Change the default Calendar folder

The default Calendar folder in Outlook is the Calendar folder that is located within your default mailbox data file. This doesn’t always have to be the same as your default mail account.

When you receive a new meeting request, Outlook will use that Calendar to create the item in even when you received the invite message via a different account.

Of course, Outlook wouldn’t be Outlook if there weren’t any exceptions and limitations to that behavior, but (luckily) also a few workarounds.

Verify or change the default mailbox data file

To determine which mailbox data file is currently set as the default within Outlook, use the Data Files tab in Account Settings.

• Outlook 2007 and previous
  File-> Data File Management…
• Outlook 2010 / 2013 / 2016 / 2019 / 2021 / Microsoft 365
  File-> Account Settings-> Account Settings…-> tab Data Files

To change the default data file, select it and press the “Set as Default” button. If you have selected a data file which can be set as the default, Outlook will now inform you to restart Outlook.

Extra tip: If you are not sure which data file your Calendar resides in, select the Calendar in the Calendar Navigation (CTRL+2) and then switch to the Folder List Navigation (CTRL+6).

Calendars within Exchange accounts

When you have added an Exchange account to your mail profile, then this mailbox data file will get set as the default and you might not be able to change that.

When you have multiple Exchange accounts configured in Outlook or have added additional Exchange mailboxes, then each account or mailbox will use its own Calendar folder as the default Calendar. This will prevent them from getting mixed up.

Calendars within Outlook.com/Hotmail accounts

Similar to Exchange accounts, Outlook.com/Hotmail accounts will use their own Calendar folder as the default for processing anything Calendar related.

Calendars within IMAP and POP3 accounts

IMAP and POP3 accounts will use the Calendar folder which resides in the default mailbox data file as the default Calendar.

This is also the case even when you have assigned the POP3 account a data file (pst-file) of its own and created a Calendar folder in there.

Examples:

• You have an Exchange, POP3 and IMAP account configured in Outlook. In this case, the Calendar folder of the Exchange account will be used by all 3 accounts.
• You have an POP3 account and IMAP account configured in Outlook with the mailbox data file of the POP3 account set as the default. In this case, the Calendar folder of the POP3 account will be used by both accounts.

This behavior can’t be changed. If you need to keep these Calendars separate, then you either need to manually move the items which get added to the wrong Calendar or set up separate mail profiles.

iCloud Calendars

When you are using Apple’s iCloud add-in for Outlook, you can set the iCloud mailbox data file as the default in Outlook. However, this hasn’t been proven as a stable configuration as it crashes Outlook in some cases and has various other limitations.

If you want to use the iCloud Calendar as the default Calendar folder so that you can also have your appointments available on your iPhone or iPad, it would be better to use an add-in to sync your current Calendar to the iCloud Calendar. An add-in which can do this for free is: Code Two Sync for iCloud.

Internet Calendars

An Internet Calendar can’t be set as the default Calendar in Outlook.

They are either being added in a special pst-file which only contains Internet Calendars or they are being added as an additional Calendar folder within the mailbox it has been added to.

Merge Calendars into a single one

Even when your Calendar items are spread out over more Calendars, it is still easy to get a single aggregated view of your Calendars by using the Overlay feature.

This feature is discussed in greater details in: Combine and sync Outlook Calendars