Mar 9, 2026

How to Get Your Outlook Calendar ICS / Subscription URL

To share your Outlook calendar with someone using a different calendar app — or to get the URL so they can subscribe — you need to publish it and copy the ICS link. Here’s how to do it in every version of Outlook.

Outlook on the Web (outlook.com or Microsoft 365)

Go to Outlook Calendar and sign in
Click the gear icon (Settings) in the top right
Search for “Shared calendars” or go to Calendar → Shared calendars
Under Publish a calendar, select your calendar from the dropdown
Choose the permission level:
- Can view all details — subscribers see full event titles and details
- Can view when I’m busy — subscribers see only free/busy blocks
Click Publish

Two URLs appear:

HTML link — opens a web view of the calendar in a browser
ICS link — the subscription URL for calendar apps

Copy the ICS link. That’s what other apps need.

Classic Outlook for Windows (Desktop App)

Outlook desktop doesn’t generate subscription URLs directly — it relies on your Exchange/Microsoft 365 account settings. The easiest approach:

Log in to outlook.com in a browser with the same account
Follow the Outlook on the Web steps above to publish the calendar and get the ICS link

The ICS link works regardless of which Outlook client you use — it’s tied to the account, not the app.

What the Outlook ICS URL Looks Like

When you publish a calendar from Outlook.com, the ICS URL follows this format:

https://outlook.live.com/owa/calendar/[TOKEN]/calendar.ics

For Microsoft 365 / work accounts:

https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/[TOKEN]/calendar.ics

The token is a long random string — keep it private if you’re sharing with specific people rather than making the calendar fully public.

Sharing (via “Share calendar” → enter email) — gives a specific person access to view or edit your calendar. They see it inside their Outlook directly. Best for colleagues and people who use Outlook or Microsoft 365.

Publishing (what this guide covers) — generates a URL anyone can use to subscribe. Works with Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, and any app that supports ICS feeds. Best for sharing across different calendar platforms.

Subscribing to Someone Else’s Outlook Calendar

If someone sent you an Outlook ICS URL and you want to subscribe:

In Google Calendar: Other calendars → + → From URL → paste the ICS link
In Outlook: Add calendar → Subscribe from web → paste the ICS link
In Apple Calendar: File → New Calendar Subscription → paste the URL

See: How to subscribe to a calendar in Outlook · How to subscribe to a calendar in Google Calendar

How Often Does It Update?

Subscribed calendars don’t update in real time. Changes you make to your Outlook calendar will appear in a subscriber’s app after a delay — typically a few hours for Outlook subscribers, and up to 24 hours for Google Calendar subscribers. There’s no way to force an immediate refresh on the subscriber’s end.