How to Configure Your Outlook Calendar Settings (Step-by-Step)

Your Outlook calendar settings control how your week looks, when reminders fire, and how finely time is divided on the grid. The catch is that these options live in different places depending on which version of Outlook you use. This guide walks through the most common calendar settings in new Outlook for Windows, Outlook on the web, and classic Outlook desktop.

Where calendar settings live

The four versions of Outlook organize settings differently:

Setting	New Outlook / Web (OWA)	Classic Outlook desktop
Open settings	Gear icon → Calendar	File → Options → Calendar
First day of week	Calendar → View	Calendar Options section
Work week	Calendar → Work hours and location	Work Time section
Default reminder	Calendar → Events and invitations	Calendar Options section
Time scale	Right-click the time ruler on the grid	Right-click the time ruler on the grid

New Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web (outlook.office.com or outlook.com) share the same web-based settings panel, so the steps below apply to both.

New Outlook and Outlook on the web

Set the first day of the week

Select the gear icon in the top-right corner to open Settings.
Choose Calendar → View.
Under First day of week, pick Sunday, Monday, or any day you prefer.
Changes save automatically.

Set your work week

In Settings, go to Calendar → Work hours and location.
Toggle the days that make up your work week and set start and end times.
These hours drive your free/busy status and the Scheduling Assistant. For more detail, see How to Set Working Hours and Availability in Outlook.

Set a default reminder

In Settings, open Calendar → Events and invitations.
Under Default reminder, choose a time such as 15 minutes before, or Don't remind me.
This applies to new events you create; you can still override the reminder on any individual event.

Classic Outlook desktop

Classic Outlook keeps these options in one dialog.

Select File → Options → Calendar.
Work Time — set your work week days, start/end times, and the first day of the week.
Calendar Options — set the Default reminders time for new appointments and meetings.
Select OK to apply.

Change the time scale

The time scale controls how many minutes each row on the day/week grid represents. A finer scale (for example, 15 minutes) makes short meetings easier to see.

New Outlook, web, and classic desktop: open a Day or Week view, right-click the time ruler on the left edge of the grid, and choose a value such as 5, 6, 10, 15, 30, or 60 minutes.

Mobile

The Outlook mobile app (iOS and Android) exposes fewer settings. Tap your profile or the menu, then Settings → Calendar. You can adjust the default calendar, week start, and notification defaults, but options like time scale are not available on mobile. Most layout settings sync from the web, so set those on a larger screen first.

Quick tips

If a setting won't change, confirm you're editing the correct account—Outlook can hold several mailboxes at once.
Work or school accounts may have certain settings locked by an administrator.
Settings made on the web sync to new Outlook for Windows because they share the same backend.

Once your settings are dialed in, you may want a single view of every calendar you use. nocal brings your Outlook and Google calendars into one timeline — see how.