how to update recurring meeting in Outlook without losing history?

Thank you, Leon, this is great solution. I have been using it for a few months now.

I use both the web-based version and the desktop version. And I have found that the following option may be an acceptable solution for those who only use the desktop version. As a head's up, it's a bit tedious, though, and requires some manual steps, but it works, if you can put the work in.

First of all, when I set a recurring series, I only set it for a specific period of time, either for the calendar year or the fiscal year. At the end of the series, I re-create the new series (especially for meetings where the date, time or attendees can change over the course of the time period).

For one particular series, I have a recurring list of daily tasks, set for Monday - Friday at a specific time. I like to keep the notes from each day's tasks (1) for historical purposes and (2) to remind myself of the status of each task. As I go through the day, I input my notes in the appointment. At the end of each day, I copy the invite to the same day and same time. The recurrence is removed, but the notes are still in the body of the email address. I then delete the recurring appointment for that day so only the individual appointment is on the calendar. This allows me to keep the notes for an individual day/appointment and still keep the task list for the future recurring appointments.

If I need to add tasks to the future recurring appointments, I update that in the web-based version. with the option "This and all following events."

If I'm the inviter, than it works somehow.

• I can copy-and-paste the whole series in the Outlook Desktop version. In Outlook-Web I can modify then the end date of the first version (this and following) with keeping the history and the starting date of the second version. Voila, I have two series with keeping the history.

BUT unfortunately Outlook Desktop doesn't allow copy-and-paste of appointments anymore which are not invited by myself.

All my modifications in a series which I'm invited to, can be overwritten by the inviter. So, if the inviter is not stringent with his/her invitation, the history will be lost. Poor!

I just realized that there is no copy-and-paste function in Outlook Web version but you can doublicate the single meeting of a recurrent appointment. Of course this is a new invitation, but at the right date and time and content. It works, but may annoy all the people who were originally invited to the series, because they get an additional invitation.

By the way, there is anyhow an issue if you export such series appoinments. If they were invited from a different time zone you get the start time of the inviter of the different time zone and not your actual time of the meeting.
Also if the recurrent meeting is older than 1/2 year (reference Microsoft) and contains modifications, start and end date could be completely meaningless.

Very poor implementation by a multi-billion dollar company!

Hi Leon

I'm pleased to say that this worked - UNTIL I wanted to change the end date of a running appointment.

As soon as I had to edit the whole series (which is the only way to change the end date), it reverted to saying everything in the series would have to be the same again:

Changing the end date of an ongoing appointment (or more usually adding one, rather than changing one) is unavoidable. We book clients in on an ongoing basis until they are ready to exit our service.

So even though I could edit the series "from this point forward", adding an end date undid it all again.

Net result - problem not solved. Please would you add to the wishlist:

1. That the current functionality in the online calendar be brought into the desktop version
2. That it be possible to add an end date without deleting all prior edits

Thanks

Ri

This actually worked for me on the web version. Changing the end date did not change previous edits. I took the following steps:

• right click on any event in the series
• choose Edit --> This and all following events
• click on where it says "Occurs every ........."
• In the next pop-up window you'll see "Occurs every....." again and right before the words "Remove end date" there's a down arrow
• click on that down arrow
• change the end date in the pop-up calendar

It works on the Web version!!!!! Thanks!!

This worked for me - Thank you Leon :) please Microsoft enable this feature in the desktop app too - Google have been doing it for years!

This only works when you are the inviter, so the creator of the recurrence. If you're the invitee, and the originator has changed or cancelled the meeting occurrence with the limitations this is about, there's no way of having it effect only the future occurrences. Hence when cancelled, if you accept that, the whole history is cancelled as well. To prevent that the only way is to not accept the cancellation and remove the future ones manually. Unfortunately, the occurrences in history will display 'Canceled' and a different color, and if the series had no end date set, you can keep deleting them manually forever!

Then, surprisingly, the desktop version has more functionality if you're the invitee. For canceled meetings, in the desktop version you can delete the occurrence or series, while in the web version you can only remove the series (I tried to see if there would be a follow-up question, but there wasn't and it just removed the series. Luckily it has an undo function.).

A pity, and annoyance, to have these differences, also in wording by the way (delete vs remove, event vs occurrence)!