How to Combine Calendars in Outlook? 5 Best Techniques
Managing more than one calendar in the Outlook application is difficult, especially when you have meetings and events that are spread across different accounts or on a shared calendar. There are many users who search for how to combine calendars in Outlook so that they can verify their calendar details in one place without missing important data.
If you want to merge your work and personal calendar data or want to combine multiple calendars, then the Outlook application provides you with several built-in options.
In this comprehensive guide, you will learn how to combine multiple calendars in Outlook through many user-friendly solutions. These methods will help you to combine your calendar data in a hassle-free way.
Note: The quick solution mentioned below can also help you when you need to merge Google Calendar on Mac without missing your event details.
Common Reasons to Merge Calendars in Outlook
Before we dive into the solutions, it is important for you to understand why users prefer to combine calendars in Microsoft Outlook. We have discussed some of the reasons below:
- Combining calendars helps you to view all your events in a single place.
- It avoids the overlapping of the important meetings and events.
- Helps to improve the productivity and time management.
- Maintains the records of past and future events accurately.
- Helps to simplify the coordination between the teams.
Additionally, Microsoft Outlook offers users the features to merge calendars as per their needs. Now, let’s move to the solutions for this process.
How to Combine Calendars in Outlook? 5 Effective Solutions
Now that you have learnt why combining calendars in Outlook is useful. Let’s now explore the different ways to merge calendars. The following methods will explain to you how to merge calendars in Outlook through step-by-step solutions with drawbacks, and an automated solution. Here are the 5 ways:
- Use the import ICS files into Microsoft Outlook option.
- Quick method to combine multiple calendars.
- Combine calendars using overlay view in Outlook.
- Use the option to merge shared calendars into outlook account.
- Merge through copy and paste events between the calendars.
#1 Import ICS Files into Outlook Calendar
Importing the ICS files is a very common way to bring the calendar data from the different platforms into the Outlook application. But if you have the events saved in an iCalendar file, or you have received the calendar file from others, you can import them into the Outlook application with the steps provided for easy management.
- Open the Microsoft Outlook application on your device.
- Then, go to the File option and choose the Open & Export option.
- Now, from this select Import/Export feature.
- After this, choose import an iCalendar file.
- At last, select the file and click the import button.
#2 How to Combine Calendars in Outlook? Instant Solution
Managing and importing several ICS calendar files in Outlook is very time-consuming and can be error-prone. So, using an automated tool like SysTools ICS Merger Software is an ideal choice. This tool helps you to combine and import bulk files in one go without doing it individually. The interface of the tool is user-friendly and simple. It also maintains the data accuracy.
- Download and launch the above tool in your system.
- Then, choose the merge ICS files from the tab.

- Click on the Add file or Add folder option.

- Next, select the ICS files and click on the Open button.

- After this, choose the filters such as date range and file size.

- Once the merge process is completed, click on the view Report option.

#3 How to Merge Calendars in Outlook? Overlay View Feature
This is the simplest built-in option when you want to view multiple calendars together without combining the data permanently. Here, each calendar is shown in a different color, which makes it easier to preview the events. The following are the steps given:
- Open the Microsoft Outlook app and then switch to the calendar view.
- After this, in the left-panel, select the calendars you want to check.
- Now, click on the View tab from the top ribbon.
- After this, choose the overlay mode.
- At last, the calendar will show in a layered format.
- In this method, the calendar remains separate.
- The events cannot be edited in a collective manner.
- It is not ideal for exporting or sharing combined data.
#4 Merge Shared Calendars into the Outlook Account
This approach is used by the organizations when they want you want to know how to combine calendars in Outlook through a shared calendar for better usability. While you are using a shared calendar with the team, the application gives access to add them directly through the steps mentioned:
- Open the Outlook application on your device.
- Then, go to the calendar.
- After this, right-click on my calendars option.
- Now, choose the user and click on the OK button.
#5 How to Combine Calendars in Outlook? Copy and Paste Way
This solution allows you to move events from one calendar to another without using any additional tools. It works best for small calendars, but it becomes time-consuming when you are dealing with multiple events or calendars. The instructions are:
- Open the source calendar.
- After this, switch to List view
- Then, press Ctrl + A to select the events
- Now, copy the events by clicking on Ctrl + C.
- After that, open the destination calendar.
- At last, paste the calendar events using Ctrl + V.
- This process is very time-consuming.
- There is a risk of duplication of events.
- It does not have automation for future updates.
Why You Should Use an Expert Solution?
Learning how to combine calendars in Outlook depends on selecting the right way for your workload. Therefore, manual methods work for basic calendar tasks, but an automated solution helps users more efficiently without losing their data. We have given some reasons for why you should choose a powerful utility:
- It helps users to handle large calendar data.
- Provides easy management of recurring events.
- The tool migrates the calendar between systems.
- It also combines the calendar regularly.
Wrap Up!
In this article, we have learnt how to combine calendars in Outlook using 5 different ways. Also, we have discussed their limitations and mentioned a standalone utility, which is the best choice to merge multiple calendar files in bulk. We have also covered the benefits of using this tool and why the tech solution is a safer choice.
