How To Add Outlook Calendar to your Android Phone

One of the great things about the digital age is freedom of choice. You can choose which operating system is perfect for your needs and lifestyle, then choose specific software to compliment your chosen OS.

If you’re an Android user, you may have been waiting patiently for the Microsoft/Android relationship to flourish so that you could use Microsoft software on your Android phone. Fortunately, you can use the Outlook calendar on your Android phone. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with the native Google Calendar application, but Outlook lovers will benefit from this article.

Managing appointments and schedules in our busy lives is often more difficult than it should be. The ability to send your work calendar to your personal phone is just one way to make that easier. If your employer uses Exchange or Office 365, adding the Outlook calendar to an Android phone is one way to do it. If your work uses G Suite with Google Calendar and you want to sync it with your personal Outlook calendar you can do that too.

Add Your Outlook Account to Your Phone

You can start by adding your Outlook email account to your phone’s settings. Along with your other email accounts, Outlook will send you emails and calendar updates as necessary. To add an account for Outlook, you’ll need to know whether it’s an Exchange email or from another source. You can ask your employer, but it doesn’t hurt to try one or the other if you’re not already familiar with setting up the account.

For setup:

These instructions may vary slightly depending on which manufacturer you have, essentially get to the option to add a new account in settings and you’re good to go.

1. Open the ‘Settings’ app on your phone
2. Tap on ‘Accounts and backup’
3. Tap ‘Accounts’ on this page
4. Scroll to the bottom and tap ‘Add Account’
5. Scroll down and click on Email, Exchange, Personal (IMAP or POP3), Google, or any of the other options
6. Enter your email address and password

Follow the prompts and verify your credentials to gain access. You can download the Outlook app from the Google Play Store.

Adding Outlook Calendar to your Android phone

The easiest way to add an Outlook calendar to an Android phone is by using an Exchange Active Sync mail account. In the example I gave, adding a work Outlook calendar to your personal phone, this should happen automatically. Most employers that use Exchange with utilize Active Sync.

First, let us try the Outlook app in Android.

1. Open the Outlook app and select the calendar from the bottom right.
2. Select the three-line menu icon top left.
3. Select the Add Calendar icon on the left menu.
4. Add your Outlook account when prompted and complete the setup wizard.

Unfortunately, this method doesn’t always work. Polling from Google Calendar is occasionally intermittent. It is worth trying first though.

If it doesn’t work, this next method should.

To add your calendar in an Exchange environment, you may need access from the System Administrator but try this and see what happens. If you’re not syncing a work calendar and just want to link Outlook with Android, this will work too.

1. Open the Mail app on your phone.
2. Select Settings and Add New Account.
3. Enter the Outlook email address and the app should pick it up.

Once set up, your Outlook calendar should be available from within the Mail app.

You can also link your Outlook account with Gmail which will sync the calendar as part of the deal. This following method will work with older POP or IMAP Outlook accounts too so if you don’t use Exchange Active Sync, try this to link an Outlook calendar to Gmail on your Android phone.

1. Open Gmail on your Android phone.
2. Select the three-line menu icon then Settings and Add Account.
3. Select Exchange and Office 365 as the provider.
4. Enter your email address and password when prompted.
5. Acknowledge the security message by selecting OK.
6. Complete account set up where prompted.

Even if you use Outlook, select Exchange and Office 365. The Outlook, Hotmail, or Live option only uses POP or IMAP which does not include calendar syncing. Even if you’re linking your personal Outlook account, it should be compatible with Exchange Active Sync which is where the calendar updates will come from.

Sync Google Calendar with Outlook

If you want to do things in reverse, that’s just as straightforward. Just like you can add an Outlook calendar to your Android phone, you can add your Google Calendar to the Outlook app. Whether you use Office 365 or just want to sync everything on your phone, you can.

1. Open your Google calendar and log in.
2. Select the calendar you want to sync from the list on the left.
3. Hover over it and select Settings.
4. Scroll to the Integrate calendar in the new window.
5. Select Secret Address in iCal format and copy the address.
6. Open Outlook and log in.
7. Select File, Account Settings, and Account Settings.
8. Select Internet Calendars and New.
9. Paste the Secret Address into the box and select Add.
10. Name your calendar and select OK.

From now on, when you open Outlook it will also poll your Google calendar and update it in Outlook. You cannot create appointments in Outlook and have them reflected in Google though, you have to create them from within Google Calendar. It’s a shame but that’s how it is for now.

Troubleshooting

As mentioned previously, there are some kinks that happen when signing into your account. Outlook provides the option to sign into various email providers, from Google to Exchange, the only way to bypass any errors is to have the right information.

• Verify the source of your email – Even Gmail offers corporate domains so check with your company to ensure you’ve chosen the right option for signing in.
• Check with your cable provider for updated port numbers – If you’re trying to add a comcast.net account or an account from a similar company, you may have to update the proper port settings in order to attach your email/calendar.
• Make sure the app and your Android device are up-to-date – If the account is not allowing you to set up your account, check for Outlook or Android OS updates

The freedom of choice is one of the reasons people love Android devices. Adding your Outlook calendar to your Android device is easy with the right know-how.