Tip 436: Free/Busy and Reminder Defaults

When I set up a meeting or appointment, I would like to have defaults for Reminder set at 1 hour and Free/Busy set at Busy. Is there any way to set these defaults?

Yes. You can set the reminder default for timed appointments in File, Options, Calendar (Outlook 2010 and newer) or Tools, Options (older versions). All day events will always default to 18 hours reminders and this cannot be changed.

Free/Busy does not have an option to set the default status. However, appointments are always Busy and all day events are always Free. If you open the new appointment from using the New button or by clicking on a time period in the day or week view Busy will be preselected. It you click on a date in the month grid, you're creating all day events by default, which are always Free.

Published August 10, 2007. Last updated on November 11, 2015.