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Respond to Meeting Invitations (Outlook for Windows)

This article applies to: Outlook for Windows

Meeting invitations look a lot like any other email message. The difference is that they control what appears on your calendar; don't ignore or delete them. 

You'll notice that a meeting invitation includes buttons for

  • Accept
  • Tentative
  • Decline
  • Propose a New Time

Click the button that matches your intent, then choose whether to send a response. 

The meeting will appear on your calendar (unless you've declined it) and the meeting invitation will be automatically moved to your Deleted Items folder.

Notes

  • If you don't send a response, the meeting organizer won't be able to tell whether you're attending. They'll see your status as "none."
  • If you click Decline, the meeting won't appear on your calendar. So if it's possible you might attend, click Tentative instead.

Please don't delete meeting invitations. It may cause your calendar to become out of sync with other people's calendars.

Deleting invitations may also trigger the Calendar Repair Assistant, which is a useful feature, but may confuse you by putting back the meetings you deleted.

Bottom line: Accept or Decline, but do not delete.

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