Creating appointments and meetings in Outlook

Creating an event

In the Home ribbon, click New Appointment or New Meeting. This will open a new window.
In the Subject field, enter a title for the appointment/meeting.
In the Location field, enter the location, or if you're scheduling a meeting click Rooms... to book a room.
In the Start time and End time fields:
1. Select the start date from the first dropdown calendar.
2. Select the end date from the second dropdown calendar.
3. Enter the start and end times of the event or select the All day check box.
4. Or use the scheduling assistant to find a time people and rooms are available.
If applicable, click the Private button.
If the event is recurring on a regular schedule, click the Recurrence button to add a recurrence.
In the Show As dropdown box, select how the event will appear in your calendar: Free, Working Elsewhere, Tentative, Busy, or Out of Office.
In the Reminder dropdown box, select the amount of time before the event, or None, you'd like to receive a pop-up reminder.
In the WYSIWYG text box, add any additional event details.
To attach a file, select the Insert tab and click the Attach File button.
For an appointment, click Save & Close. For a meeting, invite people to the event and then click Send.

Booking a room

Adding a recurrence

If an appointment or meeting is repeating on a regular schedule, you can add a recurrence instead of creating an event for each instance.

Example 1: Bi-weekly meetings

To schedule a meeting that occurs every other Tuesday during the spring term (May-August):

Click the Recurrence button.
The Appointment Recurrence dialog box will open.
In Recurrence pattern section:
1. Select Weekly. Note: Each option will present different fields.
2. In the Recur every field enter 2.
3. Select the Tuesday checkbox.
In the Range of recurrence section:
1. In the Start: field, select the start date for the recurring meetings: first Tuesday in May. (Note: the default is the date from the Start time field of the appointments/meetings)
2. Select the End by: radio button.
3. In the End by: field, select the end date for the recurring appointments/meetings: last Tuesday in August.
Click OK.

Example 2: Twice per month meetings

To schedule an appointment or meeting that occurs every second and fourth Tuesday of the month indefinitely, you need to create two events that recur monthly, one for the second Tuesday and one for the fourth Tuesday.

Click the Recurrence button.
The Appointment Recurrence dialog box will open.
In Recurrence pattern section:
1. Select Monthly. Note: Each option will present different fields.
2. Select the second radio button.
3. In the first dropdown box, select second.
4. In the second dropdown box, select Tuesday.
5. In the of every field, enter 1.
In the Range of recurrence section:
1. In the Start: field, select the date of the first meeting on the second Tuesday of the month. (Note: the default is the date from the Start time field of the appointments/meetings)
2. Select the No end date radio button.
Click OK.
Repeat for the fourth Tuesday of the month.

Inviting people

In the To: field, enter the email addresses of the people you'd like to invite to the meetings, separated by semi-colons. As you type, an auto-complete list will display people you've previously emailed. Click on an entry to add that person to the To: field.
If they have a UWaterloo Exchange account (faculty, staff, grad student), click the To: button. In the Global Address List, search for the people you'd like to invite to the meeting. Select their names and then click the Required or Optional button to add them to those fields. Click OK.

Using the scheduling assistant

The scheduling assistant is a useful tool for determining meeting times. It allows you to simultaneously view the calendars of all invited people (if they have a UWaterloo Exchange account) and rooms, and it will suggest meetings times with the fewest conflicts.

In the Meeting tab, click Scheduling Assistant.
Click the Add Attendees... button.
In the Global Address List, search for the people you'd like to invite to the meeting. Select their names and then click the Required or Optional button to add them to those fields.
Click OK.
Click the Add Rooms... button.
In the Global Address List, search for the rooms you'd like to hold the meeting in. Double-click on the rooms to add them to the Rooms... field.
Click OK.
Browse through the calendar to find a time with no or few conflicts.
Note: Unless someone has shared their calendar with you, you will not see full event details. You will only be able to see what times they have appointments/meetings scheduled and whether those times are listed as Free, Working Elsewhere, Tentative, Busy, or Out of Office.
1. Click on the time you'd like the event to begin. The Start time and End time fields will be updated accordingly.
2. Change the end time to adjust the length of the meeting. The default is a half hour.
1. Or select a time from the Suggested times: section.
2. Click Send.