The following articles were included in our Exchange Messaging Outlook (EMO) newsletter published on May 16, 2024.
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Today's Highlights »
- Update: Out of Office Indicator Bar Changes
- iCloud couldn't start username or password is incorrect
- Display Teams Calendars in Outlook
- Outlook for Mac Categories Bug
- Get Classic Outlook's Internet Headers PowerShell
Beginning this week, Exchange Messaging Outlook is on the summer schedule with an issue every other week unless something important comes up to report on. I'm on vacation next week so even if the Outlook or Exchange world falls apart, there won't be in issue of EMO to cover it. :)
Update: Out of Office Indicator Bar Changes
In Late April, I mentioned Microsoft is updating the indicator for out of office messages in Outlook to have an X pattern, rather than solid. There was a bug in the implementation and users with Outlook 2016 or Outlook 2019 see the bar in the same color as the calendar or category, if a category is assigned.
While Microsoft is still working on a fix, they now have a registry key that will restore the old look.
You need to add the DWORD DisableAestheticPatterns to the preferences key in the registry and set the value to 1.
1. Start typing regedit on the start menu and open the Registry editor when it comes up.
2. Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Office > 16.0 > Outlook > Preferences
(Tip: you can paste it in the address field under the menu in the registry editor then press Enter to go right to it.)
3. Right click on the key and choose New > DWORD.
4. Paste DisableAestheticPatterns as the DWORD name.
5. Right click on the new value and choose Modify. Change the value to 1.
6. Close the registry editor.
More information, screenshots, and ready-to-use .reg options:
Outlook Desktop calendar Out of Office color indicator unexpectedly changed
iCloud couldn't start username or password is incorrect
I’ve had a few clients trying to set up iCloud 15 who receive an odd error message:
Your setup couldn’t start because your username or password is incorrect. Go to iCloud for Windows, sign out, and sign back in.
The error makes no sense because the users are signed into iCloud with their username and password. They wouldn't get this far if they weren't.
My first thought: it was an issue adding the iCloud email account to Outlook. Apple requires an app password to add their accounts to other mail clients but when the iCloud adding sets up the account, that counts as an apple app. At least for a few weeks. (Eventually users might need an app password.)
But some of the users used Gmail or Yahoo addresses as their iCloud ID, so it couldn't be that.
I couldn’t repro it with my accounts.
Then a client asked for my help. She had multiple errors, in addition to the username and password error, one said she needed APLZOD64.dll. In File > Options > Add-ins, the iCloud add-in was using APLZOD32.dll. We tried to change it to the APLZOD6432 DL but received a different error message. I checked her Office version and discovered she had 32-bit Office installed.
I had her uninstall her Office, iCloud and iCloud Outlook. She reinstalled the 64-bit version of Office then reinstall iCloud from the Microsoft store and was able to set up iCloud to sync calendar and contacts, no errors.
I tested it on a virtual machine running 32-bit Office. I had the iCloud username and password error. After uninstalling it and reinstalling 64-bit Office, I was able to set up iCloud to sync calendar and contacts.
For up-to-date information, visit:
iCloud error: Setup couldn’t start because username or password is incorrect
Display Teams Calendars in Outlook
A user wanted to know how to add a Teams Channel Calendar to the Outlook app on her computer and mobile device.
Calendars in a Team are stored in the Team’s group mailbox. By default, Teams’ mailbox is hidden from Exchange clients. It’s only visible in Teams.
The calendar can be displayed in classic Outlook under Group Calendars, but the Microsoft 365 administrator needs to run a PowerShell cmdlet to change a setting so the Team’s group is not hidden from exchange clients.
The admin needs to run the Set-UnifiedGroup cmdlet.
Set-UnifiedGroup -Identity "Group Name" -HiddenFromExchangeClientsEnabled:$False
Once enabled, the calendar is located under the Group calendars in the Outlook desktop and mobile apps.
Set-UnifiedGroup (ExchangePowerShell) | Microsoft Learn
For up-to-date information and screenshots, visit:
Outlook for Mac Categories Bug
Organizational users with FullAccess to shared mailboxes are not able to manage categories and set them on items in a shared mailbox as the option is greyed out. This is a bug, not a change in behavior (users with FullAccess or Owner rights can manage and use categories in the shared mailbox.)
Microsoft is investigating.
Unable to assign categories to items in Shared and Delegated Mailboxes in Outlook for Mac
Get Classic Outlook's Internet Headers PowerShell
I updated my article on how to get classic Outlook's internet headers using VBA to include a PowerShell option. The advantage to this is you don't need to change your macro security settings. The negative: you can't run it by clicking a button in Outlook. When it's saved as a PowerShell file (.ps1) you can double click to run it from the desktop, after selecting the message(s) you need to get the internet header from. You can create a shortcut to pin to the start menu or taskbar.
The PowerShell script writes the message header to a new Outlook message form, where it is much easier to read than in the tiny box in the message properties dialog.
New & Updated Microsoft 365 & Exchange Server Support Articles
Activity-based authentication timeout for Outlook on the web in Office 365 - Microsoft Support
Describes considerations are applied for the activity-based timeouts
New & Updated Outlook Support Articles
Unable to assign categories to items in Shared and Delegated Mailboxes in Outlook for Mac
Error replying to encrypted emails from Outlook Desktop
Known issues with Outlook Desktop Shared Calendar Improvements
Outlook Desktop calendar Out of Office color indicator unexpectedly changed
Outlook Desktop is slow to save attachments to a network path
Print to PDF is blocked if Mandatory Labeling is enabled
May 2024 updates for Microsoft Office - Microsoft Support
Other Resources
Gmail All Mail and Outlook’s Archive folder
Using Gmail's All Mail folder in new Outlook for Windows or classic Outlook for Windows. In the new Outlook, there is a folder named Archive and it appears to contain all of the messages in the All Mail folder in Gmail. Is new Outlook syncing All Mail?
iCloud error: Setup couldn’t start because username or password is incorrect
iCloud error setting up Outlook sync: Your setup couldn’t start because your username or password is incorrect. Go to iCloud for Windows, sign out, and sign back in.
Out of Office Indicator Bar Changes
Microsoft is updating the indicator bar used to identify out of office messages in Outlook to have an X pattern, rather than solid. The new pattern is used in classic Outlook, new Outlook, Outlook on the web, Outlook mobile.
Send an Email When You Open Outlook
Today's entry in the Fun with Programming series is a macro to send a message every day when you first open Outlook.
Spellcheck and Microsoft Editor not working in new Outlook
How to fix the Microsoft Editor and spellcheck not working in new Outlook for Windows.
Microsoft Places: Using AI for flexible work | Microsoft 365 Blog
Deployment guide for Places - Deploy Office | Microsoft Learn
Opt in to the Microsoft Places Public Preview Program - Deploy Office | Microsoft Learn