Outlook birthday calendar: turn it on, fix dates in contacts, hide it
Outlook’s birthdays come from your contacts, and the steps differ between new Outlook or the web and classic Outlook. Birthdays can also take hours to appear. Arte Soft, the developer of Cloud Calendars, explains what Microsoft documents.
Birthday actions
| Want to | New Outlook / web | Classic Outlook |
|---|---|---|
| Turn on | Add calendar → Birthdays → Turn on the birthday calendar | Contact dates create recurring events; a Birthdays calendar enabled in new Outlook can appear here |
| Add or fix a date | People → contact → Edit → Others; or New birthday | Contact → Birthday or Anniversary box |
| Hide | Untick Birthdays under My calendars | Untick Birthdays |
| Remove the calendar | — | Delete Calendar; contacts and saved birthdays kept |
| Expect a delay | Few hours after turning on; some delay after edits | — |
What most people assume
Deleting the birthday calendar deletes the birthdays from my contacts.
New Outlook, Outlook.com and Outlook on the web
Turn it on: Calendar, Add calendar, Birthdays, confirm the account and tick Turn on the birthday calendar. Microsoft says events are created for birthdays already in your contacts, and it might take a few hours for them to appear.
Add or change a birthday in People: open the contact, Edit, add the birthday under Others, Save. Microsoft also offers New birthday from the birthday calendar, which opens a contact form. Microsoft notes a delay before a new birthday shows in the calendar.
Hide it by unticking Birthdays under My calendars.
Classic Outlook
In classic Outlook, open People, edit a contact, then use Contact > Show > Details and enter the Birthday or Anniversary date. Microsoft says these are all-day annually recurring events and reminders are added by default. A separate Birthdays calendar enabled in new Outlook can also appear under My Calendars when you switch back to classic Outlook.
If a Birthdays calendar is listed, hide it by unticking its checkbox, or right-click its name and choose Delete Calendar. Microsoft states that deleting that calendar does not delete contacts or their saved birthdays. Check the selected calendar name before deleting.
Worked example: a wrong date
A fictional user sees a colleague’s birthday on the wrong day in new Outlook. They open People, find the contact, choose Edit, correct the birthday under Others and save, then check the calendar again later, allowing for Microsoft’s documented delay.
Later they want birthdays off their work calendar view but kept in contacts. They untick Birthdays rather than deleting anything.
Check: the contact still holds the corrected birthday; the calendar shows it on the right date once synced.
What it looks like
Cloud Calendars overview, using our product images. Provider settings and protocol examples described in this guide are separate from the screens shown here.
What to do
- Turn on the birthday calendar in new Outlook or the web; allow a few hours.
- Fix dates in the contact, not by creating a separate event.
- Hide birthdays by unticking the calendar.
- In classic Outlook, deleting the calendar keeps contacts and birthdays.
Questions
- I turned on birthdays and nothing appeared.
- Microsoft says it might take a few hours for birthdays from your contacts to be added.
- Will deleting the birthday calendar remove birthdays from contacts?
- No. Microsoft says contacts and their saved birthdays are kept.