How to set up and manage working hours and availability in Microsoft Outlook

Summary

This guide helps you troubleshoot and resolve: How to set up and manage working hours and availability in Microsoft Outlook. Follow the steps below to fix the issue.

Common Causes

Setting your working hours in Microsoft Outlook ensures that colleagues and external contacts see your true availability when sending meeting invites. This is especially important for small business and home office users across Australia, where flexible schedules are common. This guide walks you through configuring your working hours, adjusting your calendar visibility, and troubleshooting common availability issues in both the Outlook desktop app and Outlook on the web.

Quick Fix Steps

If you need to update your working hours quickly in the Outlook desktop application, follow these steps:

1. Open Outlook and click on the File tab in the top left corner.
2. Select Options at the bottom left of the screen.
3. In the Outlook Options window, select Calendar from the left-hand menu.
4. Locate the Work time section.
5. Set your Start time and End time using the dropdown menus.
6. Tick the checkboxes for your standard working days (e.g., Monday to Friday).
7. Click OK to save your changes.

Detailed Instructions

Setting Working Hours in Outlook on the Web

If you primarily use Outlook through your web browser, you will need to configure your availability settings through the web portal. Changes made here sync directly to your Microsoft 365 account.

1. Navigate to outlook.office.com and sign in with your 220 Internet Services credentials.
2. Click the Settings gear icon in the top right corner of the screen.
3. Select Calendar from the left navigation pane.
4. Click on Working hours.
5. Under Set your work days and hours, adjust the sliders or dropdowns to reflect your standard schedule.
6. Tick the boxes next to the days you work.
7. Click Save at the bottom of the pane.

Configuring Scheduling Poll Availability

Microsoft introduced Scheduling Polls (formerly FindTime) to help coordinate meetings across multiple attendees. To ensure the poll suggests accurate times, you must define your specific availability for polls.

1. In Outlook on the web, click the Settings gear icon.
2. Go to Mail > Compose and reply.
3. Scroll down to the Scheduling Poll section.
4. Define your Available hours for meetings. This can differ slightly from your standard calendar working hours if you prefer to block out mornings for focused work.
5. Choose your preferred Meeting duration increments.
6. Click Save.

Adjusting Free/Busy and Calendar Permissions

Setting your working hours does not automatically restrict people from booking you outside those times. You must also ensure your calendar sharing permissions are configured correctly so others can see your availability.

1. Open Outlook on the web and click on the Calendar icon.
2. Right-click your primary calendar under Your calendars and select Sharing and permissions.
3. Review the list of users who have access. Ensure their permission level is set to Can view when I'm busy or Can view titles and locations.
4. To restrict external users from seeing detailed availability, remove their access by clicking the Trash can icon next to their name.
5. Click Close to apply the changes.

Troubleshooting

Working Hours Not Syncing Across Devices

If you update your working hours on your desktop but they do not reflect in Outlook on the web (or vice versa), there may be a caching issue or a profile sync delay.

• Close and reopen the Outlook desktop application.
• Check your connection status by looking at the bottom right corner of the Outlook window. It should read Connected to Microsoft Exchange.
• Force a manual update by pressing F9 to send and receive all folders.

Scheduling Poll Shows Incorrect Timezone

Sometimes Scheduling Polls default to UTC or a US timezone, causing confusion for Australian attendees. This usually occurs if your mailbox region is not set correctly in your Microsoft 365 profile.

1. Sign in to portal.office.com.
2. Click the Settings gear icon in the top right.
3. Select Change app settings at the bottom.
4. Under the General tab, ensure the Time zone is set to (UTC+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney or (UTC+10:00) Brisbane depending on your location.
5. Click Save and close.

Outlook Desktop Crashes When Opening Calendar Options

If Outlook freezes when you try to access the Calendar options to change your working hours, your Outlook profile may be corrupted.

1. Close Outlook completely.
2. Open the Windows Control Panel and search for Mail.
3. Click on Mail (Microsoft Outlook).
4. Click Show Profiles.
5. Create a new profile by clicking Add, name it, and set it as the default profile.
6. Reopen Outlook and sign in with your 220 Internet Services account credentials.

Accurately configured working hours prevent accidental out-of-hours bookings and ensure Scheduling Polls only suggest times you are genuinely available. If you continue to experience issues with calendar syncing or availability across your organisation, please Open a Ticket and our support team will assist you.

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