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Office 365

How To Create a Shared Calendar in Outlook & Microsoft 365?

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How do I create a shared calendar for sharing in Outlook? 

If you would like to create a separate calendar in Exchange you need to use Microsoft Outlook 2007 or later. Other users that want to view your new shared calendar will need to use Microsoft Outlook or the Outlook Web App in Microsoft 365.

Scroll down or click each version to go directly to those instructions.

How to create a shared calendar in Outlook 2013, 2016, 2019?

  1. Open Outlook and choose Calendar at the bottom of the navigation screen

  2. From your Calendar folder, on the Home menu, select Share Calendar.

    Share your calendar with another person.

  3. Choose the calendar you want to share from the drop-down menu.

  4. In the Calendar Properties dialog box, click Add.

  5. You can search for people from your address book or type in their email addresses in the Add box. When you’re done adding names in the Add Users dialog box, click OK.

  6. Back in the Calendar Properties dialog box, select the person’s name or email address, then choose the level of details that you want to share with the person, then click OK.

    Choose the permissions for each person.

  7. The person you’ve shared your calendar with will receive a sharing invitation by email.

  8. Once the recipient clicks Accept, they’ll see your shared calendar in their calendar list.

I see a “This calendar can’t be shared” error

If you see a message that says This calendar can’t be shared, there are three possible reasons.

  • The email address is invalid.

  • The email address is a Microsoft 365 Group

  • The email belongs to an external user who isn’t part of your organization.

What permissions people have to your calendar

You can choose from several different permission levels when sharing your calendar.

  • Can view when I’m busy. Those sharing your calendar with this permission level can only see which times you’re available, like this:

    What your calendar looks like to the person you shared it with.

  • Can view titles and locations. Those sharing your calendar with this permission level will see availability and the subject and meeting location, like this:

    What your calendar looks like to a user when you share it with limited details.

  • Can view all details. Those sharing your calendar with this permission level will see all details of your appointments, just like what you see.

Stop sharing your calendar

At any time you can revoke access to your calendar. Note that it may take a while for Microsoft 365 and the user’s Outlook to sync and remove the view to your calendar.

  1. Click Calendar.

  2. Click Home > Calendar Permissions.

  3. On the Permissions tab, click the user’s name and then choose Remove.

  4. Click OK.

Share a calendar by publishing it to a web page

If you have access to a web server that supports the World Wide Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) protocol, you can publish your calendar there.

Note: Not sure if your server supports WebDAV? Your server administrator or internet service provider (ISP) should be able to tell you.

  1. Click Calendar.

    Calendar command

  2. Click Home > Publish Online > Publish to WebDAV Server.

    Notes: 

    • If your email account uses Exchange, you will see Publish This Calendar, instead of the option to publish to a WebDAV server. This lets you publish your calendar directly to an Exchange Server. In the window that opens, select the publishing options you want, and click Start Publishing.

    • If you’re using Microsoft 365, you can still publish your calendar to a WebDAV server, but you must first remove {Anonymous:CalendarSharingFreeBusySimple} from the sharing policy. This will prevent you from publishing your calendar to Exchange in the future, however. 

  3. In the Location box, enter the location of the WebDAV server, select any other publishing options you want, and then click OK.

Share your calendar in an email

If you don’t want to give someone permissions to share your calendar and see updates, you can email a static copy of your calendar for a specific date range. The recipient will be able to see the events on your calendar at the time you sent the email, but not any updates you make after you send the email.

Note: This feature is no longer available with Outlook for Microsoft 365.  

  1. Click Calendar.

    Calendar command

  2. Click Home > E-mail Calendar.

    On the Home tab, click E-mail Calendar

  3. In the Calendar and Date Range boxes, pick the calendar and time period you want to share. For example, choose Today only or for the Next 7 days.

    In the Calendar and Date Range boxes, pick the options you want

  4. Set any other options you want, and then click OK.

  5. In the new email that opens, add who you want the message to go to in the To field, add a message if you want, and click Send.

The person you sent your calendar to will see a snapshot of your calendar in the message.

Example of a calendar shared in an email

The message also includes an attached iCalendar (.ics) file that they can open in Outlook or another calendar program. When the recipient clicks the iCalendar file, Outlook displays the file as a new calendar that they can view side-by-side with their calendar. They can drag appointments or meetings between the two calendars, and find a time that works for both of you.

Fix issues sharing your calendar

If you don’t have the option to share your calendar (it’s greyed out), it’s because the admin/IT support for your business has set a policy to prevent the people from sharing calendars.

Creating a shared calendar in Microsoft 365 – Outlook Web App

  1. Sign into webmail and click Calendar on the blue bar at the top
  2. At the bottom of the page, select Calendar to go to Calendar.
  3. In Calendar, on the toolbar at the top of the page, select Share, and choose the calendar you want to share.
    A screenshot of the Share button
    Note: You can’t share calendars owned by other people.
  4. Enter the name or email address of the person you want to share your calendar with.
  5. Choose how you want the person to use your calendar:
    • Can view when I’m busy lets them see when you’re busy but doesn’t include details like the event location.
    • Can view titles and locations lets them see when you’re busy, as well as the title and location of events.
    • Can view all details lets them see all the details of your events.
    • Can edit lets them edit your calendar.
    • Delegate lets them edit your calendar and share it with others.
  6. Select Share. If you decide not to share your calendar right now, select.

    Notes: 

    • When sharing your calendar with someone who’s not using Outlook on the web, for example, someone using Gmail, they’ll only be able to accept the invitation using a Microsoft 365 or an Outlook.com account.
    • ICS calendars are read-only, so even if you grant edit access to other people, they won’t be able to edit your calendar.
    • How often your ICS calendar syncs depends on the email provider of the person you’ve shared it with.
    • Calendar items marked private are protected. Most people you share your calendar with see only the time of items marked private, not the title, location, or other details. Recurring series marked as private will also show the recurrence pattern.

How to share contacts in Outlook 2016 and Office 365?

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How to share contacts in Outlook 2016 and Office 365 with specific people in your organization

Knowing how to share contacts in Outlook 2016 and Office 365 can be a huge timesaver for companies of any size.

The default Contacts folder in Outlook is created in each Outlook profile. This folder can’t be renamed or deleted. You might have additional contact folders. You can share any of these folders by doing the following:

  1. In People, in the folder pane, click the contact folder that you want to share with a person in your organization.
  2. Click Home. Then, in the Share group, click Share Contacts.Shared contacts button
  3. In the To box, enter the name of the recipient for the sharing invitation message. If you want to, you can change the Subject.How to share contacts in Outlook 2016 and Office 365
  4. If you want to, request permission to view the recipient’s default People folder. To do so, select the Request permission to view recipient’s Contacts folder check box.

    NOTE: If you want to request access to a contacts folder other than the recipient’s default People folder, you must send an email message that asks for permissions to that particular folder. This option only requests access to the recipient’s default People folder.

  5. In the message body, type any information that you want to include, and then click Send. Review the confirmation dialog box, and then if correct, click OK.
  6. The person in your organization receives the sharing invitation in email, and clicks Open this Contacts folder.Received share contacts invitation inside your organization

Share with specific people outside your organization

The default Contacts folder in Outlook is created in each Outlook profile. This folder can’t be renamed or deleted. You might have additional contact folders. You can share any of these folders by doing the following:

  1. In People, in the folder pane, click the contact folder that you want to share with a person outside your organization.
  2. Click Home. Then, in the Share group, click Share Contacts.Shared contacts button
  3. In the To box, enter the name of the recipient for the sharing invitation message. If you want to, you can change the Subject.Draft share contacts invitation outside your organization
  4. If you want to, request permission to view the recipient’s default People folder. To do so, select the Request permission to view recipient’s Contacts folder check box.

    NOTE: If you want to request access to a contacts folder other than the recipient’s default People folder, you must send an email message that asks for permission to that particular folder. This option only requests access to the recipient’s default People folder.

  5. In the message body, type any information that you want to include, and then click Send. Review the confirmation dialog box, and then if correct, click OK. If the following error displays when you try to send the sharing invitation, sharing contacts with people outside of your organization is not supported by the sharing policy for your organization. Only an admin in your organization can change the sharing policy for your organization. For more information, see the end of this section.Error message when you try to share contacts outside your organization
  6. The person outside your organization receives the sharing invitation in email and clicks Open this Contacts folder.Received share contacts invitation outside your organization

If you receive an error when you try to share your contacts with someone outside your organization, contact the person that manages your email account.

Share a contacts folder with everyone

  1. In People, in the folder pane, click Contacts.
  2. Click Folder. Then, in the Properties group, click Folder Permissions.
  3. In the Name box, click Default.
  4. Under Permissions, in the Permission Level list, click Publishing Editor or any of the other options.

Revoke or change other people’s access

To change or revoke someone’s access permissions to your contacts folders, do the following:

  1. In People, in the Folder Pane, click the contacts folder for which you want to change permissions.
  2. Click Folder. Then, in the Properties group, click Folder Permissions.
  3. On the Permissions tab, do one of the following:
    • Revoke or change access permissions for everyone      In the Name box, click Default.. Under Permissions, in the Permission Level list, click None to revoke permissions or any of the other options to change permissions.
    • Revoke or change access permissions for one person       In the Name box, click the name of the person whose access permissions you want to change. Under Permissions, in the Permission Levellist, click None to revoke permissions or any of the other options to change permissions.Contact folder properties permissions tab
  4. Click OK.

Folder sharing permissions

With this permission level (or role) You can
Owner Create, read, change, and delete all items and files, and create subfolders. As the folder owner, you can change the permission levels that other people have for the folder. (Doesn’t apply to delegates.)
Publishing Editor Create, read, change, and delete all items and files, and create subfolders. (Doesn’t apply to delegates.)
Editor Create, read, change, and delete all items and files.
Publishing Author Create and read items and files, create subfolders, and change and delete items and files that you create. (Doesn’t apply to delegates.)
Author Create and read items and files, and change and delete items and files that you create.
Nonediting Author Create and read items and files, and delete items and files that you create.
Reviewer Read items and files only.
Contributor Create items and files only. The contents of the folder don’t appear. (Does not apply to delegates.)
None You have no permission. You can’t open the folder.

You can create custom permissions by selecting the appropriate check boxes and options under Permissions.

How Office 365 Improves Productivity

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As a business professional, Office 365 is what you need to get the most productivity out of your devices. More companies than ever are using it for accomplishing goals and gaining an edge on their competition. Yet employees are not taking full advantage of the tools that can maximize their productivity.

Your time is valuable. By understanding ways to use Office 365, you can learn how to best manage your time, collaborate with colleagues, streamline your work environment and achieve more.

6 Ways to Maximize Productivity Using Office 365

Access Anywhere at Anytime

Today’s business takes you on the go and you need to access your files everywhere along the way. With Office 365, you can access files in the Cloud on any device and at any moment. For example, users can access their account through their PC, tablet and mobile devices. With mobile device management (MDM) you can connect quickly and security. And you have an additional level of security with Data Loss Prevention.

Share Files and Calendars Easily

Having access to the Cloud and multiple applications like OneDrive, OneNote and SharePoint allows you to share simply and easily with multi-person simultaneous editing capabilities. There is no more time wasted by saving, uploading and emailing a file to a colleague, only to wait for a response. The applications are straightforward with users simply right-clicking to share files internally and working collaboratively on a document. Imagine the potential increase in productivity when you can click on a file in Word, Excel or PowerPoint and share it with a colleague who can work on it at the same time.

Improve Communication

It wasn’t that long ago that people talked about the humor in sending a text message to a coworker in the next cubicle, but now it’s even easier to converse directly on your device. Use Yammer integrated with OneNote to establish groups for your teams on various projects and converse easily within the group. Your group can share conversations, combine calendars, exchange files and take and share notes.

Resume Reading Where You Left Off

The Resume Reading feature in Word allows you to pick up where you left off, even on different devices. Word automatically bookmarks the last page you were reading. You can check out, edit and upload changes to a document on one device, head into a meeting, and then connect on another device later to continue where you left off.

Get Functionality

Skype for Business offers great functionality with Office 365. Any sized business can benefit from the ease of using productivity tools for video conferencing, online meetings and instant messaging. Connect with one or more contacts in real time, on any device,  and on a moment’s notice. It’s that simple.

In-sync emails

With your emails being stored in the Cloud with Outlook, it is synced with all your devices. No matter where you’re logged in, you will get access to everything you sent and received. There is no more worrying about which device to retrieve an email on or cc’ing yourself. And to improve the efficiency of sorting through your email, you get Clutter to help filter low priority messages. Plus, your emails are backed up in case your computer crashes.

Office 365 is more critical to business success than ever before. Many of our clients are benefiting from it with increased productivity. If you want to learn more about how your organization can benefit, contact Boost IT at 404-865-1289 or info@boostitco.com.

Dropbox Duplicate Files Problem: SOLVED

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Dropbox Duplicate Files Problem
Dropbox Duplicate Files Problem

What is the Dropbox Duplicate Files Problem?

  • If two people change the same file at the same time, Dropbox won’t merge the changes. Instead, it saves the original file and creates a second version which has the same name but is appended with “conflicted copy”.
  • Dropbox claims that “By creating a conflicted file, Dropbox ensures that all changes are preserved and nobody will overwrite another person’s hard work.”
  • The Problem is that Julie has just lost two hours of spreadsheet work since James was working on that spreadsheet at the same time.
  • Now Julie has to manually compare her copy and merge her changes manually with James’ copy, wasting hours of precious time.

Why companies continue to use the software despite the Dropbox duplicate files problem?

  1. We are coming across more companies where managers, directors, or execs don’t know their employees are all struggling with Dropbox.
  2. Companies don’t realize that there are business-grade file sync and share programs that have already solved this problem.
  3. They think alternatives are too hard to implement. Not so. The software can be mass deployed, quickly, and your team already knows how to use file sharing software.

found-conflicted-files

How to Solve the Dropbox Duplicate Files Problem?

Dropbox’s answer:
  1. One workaround is to move the file out of the Dropbox folder while editing it. Once you’re done editing, you can move the file back into its original location in the Dropbox folder. It will reappear with your edits for all users who have file access.
  2. Another option is to move the file into a second folder designated for “In Use” files. Other members of the shared folder can still access it if they need to, but will know not to make changes.

Dropbox duplicate files help article

Boost IT’s Answer:

We don’t do workarounds.  We implement permanent solutions that keep your entire company productive and efficient.  We believe “workarounds” mean someone isn’t doing what they should be doing.

RocketSync is the permanent solution.

  • RocketSync works with or without a server
  • It’s easy to deploy across the entire company
  • It shows a lock icon over any open file
  • Users can lock the file for a period of time, or manually lock and unlock the file
  • Files can be shared with people outside your company
  • Team Share folders can be created & shared for group access
Read more about RocketSync here and tell your colleagues that better options exist.

Top 3 Security Flaws with File Sharing Software

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Top 3 Security Flaws with File Sharing Software

Can you imagine working in today’s business environment without the ability to easily share files across any platform at any time? The days of thumb drives and other physical data transportation means are almost gone. While the need for data sharing will always exist, as file syncing and sharing (FS&S) platforms continue to evolve, the way we share will need to change. You should know the top 3 security flaws with file sharing software before you start saving and sharing important data with colleagues, especially if you have compliance requirements.

While that introduction paints a rather rosy picture for the world of file sharing tools, like Dropbox, there are inherent issues with this way of sharing files with one another. In fact, this past Monday, news broke that nearly 7 million usernames and passwords connected to Dropbox were compromised. Although Dropbox denies it was hacked, the incident demonstrates the difficulty of striking the right balance of security, collaboration and ease of use in a solution. It’s important that businesses are informed of the common issues with today’s FS&S (file syncing and sharing) platforms so that they’re not putting data at risk and ultimately damaging a business’ bottom line and/or reputation.

Here are a few of the potential trouble spots for FS&S platforms that you should be aware of:

1. Cyber Security

Nothing online is ever 100% secure. We’ve seen this many times over with Target credit card breach, Heartbleed Open SSL vulnerability, Cryptolocker ransomware, as well as others just reported in the last year. However, there are proactive measures that can be taken to help minimize these risks.

That said, the very open nature of services like Dropbox carry security risks that should make most businesses a bit leery of using these services for company files, especially those companies who must be HIPAA compliant. Passwords in personal Dropbox accounts are not monitored like those on a corporate network and can be more susceptible to hackers.

It’s a serious risk that needs to be fully vetted. Under the harsh light of cyber reality, services like Dropbox may not make the grade.

2. Increased Endpoints

In the new age of BYOD (bring your own device), the number of access points to company data has increased exponentially. Employees can now access company files from their personal devices, which has many benefits and helps increase employee productivity.

The problem is that not all companies have proper tracking and management over these devices. What if an iPhone is lost or stolen? Who now has access to those confidential files? A good mobile device management software/platform can dramatically reduce risks.

With many FS&S platforms, all it takes is a link to view a shared folder. If an authorized person sees that link in an email, they have full access to that data.

In addition, an employee landing on a malicious site on their smartphone could again expose any passwords to the FS&S platform. And on top of that, it’s much easier to shoulder surf and steal a password just by watching on mobile devices because there is a preview of the hidden characters when typing on a touch keyboard.

There are a number of concerns that should be considered when accessing confidential data on mobile devices. Make sure you’ve considered these risks before setting up shared access on mobile devices, and at a minimum, make sure you consider a MDM (mobile device management) solution in case devices are lost or stolen.

3. User error

Is there any scenario in any IT environment where user error is not a risk? Once users are off the range (in this case your office network) the chances increase practically exponentially. Imagine the scenario of a corporate user sharing a link with the wrong contact. It’s very easy to have two contacts named “Mike” in your address book and select the wrong one when sending an email.

Many people in business have friendships with individuals at direct competitors. Something could innocently be shared with another who works for a competitor and suddenly that friendship is less important than the competitive advantage that has been gained.

Make sure that whatever system you’re using to collaborate has security measures in place that can lock down data so no unwanted eyes gain access.

Conclusion

When it comes to choosing a file syncing and file sharing software, get educated. It’s important to be aware of all the benefits and risks of the platforms you’re assessing. Striking the right balance of security and collaboration can be difficult, and many times, businesses aren’t aware of the major security flaws in the platform that they end up choosing.

Be sure you’re doing your due diligence in selecting a collaboration platform and that you know what to look for. If you get to know the top 3 security flaws with file sharing software before you start saving and sharing important data with colleagues, you will be much more aware of risks to your business data.