Removing spam calendar invites from Outlook

If you use Outlook, Hotmail, or MSN, you may have noticed spam showing up on your calendar as well as in your inbox. Turn on one setting and we'll remove those events for you whenever we block the email they came from.

This only applies to Microsoft accounts. Gmail already handles this on its own, and we explain how at the bottom of this page.

Why spam ends up on your calendar

Outlook adds any meeting invite to your calendar the moment it arrives. It doesn't check who sent it, and it does this even when the email goes straight to Junk. Deleting the email afterwards doesn't remove the event either, because Outlook treats the two as separate things.

That's why blocking the sender isn't enough on its own. The email is gone, but the tentative event stays behind. We can only fix that by removing the event from your calendar directly, and for that we need your permission.

Turning it on

The setting is off by default. To switch it on:

1. Go to Options on the Spam Blocker page.
2. Switch on Also remove calendar invites from blocked emails.
3. A notice will appear asking you to reconnect your Outlook account. Click Reconnect your account.
4. Next to your Outlook account, click Reconnect.
5. Sign in with Microsoft when asked. You'll see a new permission to read and write your calendar. Click Accept.

That's it. From now on, when the Spam Blocker moves an email that contains a meeting invite, we'll remove the matching event from your calendar too.

If you have more than one Outlook account connected, you'll need to reconnect each one. Accounts that still need it show a Reconnect button on the Accounts page.

What happens to the invite

• The email is moved to your blocked folder as usual. We don't delete it.
• The event is removed from your calendar. It's the event Outlook created automatically, so nothing you added yourself is touched.
• We don't reply to the sender. Declining an invite tells a spammer your address is live, so we don't do that.

This works for new mail arriving from now on. Events that were already on your calendar before you turned this on will still be there. To clear those, open your calendar in Outlook, right-click the event, and choose Report then Junk. Avoid clicking Decline for the same reason as above.

If we block a real invite

Sometimes we'll get it wrong and block an invite you actually wanted. Rescue the email from your blocked folder and it'll go back to your inbox, but the calendar event won't come back on its own. Open the email and click Accept to add it to your calendar again.

Rescuing also teaches the Spam Blocker that you trust the sender, so their future invites will come through as normal.

Turning it off

Switch off Also remove calendar invites from blocked emails under Options and we'll stop touching your calendar straight away. Blocked emails are still moved as normal.

If you'd also like to take back the calendar permission, you can remove it from the apps and services section of your Microsoft account. We'll keep working without it, we just won't be able to remove events.

Using Gmail instead?

You don't need this setting. Google Calendar can already ignore invites from people you don't know. In Google Calendar, open Settings, go to Event settings, and set Add invitations to my calendar to Only if the sender is known.