Syncing your iOS calendar with Outlook allows you to quickly view and respond to your schedules. However, if the iPhone calendar does not sync with Outlook, you will miss your schedules and calendar appointments. Now this can cost you a lot, depending on the importance of your schedule.
If Outlook sync is not working or pauses on your iPhone, you’ve come to the right place. Keep reading as I show you all the possible causes and how to fix them.
1. Check your internet connection
Outlook may not sync with your calendar if you’re in a location with a poor or no internet connection. If you’re using mobile data, try switching to Wi-Fi. Also, your iPhone may be in Data Saving Mode, so make sure your iPhone is not in Data Saving Mode.
If you previously synced Outlook with your iPhone calendar, you should be fine once you restore your Internet connection.
2. Check if Calendar Backup for iCloud is active.
The Calendar app stores your schedules in iCloud. This way, if you run out of iCloud storage or there is some problem, it won’t sync your data with any other app. Make sure the Calendar app can read and write data from iCloud.
To check and activate Calendar for iCloud if you haven’t already:
- Go to settings.
- Tap the Apple ID banner at the top → iCloud.
- Then turn on the toggle to the left of Calendars if it’s not already enabled.
- Hint: turn the toggle off and on to re-initiate iCloud sync as your Calendar may have stopped syncing with iCloud.
3. Make sure you are signed in to the Outlook application.
Another factor that usually prevents Outlook from syncing with the iPhone calendar is that you have signed out of the Outlook app on your iPhone. Synchronizing your calendar with Outlook without signing into your Microsoft account is similar to trying to read the contents of your Gmail inbox without signing into your Google account.
So open the Outlook app and sign in if you haven’t already.
4. Check if Outlook and iPhone Calendar are connected
Another thing you want to be sure of is that you have connected Outlook to the Calendar app in your iPhone settings. They won’t be able to share data if you don’t.
To check if you have connected Outlook to the Calendar app and connect them if you haven’t already:
- Open iPhone settings.
- Go to Calendar → Accounts.
- Click Add Account.
- Select Outlook.com from the options.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to sign in to Outlook and sync it with the Calendar app.
5. Re-sync your iPhone and Outlook calendar.
Even if you have synced both apps, the calendar app may not sync with Outlook due to a low or unstable internet connection; or if you have added a data usage restriction. Therefore, you may need to sync them manually in order to resolve the issue.
Unfortunately, you may continue to experience this issue unless you disable data restriction on your iPhone or get a better internet connection. To resync Outlook and the iOS Calendar app:
- Open iPhone settings.
- Go to Calendars → Accounts.
- Select Outlook → Remove account → Remove from my iPhone.
- Click “Accounts”in the top right corner.
- After uninstalling Outlook, try connecting Outlook again to restart the sync process.
6. Make sure you have enabled automatic synchronization for Outlook and calendar.
Outlook will not pull data from the Calendar app if the sync schedule is set to Manual. Let’s make it automatic so that the Calendar app sends data to Outlook.
- Go to iPhone Settings → Calendars → Accounts.
- Click Get New Data.
- Enable the Push toggle if it’s not already enabled. Also, make sure you select “Automatic”in the “Selection”section.
7. Check Outlook Permissions
We all know that apps only have permission for what we choose on the iPhone. Therefore, Outlook will not be able to access your calendar data if you mistakenly denied it in your iPhone settings.
- Go to iPhone Settings → Calendar → Accounts → Outlook.
- Turn on the toggle to the right of the calendar if it’s not already active.
8. Disable Low Power Mode
While Low Power Mode helps conserve battery power, it reduces/stops background app refreshes. This in turn can stop push updates. So, in order to ensure fast data sync between the Calendar app and Outlook, make sure you turn off the power saving mode on your iPhone.
9. Close and reopen Outlook
While this solution seems unrelated to the problem because the sync is done in the background, sometimes it works. In addition, the Outlook application may freeze due to a temporary glitch. Force close and reopen the Outlook application. Then try scheduling a demo appointment in the Calendar app to see if it shows up in your Outlook calendar.
10. Restart your iPhone
Lack of RAM and heavy caching can also interfere with syncing and sharing in Outlook and the Calendar app. Luckily, restarting your iPhone solves this problem in most cases. Rebooting your iPhone automatically clears the cache and cleans up the RAM.
11. Update iOS and Outlook app
Synchronization can also fail for two reasons; your version of iOS is probably out of date or the Outlook app is out of date. It could also be related to both.
An update helps fix bugs or incompatibility issues due to recent application structure changes or code base updates. First, check if the Outlook app is out of date and update it.
Then try scheduling a demo appointment to see if it shows up in your Outlook calendar. If that doesn’t work, your iOS version might be out of date. Luckily, updating to the new version of iOS is easy.
12. Reset your iPhone’s network
If all else fails, it might be time to perform a network reset. Resetting the network helps you refresh your network and remove VPN and proxy services that might be causing the sync to fail.
To reset network settings on iPhone:
- Go to iPhone Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone.
- Tap Reset → select Reset Network Settings.
- Provide your iPhone passcode if prompted. Then follow the instructions on the screen to complete the process.
FAQ
Outlook won’t sync with iPhone for many reasons. For example, you may not have been able to connect them, or you may have a poor internet network, among other faults. You may have a different solution for each, depending on the cause. However, most of these solutions are debatable.
Synchronizing iPhone calendars with a Google account is quite simple. Go to iPhone Settings → Calendars → Accounts → Add Account → Outlook.com/Google.com. Then sign in to your accounts.
You can manually sync your iOS calendar to iCloud in iPhone settings. I found a quick way to do it in this iCloud backup article.
As noted, the Outlook app may not sync with your iOS Calendar app for many reasons. But every problem has a solution. All you have to do is find what works and keep working on your schedule. What solution worked for you? Let me know in the comments section.