Rescheduling or Canceling a Meeting

Handling changes to Outlook meetings requires a delicate balancing act. After the initial round of invitations and responses, each prospective attendee has a separate meeting item on his calendar. Communication of any changes is crucial. In previous Outlook versions, only the meeting organizer could trigger a new round of Outlook messages that ensures every calendar is properly updated.

As the organizer, you can change the date or time of a meeting, change other details (such as its location), or cancel it outright. To make any changes, open the item in your Calendar folder, click the Appointment tab, and change the meeting details; then click the Send Update button. To cancel the meeting, open the meeting item and click the Cancel Invitation button on the Standard toolbar. If you change the date, time, or other details, Outlook prompts you to send an Update message to everyone on the list; if you cancel a meeting, Outlook generates a cancellation request.

An Update message looks exactly like the original request. Everyone who receives it will see the Accept, Decline, and Tentative buttons, just as if it were an original meeting request.