 and Outlook 2019 = Outlk16.admx, Outlk16.adml
    Outlook 2013 = Outlk15.admx, Outlk15.adml
    Outlook 2010 = Outlk14.adm
    Outlook 2007 = Outlk12.adm
    Outlook 2003 = Outlk11.adm

    Note

    The steps to add the template file to a domain controller vary, depending on the version of Windows that you are running. Also, because you may be applying the policy to an organizational unit (OU) and not to the whole domain, the steps may vary in this aspect of applying a policy. Therefore, check your Windows documentation for more information.

  4. Add the custom Group Policy template that you downloaded in step 1 to your domain controller.

    Important

    This step is not required for Outlook 2013 and later versions, as the recurrence administration settings are included in the main template.

    Outlook 2010 = OLK14-RecurrenceAdministration.adm
    Outlook 2007 = OLK12-RecurrenceAdministration.adm
    Outlook 2003 = OLK11-RecurrenceAdministration.adm

    Note

    The steps to add the .adm file to a domain controller vary, depending on the version of Windows that you are running. Also, because you may be applying the policy to an organizational unit (OU) and not to the whole domain, the steps may vary in this aspect of applying a policy. Therefore, check your Windows documentation for more information.

  5. Locate the policy node, depending on your Outlook version.

    For Outlook 2013 and later versions:

    Under User Configuration, expand Administrative Templates, expand your version of Microsoft Outlook, expand Outlook Options, expand Preferences, expand Calendar Options, and then select Recurring item configuration.

    For Outlook 2010:

    Under User Configuration, expand Classic Administration Templates (ADM), expand Microsoft Outlook 2010, expand Outlook Options, expand Preferences, expand Calendar Options, and then select Recurring item configuration.

    For Outlook 2007 and earlier versions:

    Under User Configuration, expand Classic Administration Templates (ADM), expand your version of Microsoft Outlook, expand Tools | Options, expand Preferences, expand Calendar Options, and then select Recurring item configuration.

  6. Double-click the Disable the "No end date" option for recurring items policy to configure this policy.

  7. In the dialog box for the policy, select Enabled to enable the policy.

    Screenshot of Disable the No end date option for recurring items dialog box.

    Important

    This will disable the No end date option for new recurring items.

  8. Select OK.

  9. Double-click the Specify total number of days in a recurring meeting or appointment policy to configure this policy.

    Using this policy, you can specify the default number of days after which a recurring meeting or appointment (not task) will end. When this policy is enabled, the End by setting in the recurrence pattern is used as the default configuration for a recurring meeting. Therefore, depending on your recurrence pattern (daily, weekly, monthly), the number of meetings that occur during this period can vary. For example, if you specify a value of 180 and today's date is May 5, 2011, the End by value will show Tue 11/1/2011 (180 days after today). If you select Weekly for the recurrence pattern, you will get 26 meetings during this timeframe. However, if you specify Monthly for the recurrence pattern, you will only get six meetings during this timeframe.

  10. In the dialog box for the policy, select Enabled to enable the policy. Then, specify the number of days after which the recurrence period ends and then select OK.

    Screenshot of the Specify total number of days in a recurring meeting or appointment dialog box.

The following registry data is associated with the policies discussed in this article:

  • Disable the No end date option for recurring items

    Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\x.0\Outlook\Preferences
    DWORD: DisableRecurNoEnd
    Value: 1 = policy enabled, 0 = policy not enabled

  • Specify total number of days in a recurring meeting or appointment

    Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\x.0\Outlook\Options\Calendar
    DWORD: RecurrencesDefault
    Value: integer value between 2 and 720

Note

The x.0 placeholder represents your version of Office.

Outlook 2016 and Outlook 2019: x.0 = 16.0
Outlook 2013: x.0 = 15.0
Outlook 2010: x.0 = 14.0
Outlook 2007: x.0 = 12.0
Outlook 2003: x.0 = 11.0

For more information, see You cannot disable the "No end date" option for appointments, meeting requests, tasks, or task requests in Outlook 2007.