How to set up and use Scheduling Polls in Microsoft Outlook

Summary

This guide helps you troubleshoot and resolve: How to set up and use Scheduling Polls in Microsoft Outlook. Follow the steps below to fix the issue.

Common Causes

Scheduling Polls (formerly known as FindTime) is a powerful Microsoft 365 feature that allows you to propose multiple meeting time options to attendees. Instead of sending several emails back and forth to find a suitable slot, attendees vote on their preferred times, and the meeting is automatically scheduled once a consensus is reached.

How to Create a Scheduling Poll

You can initiate a poll directly from your Outlook email composition window. This ensures the poll is linked to the conversation regarding the meeting.

1. Open Outlook and click New Email or reply to an existing thread.
2. Add the attendees in the To field. This is required so Outlook knows whose calendars to analyse.
3. Navigate to the Insert tab on the top ribbon.
4. Click on Scheduling Poll. A side pane will open on the right side of your screen.
5. Select the Duration of the meeting (e.g., 30 minutes, 1 hour).
6. Review the suggested time slots. Outlook will highlight times where you and your internal colleagues are free.
7. Select several time options that work for you by clicking on the time slots. Selected slots will be highlighted in blue.
8. Once you have selected your preferred options, click Next.
9. Review the poll settings:
   • Schedule when all attendees agree: Automatically sends the invite once everyone agrees on a time.
   • Notify me when attendees vote: Sends you an email update for every vote cast.
10. Click Insert to email. This places a professional invitation link into your email body.
11. Send the email to your attendees.

Managing Your Polls

Tracking Votes

You do not need to manually track who has responded. You can monitor the progress via the Outlook web app or the Scheduling Poll dashboard.

• Open the original email sent with the poll.
• Click the View Results link within the email body.
• You will see a grid showing which attendees have voted for which time slots.

Finalising the Meeting

If you enabled automatic scheduling, Outlook will handle the calendar invite. If you disabled it, you must manually select the winning slot and click Book Meeting to send the final calendar invitation to all parties.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

The Scheduling Poll button is missing

If you cannot see the Scheduling Poll option in the Insert tab, check the following:

• Account Type: Ensure you are signed into a Microsoft 365 Business or Enterprise account. This feature is not available for some basic personal Outlook.com accounts.
• Outlook Version: Ensure your Outlook client is up to date. If using the desktop app, try checking the Outlook Web App (OWA) to see if the feature is available there.
• Add-in Status: Some organisations disable third-party add-ins. If the button is missing, please Open a Ticket so we can verify your licence permissions.

Attendees cannot see my availability

External attendees (people outside your organisation) cannot see your specific calendar details for privacy reasons. They will only see the time slots you specifically proposed in the poll.

Poll link is not working

If an attendee reports that the link is broken or leads to an error page:

1. Verify that the email was not altered by a security filter or spam folder.
2. Ask the user to try opening the link in an Incognito or Private browser window to rule out cache issues.
3. If the issue persists, you may need to delete the poll and create a new one.

Still Having Issues?