Office 365 + .ics Calendar

[Michael]

Hello all,

 

Thought I'd share this, as I found the Microsoft/Google searches I performed weren't clear -

 

Can you import an .ics Calendar into Office 365? The answer is yes, but not directly. You can't do it via the O365 GUI, but maybe something for the future?

 

The main 'gotcha' with this is you can configure MS Outlook to communicate via O365 using either POP3 or IMAP, but both of these methods only synchronise mail. You can import an .ics Calendar file into MS Outlook with O365 configured as POP3 or IMAP, but the calendar aspect won't sync. So the question is, how do you do it?

 

When loading up MS Outlook, you can (for once) using the Outlook Wizard to configure your O365 account. Simply enter your Name, Office 365 e-mail and your Office 365 password, then click Next as illustrated. Your account will now be configured as a native Microsoft Exchange account rather than POP3 or IMAP.

 

 

Using MS Outlook 2010, select File > Open > Import > Import an iCalendar .ics.

 

When prompted select 'Import' and this'll import directly into your own O365 Calendar. Alternatively, create a new Calendar if required.

 

And it's as simple as that!

[Marshall_IT]

Thanks @Michael that's really helpful. I've been wanting to do this for a while but never found a way.

[Michael]

You're welcome - I had a look at this ages ago and couldn't figure it out, then I was faced with having to find a way recently, or tell said person they'd have to re-create potentially thousands of Calendar appointments (past and present) in O365 from scratch.

 

Many of the articles I found in Google only talked about the Import process (which is easy), forgetting that it doesn't actually work with IMAP or POP3. It just sits in MS Outlook, but doesn't really help a user day to day.