Make Outlook Appointments Private by Default

All appointments and meetings I create in Outlook are Private, by default. How can I turn this off? If I want something to be private, I will set it to Private myself.

What your default sensitivity set to?

In Outlook 2010 or Outlook 2013, check your Sensitivity settings in File, Options, Email. In older versions of Outlook, it's in Tools, Options, Email Options, Advanced.

Even though the sensitivity options are under Mail, the sensitivity setting applies to Appointments, Contacts, and Tasks too.

Make individual items private

If you want to set individual items to Private, click the Private icon in Appointment, Contact, or Task forms.

In Email, Sensitivity options are in Properties (or Options) dialog. Click the expand icon to display the dialog.

More Information

Other things that would set items private include using a custom form that has the private flag enabled or using a third party utility that sets the sensitivity level.

To quickly change turn Private off or on for many items, use a group by view and drag between groups. See How to Easily Change the Private Flag

Published June 9, 2014. Last updated on July 14, 2014.