How to Sync Your Outlook Calendar with iPhone or iPad

To sync your Outlook calendar with your iPhone, add your Outlook account to the iPhone. Go to Settings > Apps > Calendar > Calendar Accounts > Add Account, choose Outlook.com or Microsoft Exchange, sign in, and turn on Calendars. Your Outlook events then show up in the iPhone Calendar app, and events you add or change sync both ways.

These steps are for iPhones on iOS 27, and they match iOS 26 and iOS 18, which use the same Settings > Apps layout. They also work on an iPad with current iPadOS. They cover personal Outlook.com, Hotmail, and Live accounts and work or school Microsoft 365 (Exchange) accounts. The menu names come from Microsoft’s Connect Outlook and Apple iPhone calendars and Apple’s Set up mail, contacts, and calendar accounts on iPhone and Exchange ActiveSync pages.

Pick the Right Method

Method	Best for	Can you edit events on the iPhone?
Add the account in Settings	Seeing Outlook events in Apple’s Calendar app, widgets, and Siri	Yes, changes sync both ways
The Outlook app	Keeping work mail and calendar in one app, or when your company requires it	Yes, inside the Outlook app
Subscribe to a published calendar	Viewing a calendar you can’t sign in to, such as a team or club calendar	No, it’s read-only
iCloud for Windows	Showing your iPhone’s iCloud calendar inside classic Outlook on a PC	Yes, through iCloud

Most people want the first method. If your Outlook account is from work and sign-in fails, skip to the Outlook app section.

Before You Start

• Know your account type. A personal address that ends in outlook.com, hotmail.com, or live.com uses Outlook.com. An address from your employer or school uses Microsoft Exchange.
• Have your password ready, plus your phone or authenticator app if the account uses two-step verification.
• Stay connected. The iPhone downloads your events over Wi-Fi or mobile data.
• Work accounts only: Apple says that if you’re not in a familiar location, you have to turn off Stolen Device Protection before you add an Exchange account, then turn it back on afterward.

How to Add Your Outlook Calendar to iPhone

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down, tap Apps, then tap Calendar.
3. Tap Calendar Accounts. If your Outlook account is already listed because you use it for Mail, tap it and skip to step 7.
4. Tap Add Account.
5. Tap Outlook.com for a personal account, or Microsoft Exchange for a work or school account.
6. Sign in with your Microsoft email address and password, and approve any two-step verification prompt. If asked to let iOS access your account, tap Yes or Accept.
7. Make sure Calendars is turned on (the switch is green). Turn off anything you don’t want on the iPhone, such as Mail or Contacts.
8. Tap Save if you see it. Your Outlook events start downloading to the Calendar app.

On iOS 17 and earlier, there is no Apps menu, so in step 2, scroll down and tap Calendar on the main Settings screen.

The first sync can take a few minutes for a busy calendar. Leave the phone on Wi-Fi while it finishes.

Sync an Outlook Calendar With iPad

The iPad uses the same menus. Go to Settings > Apps > Calendar > Calendar Accounts > Add Account, choose Outlook.com or Microsoft Exchange, sign in, and turn on Calendars. Apple shows this in its iPad account-setup guide. Each device needs its own setup, so adding the account on your iPhone doesn’t add it to your iPad.

On an iPad you can also keep Calendar and Mail side by side while you plan events from email.

Once your Outlook events sync, you can turn off Calendar notifications on iPad if the reminders get to be too much.

Show Your Outlook Calendar in the Calendar App

1. Open the Calendar app.
2. Tap Calendars at the bottom of the screen.
3. Find the section with your Outlook email address and check the calendars you want to see. An account can have more than one, such as Calendar and Birthdays.
4. Tap Done. Your Outlook events appear alongside your iCloud and other calendars, each in its own color.

The same Calendars list is where you can remove holidays from the iPhone Calendar if an Outlook or Apple holiday calendar clutters your view.

Choose Which Calendar New Events Go To

New events you create on the iPhone go to your default calendar. If that’s an iCloud calendar, they won’t show up in Outlook on your computer.

1. Go to Settings > Apps > Calendar.
2. Tap Default Calendar.
3. Pick the calendar under your Outlook account.

New events now land in Outlook. You can also change the calendar for a single event while you create it by tapping Calendar on the new event screen. Once your events are on your iPhone, you can also learn how to change iPhone Calendar alert settings.

Work and School (Exchange) Accounts

Apple’s Exchange ActiveSync article adds a few details for work accounts. You can also start the setup from Settings > Apps > Mail > Mail Accounts > Add Account > Microsoft Exchange. It’s the same account, so pick one place.

• Sign in automatically or manually. After you enter your email address, tap Sign In to find your account settings automatically. If your organization uses modern authentication, you’re sent through its own sign-in page. Configure Manually may ask for server details that only your Exchange administrator can give you.
• Choose what to sync. You can sync Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, and Notes. Turn on only what you want, then tap Save.
• Out-of-office replies. In the Exchange account settings under Mail Accounts, Automatic Reply sets out-of-office messages. You can set out of office in Outlook on a computer instead.
• Company rules. Your organization can require you to approve the iPhone, enroll it in a management app, or use the Outlook app instead of Apple’s apps. If the sign-in keeps failing, ask your IT team before trying again.

If you later replace the phone, learn how to stop an old device from syncing with Outlook.com.

Another Option: the Outlook App

If you’d rather keep work email and calendar separate from Apple’s apps, or your company requires it, use Microsoft’s app. The steps below follow Set up the Outlook app for iOS:

1. Install Microsoft Outlook from the App Store and open it.
2. Tap Add Account. If Outlook suggests your account, tap Continue. Otherwise tap Skip and enter your email address.
3. Enter your password and follow the prompts, including any two-step verification.
4. Tap the Calendar icon at the bottom of the app to see your events.

Some work accounts also need the Intune Company Portal and Microsoft Authenticator apps, and you may be asked to tap Register or set a PIN. Also, IMAP and POP accounts added to the Outlook app sync email only, not calendars.

Pick one method per account. If you add the same Outlook account in Settings and also read it in the Outlook app, that’s fine, but don’t add it twice in Settings, or each event shows up twice in the Calendar app.

View a Published Outlook Calendar (Read-Only)

If you only need to see a calendar, such as a shared team schedule, its owner can publish it from Outlook on the web. Microsoft’s calendar sharing steps are Settings > Shared calendars > Publish a calendar, then choose the calendar and how much detail to show, and select Publish. That creates an ICS link.

To add the link on your iPhone:

1. Copy the ICS link.
2. Go to Settings > Apps > Calendar > Calendar Accounts > Add Account > Other.
3. Tap Add Subscribed Calendar, paste the link, tap Next, then tap Save.

Published calendars are read-only, and how often they refresh depends on the app showing them, so changes can take a while to appear. Anyone who has the link can view the calendar, so share it with care. For two-way sync, add the account itself instead.

Show Your iPhone Calendar in Outlook on a PC

If your events live in iCloud on the iPhone and you want them in Outlook on a Windows computer, use iCloud for Windows. Apple’s iCloud Calendars in Outlook guide gives these steps:

1. Open iCloud for Windows and sign in with your Apple Account.
2. Click the arrow next to Calendars and Contacts.
3. Turn on Automatically sync your iCloud calendars and contacts to Microsoft Outlook.
4. Click Done and follow the prompts.

This works with the classic version of Outlook for Windows. If it fails, Apple’s Outlook troubleshooting article says to check that your computer’s date and time are correct and that the iCloud Outlook Add-in is turned on under File > Options > Add-ins.

How to Check That It’s Working

1. Create a test event on your iPhone in the Outlook calendar.
2. Open Outlook on your computer or at outlook.com and look for the event. Give it a short while on a slow connection.
3. Change or delete the event in Outlook and check that the iPhone updates.

If Your Outlook Calendar Isn’t Syncing

• Check that Calendars is on. Go to Settings > Apps > Calendar > Calendar Accounts, tap your Outlook account, and make sure Calendars is turned on. If mail arrives but events don’t, this switch is usually the reason.
• Check which calendars are shown. In the Calendar app, tap Calendars and make sure your Outlook calendars are checked.
• Use the right account type. A work account added as Outlook.com, or a personal account added as Exchange, may refuse to sign in. Remove it and add it again with the other choice.
• Check old events. If only recent events appear, go to Settings > Apps > Calendar > Sync and choose a longer range, such as All Events.
• Check where the event was saved. An event saved to an iCloud or “On My iPhone” calendar stays off Outlook. Set your default calendar as shown above.
• Check your connection. Your iPhone needs internet access to download events.
• Sign in again. If you changed your Microsoft password, the iPhone may show an account error. Tap the account in Calendar Accounts and enter the new password.
• Remove and add the account again. Delete the account from Calendar Accounts, restart the iPhone, then add it back with the steps above. Removing the account doesn’t delete your Outlook events; they stay in your Microsoft account.
• Ask IT about blocks. Some organizations block Apple’s Calendar app for work accounts. In that case, the Outlook app is the supported route.

How to Stop Syncing

To stop showing Outlook events without removing the account, go to Settings > Apps > Calendar > Calendar Accounts, tap the account, and turn off Calendars. To remove the account completely, tap Delete Account. This removes it from Mail, Contacts, and Calendar on that device. Your events stay in Outlook, and you can add the account again any time.

Frequently Asked Questions