Troubles with Outlook.com Calendar


  1. Posts : 1,524
    Windows 10 Pro (32-bit) 16299.15
       #1

    Troubles with Outlook.com Calendar


    I'm having various issues with the Calendar in Outlook.com. I've been migrated across to the new servers (I think like most people) and I'm getting the following errors on multiple PCs, multiple browsers.

    I can't help thinking that they might be Microsoft bugs - if so, does anyone know how to get their attention to fix them?

    Are there any Outlook.com experts out there who can advise?

    1. The weather is cold in Poltár, Slovakia
      Minus 1 degrees Celsius and "Light snow" today apparently.

      But the thing is, I don't live there, or anywhere near.
      I've looked in multiple MS accounts (I think 4 so far) and they all default to "Poltár, Slovakia" as the location. It's a minor bug, but why this location? Do other people get the same? Is it just those of us in the UK?

      To check this, from within the Calendar in Outlook.com. select the 'cog' symbol, then Options, then select Weather

      Troubles with Outlook.com Calendar-weather2.png

      Troubles with Outlook.com Calendar-weather3.png

    2. You can't print that.

      Another annoyance - I tried to use Ctrl-P to print the above screen (to a PDF but I think an actual printer would be the same). But it comes up as nothing to print. Same in Edge and Firefox.

    3. You can't import .ICS files any more

      This one is particularly annoying, but iCalendar files (.ics extension) which imported fine into the old Outlook.com, now fail in the new version. The issue seems to be with the handling of updates to events - I should be able to update an event in a revised ICS file to a new time, and reimport it, and it should 'move' the events. But this is broken. It worked fine before Outlook.com moved to the new server, and I think still works with the same ICS files in Google Calendar.

      It's even broken when you use Outlook.com itself to create the .ICS in the first place - not being able to import its own files is particularly impressive.

      To test this, I:
      1. Went into Add Calendar to create a Secondary Calendar (I called mine TestUSPacific as I was playing with time zones)
      2. Added an event to my new test calendar (make sure that 'Save to Calendar' is set to the new calendar and not the default 'Calendar')
      3. Used the 'Publish Calendar' option to create a link to a .ICS file
      4. Download that .ICS file to the desktop or somewhere else on the computer
      5. Use the 'Add Calendar' then 'From File' option to import the ICS file back in.
      6. The import crashes with the message
        'The events couldn't be imported. Please try again later.
        Error message: Content conversion failed.'


      Troubles with Outlook.com Calendar-addcal3.png

    4. You can't delete calendars

      Well you can, but it only works once.
      Don't make the mistake I made, of recreating the Calendar again with the same name, because then you'll be stuck with it.

      I created my test secondary calendar, as in part 3, and then deleted it. So far, so good.
      But then during further testing I created another test calendar with the same name, and tried to delete it again... and it won't do it.

      Troubles with Outlook.com Calendar-delcal1.png
      Troubles with Outlook.com Calendar-delcal2.png


    Have I really just found multiple bugs (not just one) on a live service which millions use and have been using for a while now?
    I shouldn't be able to do that.
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  2. Posts : 17,661
    Windows 10 Pro
       #2

    DavidY said:
    1. The weather is cold in Poltár, Slovakia
    This seems to be new default location (or rather a bug) in outlook.com calendar settings, at least for European users. I had the same. I had to manually enter my location and then delete Poltár.

    Troubles with Outlook.com Calendar-image.png

    When I had done that, a few minutes later Edge showed me this:

    Troubles with Outlook.com Calendar-image.png

    Since that my outlook.com calendar has used the correct location.


    DavidY said:
    2. You can't print that
    Tested just now, had no issues in printing that or any other outlook.com and its calendar pages using native Print to PDF.


    DavidY said:
    3. You can't import .ICS files any more
    Publishing a calendar on Office.com is no longer supported. I guess this also applies publishing an outlook.com calendar.

    Alternative, recommended method is to save calendars and import saved calendars as told in this article: Share an Outlook for Windows calendar on Outlook.com - Outlook


    DavidY said:
    4. You can't delete calendars
    Yes, I have noticed the same. You can delete a calendar once but if a new calendar is added using the same name as a previously deleted calendar, it can no longer be deleted.

    To add to issues you listed, I have not managed to get Windows 10 Calendar app and calendar at outlook.com to sync. Initial sync works; when a new Windows user with Microsoft account opens Calendar app first time and sets it up, all entries from outlook.com will be synced, but at least in my case nothing will be synced thereafter. Windows Calendar will not show entries added in outlook.com and vice versa.

    There's a strange sentence in Publishing a calendar on Office.com will no longer be supported article wich might indicate a change in outlook.com services:

    Even though we’ve turned off calendars on Office.com, there are other ways to publish your calendar online from Outlook.
    Kari
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 1,524
    Windows 10 Pro (32-bit) 16299.15
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Hi Kari,

    Thanks for looking at that for me,
    Kari said:
    When I had done that, a few minutes later Edge showed me this:

    Troubles with Outlook.com Calendar-image.png

    Since that my outlook.com calendar has used the correct location.
    It's no big deal, but Edge hasn't offered me that option. I'd changed it manually anyway, but it seems a strange default.
    Kari said:
    Tested just now, had no issues in printing that or any other outlook.com and its calendar pages using native Print to PDF.
    I tried it again just now, and Print to PDF said there was nothing to print from Edge.
    However when I tried a second time, it seemed to work. I also had an empty PDF created from Firefox but again this worked second time. Again it's not a big deal.


    Kari said:
    Publishing a calendar on Office.com is no longer supported. I guess this also applies publishing an outlook.com calendar.
    Ah but I'm not trying to Publish a Calendar, I want to import an ICS file. This is the one which is particularly a problem for me.

    The only reason the phrase Publish Calendar appears in my post is that is now the name of the option where exporting an ICS now resides, which seems a reliable way to replicate the issue.
    Kari said:
    Alternative, recommended method is to save calendars and import saved calendars as told in this article: Share an Outlook for Windows calendar on Outlook.com - Outlook
    And this (the Import Saved Calendars) is precisely the functionality which is not working any more, for me at least, although it did work on the same ICS file in the previous version of Outlook.com

    What I really want to do it is import an ICS file I've made myself, but ICS files are tricky to make so it's a good test to see if Outlook.com's own ICS files work - and as Outlook's own files fail to import, I'm still pretty sure it's an Outlook bug.
    (Actually the ICS files will import, but only the first time - if you then amend the events and import a later version, it fails.)

    Kari said:
    Yes, I have noticed the same. You can delete a calendar once but if a new calendar is added using the same name as a previously deleted calendar, it can no longer be deleted.

    To add to issues you listed, I have not managed to get Windows 10 Calendar app and calendar at outlook.com to sync. Initial sync works; when a new Windows user with Microsoft account opens Calendar app first time and sets it up, all entries from outlook.com will be synced, but at least in my case nothing will be synced thereafter. Windows Calendar will not show entries added in outlook.com and vice versa.
    I'd noticed something similar too. In my case I went into the Windows 10 Mail app, which has a manual sync option (I've not found one in Calendar), and using the Mail sync optio seemed to sync the Calendar too. Does that work for you? Even if it does, it's hardly satisfactory if you have to keep syncing manually.
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  4. Posts : 1,524
    Windows 10 Pro (32-bit) 16299.15
    Thread Starter
       #4

    In seeking support for my issues, I tried contacting MS support via a Chat session.
    They did have a workaround for the Calendar deletion issue when an earlier Calendar with that name has been deleted - if you rename the problem Calendar first, you can then delete it.

    As for my main issue of the .ICS import, they didn't have a solution and the best option the person on the Chat session had was to report it on the UserVoice website, which I didn't know existed.
    https://outlook.uservoice.com/forums...-import-of-ics

    Hopefully if it gets some votes, they might look into it...
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  5. Posts : 1,524
    Windows 10 Pro (32-bit) 16299.15
    Thread Starter
       #5

    DavidY said:
    As for my main issue of the .ICS import, they didn't have a solution and the best option the person on the Chat session had was to report it on the UserVoice website, which I didn't know existed.
    https://outlook.uservoice.com/forums...-import-of-ics

    Hopefully if it gets some votes, they might look into it...
    ... but instead they completely failed to comprehend my post and just posted a link to some generic page of info - none of which helps me in getting them to fix the bug. And then closed my post.

    Does anyone know how to contact the Microsoft people who can actually investigate and fix bugs?
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  6. Posts : 1,524
    Windows 10 Pro (32-bit) 16299.15
    Thread Starter
       #6

    Kari said:
    DavidY said:
    4. You can't delete calendars
    Yes, I have noticed the same. You can delete a calendar once but if a new calendar is added using the same name as a previously deleted calendar, it can no longer be deleted.
    I now understand this one.

    If I attach Outlook 2016 desktop to my MS Account, then I can see all my deleted secondary Calendars under 'Deleted Items'

    Presumably it can't hold 2 Calendars at once in Deleted Items with the same name.

    I think I could delete them in O2016, but this is no help to anyone without access to O2016. I'm not sure if they will eventually be deleted from Deleted Items without intervention.
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  7. Posts : 17,661
    Windows 10 Pro
       #7

    BTW, I got my votes back after they closed your case:

    Troubles with Outlook.com Calendar-image.png

    A bit funny how they sent you to general Get Help page and closed the case.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 1,524
    Windows 10 Pro (32-bit) 16299.15
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Kari said:
    A bit funny how they sent you to general Get Help page and closed the case.
    Thanks for voting on it. :)

    Yes I did wonder whether the general Get Help page appears automatically if there's no response from a person. That's not very helpful though.
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