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"Folder sharing is not available…" error

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› Outlook › Sharing › “Folder sharing is not available…” error

Last reviewed on February 14, 2017     15 Comments

Applies to: Exchange 2016, Exchange 2013, Exchange 2010

October 17, 2013 by Diane Poremsky 15 Comments

Some users have discovered they can't send sharing invitations when they right click on the calendar or contacts folder in their mailbox and choose Share, Share [folder].

Choose Share [folder] from the context menu

When they try to send the email, they receive an error:

"Folder sharing is not available with the following entries because of permission settings on your network."

share-error

Cause and Solution

This happens when the user picks the recipient's name from the autocomplete list. The entry in the autocomplete list contains the SMTP address, not the Exchange x.500 information from the Active Directory, so Outlook thinks it's an outside address and denies it.

Delete the recipient's name when it comes up in the autocomplete list and select it from the Global Address List (GAL) instead.

Sending the sharing invitation from Outlook on the web should also work. If it fails in Outlook on the web, check the sharing settings in the Exchange Admin console.

Assign Permissions

Sharing the calendar won't automatically give the person you are sharing with the permission to view the calendar. You'll need to give them permission before you share the calendar, especially if the default permission is set to None.

To do this, right click on the Calendar and choose Properties. Click Add, select the person's name and assign permissions.

calendar permissions

"Folder sharing is not available…" error was last modified: February 14th, 2017 by Diane Poremsky

Related Posts:

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    To Add a Second Mailbox to Your Exchange Profile

About Diane Poremsky

A Microsoft Outlook Most Valuable Professional (MVP) since 1999, Diane is the author of several books, including Outlook 2013 Absolute Beginners Book. She also created video training CDs and online training classes for Microsoft Outlook. You can find her helping people online in Outlook Forums as well as in the Microsoft Answers and TechNet forums.

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Michael
Michael

Wow, worked just like you described. Wish all Microsoft "features" could be fixed so easily!!

Vote Up00Vote Down Reply
December 12, 2018 2:05 pm
Roshan
Roshan

Your points really help me understand why outlook reject to open the folder.
I change the DNS to google DNS then it worked.

Vote Up00Vote Down Reply
June 10, 2018 5:27 am
Paul G
Paul G

Wow that's great, thanks!

Vote Up00Vote Down Reply
October 24, 2017 6:38 am
Joe Price
Joe Price

Thanks so much, this worked for me.

Vote Up00Vote Down Reply
March 24, 2016 3:51 pm
Jay
Jay

Thanks for your prompt response.
I followed the same procedure that you outlined for the Calendars...
But, as I mentioned, it appears that I am passed the permissions level issue.
Are you saying that message "error while preparing to send..." is generated because of permission restrictions--?

Please advise

Vote Up00Vote Down Reply
October 15, 2015 8:33 am
Jay
Jay

I failed to mention that I am attempting to share a "Task" folder, not a Calendar....
I have no issues when sharing my Calendars, only "Task" folders.
With your suggestions, I am now past the permission restriction. Now getting "error while preparing to send".....

Vote Up00Vote Down Reply
October 14, 2015 9:53 am
Diane Poremsky
Diane Poremsky

the cause and solution should be the same for any folder type - they need to have permissions and you may need to remove their name from the autocomplete list.

Vote Up00Vote Down Reply
October 14, 2015 11:00 am
John
John

Thank You! This fixed our issue. I love easy fixes.

Vote Up00Vote Down Reply
April 1, 2015 11:11 am
steve Ferranti
steve Ferranti

I'm having a similar problem. I can share with one of my workers but the other get a message "The folder is not available" any ideas

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March 3, 2015 4:11 pm
Diane Poremsky
Diane Poremsky

Are you all using the same version of Outlook? Are all updates installed? How is the person opening the folder in their outlook? (Using Open other users or as an additional mailbox).

Vote Up00Vote Down Reply
March 4, 2015 9:23 pm

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