Outlook lets you delegate calendar access so that an assistant, manager, or teammate can manage meetings on your behalf. There are two related but different things you can do — calendar sharing (read or read/write access) and delegation (the delegate can also receive meeting requests, respond to them, and act in your name).

This guide walks through full delegation in every current version of Outlook, plus how to choose the right permission level.

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Sharing vs. Delegation — What’s the Difference?

Both let someone else open your calendar. The difference is what they can do there.

Capability	Sharing	Delegation
View free/busy	Yes	Yes
View meeting details	Yes (with Reviewer or higher)	Yes
Create and edit events	Yes (with Editor)	Yes
Receive meeting requests sent to you	No	Yes (configurable)
Respond to meeting requests on your behalf	No	Yes
Send email on your behalf	No	Yes (optional)
Show “on behalf of” in invites	No	Yes

Use sharing when a colleague needs to see your schedule. Use delegation when an assistant needs to actually manage your calendar — accept and decline invites, schedule new meetings, and reply to meeting-related email. For pure read-only sharing without delegate features, see How to share your Outlook calendar.

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1. Delegate Calendar Access in Classic Outlook for Windows

Classic Outlook has the most complete delegate management UI. If you’re an assistant or executive who needs the full feature set, do delegation here once and the settings apply everywhere.

Add a delegate

1. Open classic Outlook.
2. Click File > Account Settings > Delegate Access.
3. In the Delegates dialog, click Add.
4. Pick the person from your address book and click Add > OK.
5. The Delegate Permissions dialog opens. For Calendar, choose a permission level:
   • Reviewer — can read items but not change anything
   • Author — can read and create new items
   • Editor — can read, create, and modify items (most common for assistants)
6. Set permissions for Tasks, Inbox, Contacts, and Notes if you want to delegate those folders too.
7. (Optional) Check Automatically send a message to delegate summarizing these permissions so the delegate gets a notification.
8. (Optional) Check Delegate can see my private items if you want the delegate to see events you’ve marked private. Caution: this exposes everything marked private.
9. Click OK.

Configure how meeting requests are routed

After adding a delegate, the Delegates and Sent Items section appears. Choose how Outlook handles meeting requests:

• My delegates only, but send a copy of meeting requests and responses to me — delegate gets requests and responds; you get a copy in your inbox for visibility.
• My delegates only — delegate handles meeting requests; you don’t see them.
• My delegates and me — both you and the delegate get the requests; either can respond.

For most exec/assistant setups, the first option (delegate-only with a copy) is the right pick.

Click OK to save.

Edit or remove a delegate later

1. File > Account Settings > Delegate Access.
2. Select the delegate.
3. Click Permissions to change folder permissions, or Remove to revoke access entirely.

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2. Delegate from New Outlook for Windows & Outlook on the Web

The new Outlook and Outlook on the web have a simpler delegation UI. Setup is a bit more streamlined but covers the most common cases.

Add a delegate

1. Click the Settings gear in the top right.
2. Go to General > Delegation (you may need to scroll or expand the General section).
3. Click Add delegate.
4. Type the person’s name or email and pick them from the search results.
5. In the Permissions screen, set the calendar permission:
   • None — no access
   • Editor — can read, create, and edit calendar events
   • Delegate — full delegate (can also receive and respond to meeting requests on your behalf)
6. Choose how meeting requests are routed:
   • Send to me only
   • Send to me and my delegates
   • Send to my delegates only
   • Send to my delegates and me, but only my delegates see the response options
7. Click Save.

Edit or remove

Return to Settings > General > Delegation, click the delegate’s name, and update permissions or click Remove.

Note: The new Outlook delegation UI handles calendar but not other folders. To delegate Inbox, Contacts, or Tasks in addition to Calendar, do the setup in classic Outlook.

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3. Outlook for Mac

The new Outlook for Mac supports delegation through the same flow as classic Outlook for Windows.

1. Open Outlook for Mac.
2. Click Tools > Accounts.
3. Select your Microsoft 365 account on the left.
4. Click Delegation and Sharing.
5. On the Delegate tab, click the + button.
6. Search for and select the person.
7. Set the permission level for Calendar (Reviewer, Author, or Editor).
8. Configure other folders if needed.
9. Click OK.

The same routing and private-item options are available as classic Outlook for Windows.

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4. As the Delegate: Open the Other Person’s Calendar

After delegation is set up, you (the delegate) need to add the calendar to your view.

Classic Outlook for Windows

1. Click File > Open & Export > Other User’s Folder.
2. Click Name and pick the person whose calendar you’re managing.
3. Set the Folder type dropdown to Calendar.
4. Click OK.

The calendar opens in a new tab and stays in your Shared Calendars list under the calendar navigation pane.

New Outlook & Outlook on the Web

1. Open Calendar in the left navigation.
2. Click Add calendar in the calendar pane.
3. Choose Add from directory.
4. Pick the account you want to add from (your own).
5. Type the delegator’s name in the search.
6. Select them and click Add.

The calendar appears in your People’s calendars list.

Outlook for Mac

1. Open the Calendar view.
2. Click File > Open > Calendar.
3. Type the person’s name and select them.
4. Click Open.

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5. As the Delegate: Send Email and Meeting Requests “On Behalf Of”

Once you have Send on behalf of permission, you can compose meetings and emails that show as “from [delegate] on behalf of [delegator].”

Send a meeting on behalf of someone

1. Click New Meeting while viewing the delegator’s calendar.
2. Click the From button on the meeting form (you may need to enable the From field via Options > From in classic Outlook).
3. Pick the delegator’s email.
4. Fill in attendees, time, and details.
5. Click Send.

Recipients will see “[Your Name] on behalf of [Delegator Name]” in the meeting organizer field.

Send an email on behalf of someone

If you also have Inbox delegation:

1. Click New Email.
2. Click the From button and choose the delegator’s address.
3. Compose and send.

The recipient sees “from [Delegate] on behalf of [Delegator]” in the from line.

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6. Common Problems

The delegate can see my calendar but can’t open meeting requests.

• The delegate permission is set to Editor (sharing), not Delegate (delegation). Go back to Account Settings > Delegate Access in classic Outlook (or Settings > Delegation in new Outlook) and pick the Delegate level.

Meeting requests still come to my inbox, not the delegate’s.

• Check the routing setting under Delegate Access. It needs to be set to “My delegates only” or “My delegates only, but send a copy” for the delegate to handle them.

The delegate sees the words “Private appointment” but no details.

• That’s the default behavior. To let the delegate see private items, check “Delegate can see my private items” in the Delegate Permissions dialog. Note that this applies to all private items.

“You don’t have permission to access this folder.”

• The delegate hasn’t been granted the right permissions, or hasn’t waited long enough for the change to propagate. Exchange Online delegate permissions can take up to 60 minutes to take effect across all clients, and occasionally longer.

Delegation only works in classic Outlook, not new Outlook.

• Some delegation features (like delegating multiple folders) only exist in classic Outlook. Set them up in classic, and they will apply across all clients including new Outlook and the web.

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Quick Reference

Permission level	Can view	Can edit	Can respond to invites	Notes
None	No	No	No	Default for everyone
Free/busy time	Free/busy only	No	No	Sharing default
Reviewer	Yes	No	No	Read-only
Author	Yes	New items only	No	Limited edit
Editor	Yes	Yes	No	Full edit, no delegate features
Delegate	Yes	Yes	Yes	Full delegate access

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A Delegate That Doesn’t Need Your Login

A human delegate works great when you have one. If you don’t, Carly is an AI assistant that can act on your calendar and inbox the same way — accepting and declining meetings, proposing times, and replying to scheduling threads in Outlook (plus 200+ other apps).

More on Outlook: How to share your Outlook calendar · How to create a shared mailbox · How to set working hours · How to color code your Outlook calendar · How to send calendar availability

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