How to connect your Microsoft Exchange calendar

Connecting your Exchange calendar allows Calendly to automatically check for busy times and add new events as they are scheduled. In this article, we'll go over how to connect and set up your calendar connection with Microsoft Exchange. 

Before you begin

Version & Server Information:

• Calendly supports Exchange versions 2013, 2016, and 2019.
• Your Exchange account must utilize an EWS connection. ActiveSync connections are not currently supported.
• If you are using Exchange via Amazon WorkMail, this endpoint acts on a version of Exchange that is not supported at this time. 
• Exchange IMAP/POP connections are currently unsupported. 
• If your Exchange calendar connection has a 2FA/MFA set up enabled, you will need to utilize our Microsoft Outlook Plug-In (for Windows users) instead.

How to connect an Exchange calendar to Calendly

1. At the top right side of any Calendly page, select your Account drop down menu in the upper right hand corner, then Calendar sync.
   

   Beta

   We've improved availability management and the event type editor, now in public beta for select users. If you're in the beta, check out this article to learn more.

   For users in the beta, you can find your calendar settings on the Availability page within the Account settings drop-down menu.

   From there, expand the Calendar settings section, and select +Add calendar account.

2. Next to Exchange Calendar, select Connect.    
   

   

3. Enter your Exchange email address and password.
       Calendly will try to automatically detect your Exchange Server.
   
4. If you don't know your server information, ask your IT department or check your Outlook settings:
   • (iPhone)  In Settings, select Accounts, then Exchange.
   • (Mac)  Select Preferences, then Accounts.
   • (Windows) Select File, then Account settings.
5. Select Connect. See the confirmation message appear at the top of the screen.
   
   

How to specify which calendar Calendly checks for conflicts

Note: Calendly can only check your primary Exchange calendar for conflicts. Calendly cannot check sub-calendars or shared calendars on your Exchange calendar. 

1. At the top right side of any Calendly page, select Accounts, then Calendar sync.
2. In the Check for conflicts section, select Edit, and select a calendar. 
3. Select Update.
   
   

   Beta

   For users in the beta, you can find your calendar settings on the Availability page within the Account settings drop-down menu.
   
   In the Checking for conflicts section, select Checking calendar(s) to see which calendars are currently being checked for conflicts. This will open a list of available calendars for you to select.

   

How to change the calendar Calendly adds events to

1. At the top right side of any Calendly page, select Accounts, then Calendar sync.

2. In the Add to calendar section, select Edit.

3. Select the calendar you want to add events to.

4. Select Update.

   Beta

   For users in the beta, you can find your calendar settings on the Availability page within the Account settings drop-down menu.
   
   In the Adding events to section, select the currently selected calendar to expand the list of available calendar options.

   

What to do if Calendly can't connect to your Exchange server

If Calendly can't connect to your Exchange server with only an email address and password, try the following options: 

1. Add your "Exchange server" in EWS URL format and leave "Domain" and "Username" empty.
   • EWS URL format: https://mail.example.com/ews/exchange.asmx where "mail.example.com" is replaced with your unique server information.
     
     Note: This URL is different than the one you normally use to access your email in the browser.
2. If that doesn't work, try adding your "Domain" and/or "Username".

Not sure where to find your Exchange server information? Ask your IT department or check your Outlook settings:

• (iPhone)  In Settings, select Accounts, then Exchange.
• (Mac)  Select Preferences, then Accounts.
• (Windows)  Select File, then Account settings.

Working elsewhere status

In your Exchange Calendar, if your event status is set to Working elsewhere, Calendly will read you as available.

The "Working elsewhere" status is only available on Outlook on the Web. If you view a "Working elsewhere" event on Outlook for desktop, the event status will show as busy, but Calendly will still read you as available from the Exchange server.

How Calendly stores your Exchange credentials

We take securing your credentials extremely seriously. Here's how.

1. When you provide your login credentials to connect your Exchange calendar to Calendly, we send your email and password to our servers through an encrypted SSL connection.
2. Once your credentials reach our servers, we encrypt them before storing them in our database. We store the encryption key as an environment variable on our servers, ensuring even more security.
3. When we need to access your Exchange calendar, we decrypt your credentials in memory. We never store your decrypted credentials anywhere.

All of this ensures that your Exchange calendar credentials are safely stored using industry best practices.