Create Outlook calendar events from email

How it works

1. 1

   Forward the email to your ForwardThis address with some simple instructions, like "put this in my Outlook calendar for Monday 10am".

2. 2

   ForwardThis takes the date and time from the email and your instructions, and creates the event in your Outlook calendar. It can add a Teams link, a location, a reminder, and mark the time as busy, free, tentative or out of office.

3. 3

   A time that gives no clue which time zone it is in is refused rather than guessed at, and ForwardThis replies to ask instead.

4. 4

   You receive a confirmation email showing the event, plus an undo button if something doesn't look right. Undo works for 24 hours and deletes the event.

FAQs

How do I create an Outlook calendar event from an email?

Forward the email to your ForwardThis address with some simple instructions, like "put this in my Outlook calendar for Monday 10am". ForwardThis creates the event at that time and replies to confirm. All you need is a free ForwardThis account with Outlook Calendar connected - it takes about 30 seconds.

Do I need to be using Outlook for my email?

No. Your Outlook calendar connects on its own, separately from an Outlook mailbox, so you can keep your calendar in Outlook and read your email anywhere. Forwarding works from Gmail, Apple Mail, Outlook or anything else that can forward an email.

Can it add a Teams link or a reminder?

Yes. Ask for a Teams link and the event carries one, so everyone invited joins from the invitation. Ask for a reminder and it is set for as long before the event as you asked for. You can also have the time show as free, tentative or out of office rather than busy.

Can it invite people to the event?

Yes. Put their email addresses in your instructions. Outlook emails every attendee an invitation the moment the event exists, so ForwardThis checks with you first and shows you the guest list. Addresses found inside the forwarded email are never used as guests.

Can it move or cancel an event that is already there?

Yes. It can change the time, the title, the location, the notes and the reminder, and on a repeating event it changes the one occurrence unless your instructions ask for the whole series. It can cancel a meeting you organised, and every attendee gets Outlook's cancellation email. For a meeting somebody else organised it declines on your behalf instead, because that is the honest way out of one.

What if I get the time wrong?

Press undo within 24 hours and the event is deleted. If people were invited, Outlook emails them the cancellation, and the confirmation says so before you press it. Two things cannot be taken back: a cancellation you have already sent to attendees, since they have read it, and an invitation reply, since Outlook has no way to go back to not having answered.

Can Outlook do this on its own?

Partly. Outlook adds travel and restaurant bookings it recognises, and on a desktop you can drag an email onto the calendar and fill the event in yourself. What it will not do is read 'Monday 10am with Dr Ellis' out of an ordinary email and file it while you are on your phone with one hand. That is the gap ForwardThis fills.

What happens to my email afterwards?

It gets deleted. ForwardThis holds your email briefly in case you press undo, then removes it completely. Nothing is stored long term.