If you’re accustomed to set private appointments as free in your Outlook, why not directly let Outlook auto accomplish this task? This article will teach you how to get it with a bit of scripting.

“Busy/Free” information in calendar is really important. For instance, when you need to schedule a meeting, you’ll need to check when you have free time. If you are a person who attaches more importance to work instead of private matters, you’ll prefer to show all private calendar items as free. Thereby, when planning a meeting, even though there is a private appointment at a specific time, you could select delay or cancel the private item to schedule the meeting at that time. Now, in the followings, we’ll teach you a handy way to auto show private appointments as free.

Auto Show All Private Appointments as Free

1. At first, launch Outlook application.
2. Then, get access to VBA editor by referring to “How to Run VBA Code in Your Outlook“.
3. Next, in the new window, copy the VBA code below into “ThisOutlookSession” project.

Private WithEvents objInspectors As Outlook.Inspectors
Private WithEvents objExplorer As Outlook.Explorer
Private WithEvents objCalendarItem As Outlook.AppointmentItem

Private Sub Application_Startup()
    Set objInspectors = Outlook.Application.Inspectors
    Set objExplorer = Outlook.Application.ActiveExplorer
End Sub

Private Sub objExplorer_SelectionChange()
    On Error Resume Next
    If TypeOf objExplorer.Selection.Item(1) Is AppointmentItem Then
       Set objCalendarItem = objExplorer.Selection.Item(1)
    End If
End Sub

Private Sub objInspectors_NewInspector(ByVal Inspector As Inspector)
    If TypeOf Inspector.currentItem Is AppointmentItem Then
       Set objCalendarItem = Inspector.currentItem
    End If
End Sub

Private Sub objCalendarItem_Open(Cancel As Boolean)
    If objCalendarItem.Sensitivity = olPrivate Then
       objCalendarItem.BusyStatus = olFree
    Else
       objCalendarItem.BusyStatus = olBusy
    End If
End Sub

Private Sub objCalendarItem_PropertyChange(ByVal Name As String)
    If Name = "Sensitivity" Then
       If objCalendarItem.Sensitivity = olPrivate Then
          objCalendarItem.BusyStatus = olFree
       Else
          objCalendarItem.BusyStatus = olBusy
       End If
    End If
End Sub

4. After that, exit the VBA editor.
5. Finally, restart your Outlook to activate this project.
6. Since then, every time when you set a calendar item as private, Outlook will auto show it free, like the following screenshot.

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Author Introduction:

Shirley Zhang is a data recovery expert in DataNumen, Inc., which is the world leader in data recovery technologies, including mdf fix and outlook repair software products. For more information visit www.datanumen.com