Problem using shared calendars in Outlook, works fine in OWA

Whoops, forgot one.

Error when right-clicking the Shared Calendar and clicking Properties: "Cannot display the folder properties.  The folder may have been deleted or the server where the folder is stored may be unavailable.  Cannot display folder properties.  You don't have the appropriate permissions to perform this operation."

hi robert,

i would like to confirm the following information to better understand the problem:

1. which operating system and outlook 2013 version users are using? is it latest updated?
2. regarding “in our current setup i have set a dedicated exchange account using it's primary calendar to host this shared staff calendar”, do you mean that exchange online account or on premise exchange account? could you please provide us with detailed information about this?
3. does this issue happen to all the shared calendars or specific shared calendars on outlook 2013 client?
4. which kind of environment do you set up? is it purely exchange online or hybrid deployment?
5. could you please provide us with the detailed steps screenshots which you have tried to open shared calendar from outlook 2013 client and about the error messages so that we can reproduce the issue form our side?

to post the screenshots, please refer to the following steps:

click use rich formatting to post your reply.
on the top ribbon, click on insert /edit media button, and then browse the picture to upload.
click insert.

best regards,
shyamal

1) All machines are running Windows 7 x64 and Outlook 2013 x86.  Has the latest software via automatic Windows Updates.

2) Exchange Online.

3) Yes, all the shared calendars I've tried on several accounts.  Both primary calendars and extra calendars have the same problem when shared.

4) Just Exchange Online, no association with our local domain.

5) I'll get back to you when I'm at work tomorrow with screenshots.

Hi Robert,

Thanks for your update.

From  your information, I know it  works in OWA, so they already have the right permission.  However, it does not  in the Outlook client.
To better understand the problem, could you use the right permission account to test in a fresh install of Outlook?
Meanwhile, please provide the screenshots about detailed steps Shyamal mentioned above.

Thanks,
Gary

ok, so here's the steps i've taken to try sharing the calendar. these are fresh installs of outlook 2013 for both the calendar owner and a user it's being shared with, with cached mode turned on and the mailboxes 100% cached.

from the owner's side:  click on the share calender button in the ribbon, click on the to button to pick the user from the gal, select full details (since editor is not a listed option here), and click send.

verify the existing permissions, then modify the user to having editor permissions and click apply and ok.

from the user's outlook: receive an email in the inbox with the option to open the calendar.  after clicking on it, outlook is non-responsive for about 4 minutes before the folder unavailable error pops up.

as a workaround, i attempt to open the shared calendar on the user's side.  from the calendar screen, select open shared calendar from the ribbon, select the user from the gal and click ok.  the calendar sits there loading for a few minutes with the little spinning wheel before eventually populating with calendar entries.

right-clicking an existing entry has all the relevant options grayed out, and attempting to double-click on a blank date to create a new appointment results in outlook becoming non-responsive for a few minutes before popping up with an error message.

attempting to right-click on the calendar and select permissions also results in a few minutes of non-responsiveness before popping up with an error.

hi robert,

thanks for your information.

since the shared calendar is working fine in owa, and you said that you cannot open it in outlook 2013, it means there is no problem on the server side. to solve the problem on the client side, i suggest you try the following solutions:   
1. make sure the newest version is installed in the outlook 2013 client. please check via the following steps: 
    a. click “file” in the left corner of your outlook client.
    b. select “office account”, in product information field, click “updated now” in office updates, like the following screenshot shows:

2. you can also create a profile in outlook 2013. please refer to the following link: create an outlook profile
moreover, in order to completely rule out the possibility that the user may not get the proper permission for the shared calendar, please use windows powershell to check the permission with the steps below:
1. connect your windows powershell to exchange online services. see connect to exchange online using remote powershell.
2. run the command: get-mailboxfolderpermission –identity username:\calendar (replace username with the correct user name). see the screenshot from my side:

please refer to this article: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd335061(v=exchg.160).aspx
3. check whether the problematic user’s name is listed in the returned result, and see if he has the correct permission.

thanks for your time and efforts on this issue.

gary zhu

we're using office 2013 pro plus though volume licenses, not office 365, so that office updates option isn't listed when i go to file -> office account.  however, i just re-ran windows update to be certain it's up to date and there are no updates available.  here's the about window:

i checked the permissions through powershell and the permissions appear to be set correctly for this test account we've been working on and my other staff users.

What if you create a new shared calendar directly in Office 365 Exchange Admin Center and grant permissions to it?  Are users able to edit it from Outlook 2013?  We are having similar issues with our migrated shared calendars.  I think it's related to "direct booking" being a deprecated feature in Outlook 2013.  They want you to invite resources instead of double-click and add your appointment/meeting the good old way.  We've found that if we create a shared calendar or room resource in the cloud, our users are able to direct book it with Outlook client.

Regards,

Chris

hi robert,

thanks for your information.

to narrow down the issue, i suggest you use windows powershell  to give the editor permission  and test it with online mode on outlook 2013. please refer to the following steps:
1. create an user, named user b.
2. run this command: add-mailboxfolderpermission -identity a:\calendar -user b -accessrights editor(this example assigns permissions for user b to access a's calendar folder and applies the editor role to his access of that folder), then run command: get-mailboxfolderpermission -identity a:\calendar to check whether b in the listed in the returned result, and see if he has the editor permission. see the screenshot from my side:

3. fresh install the outlook 2013 in your pc, add account user b to the outlook, after that, do not tick “use cached exchange mode”, as online mode works by using information directly from the server. more detailed information, please refer to this article: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj683103.aspx
4. from the ribbon, click “open shared calendar” in the “open calendar”, print user a’s email address, click “ok”, like the screenshot below:

5. in your “shared calendars”, select user a only, check if edit user a’s calendar by user b. from my side, i tested user a’s calendar can be edit by user b. like the screenshot below:

thanks,
gary zhu

Hi Robert,

Do the steps above work for you? Please share any updates with us.

Thanks,
Gary Zhu