How to Remove Duplicate Events in Outlook Calendar – Complete Cleanup Guide
Duplicates in your Microsoft Outlook Calendar are a nuisance and become a problem, especially if they are making your schedule look chaotic or confusing you in your meetings. It might be easy to forget, but if you are a business professional, student, or administrator, you probably want your Outlook Calendar to look clean and decluttered. In this article, we’ll explain how to remove duplicate events in Outlook Calendar, why they are coming again & again, and how we can prevent them from coming up in future.
Why Do Duplicate Calendar Entries Appear in Outlook?
Before we learn how to delete duplicate events in Outlook Calendar, it is important to know the issue.
- Sync Errors Between Devices or Third-Party Apps
The problem of duplication happens when you sync Outlook with another service like Google Calendar or any device. The following situations are:
- Sync settings are wrongly configured.
- You are syncing from more than one source at the same time.
- The calendar data is merged incorrectly.
For example, if your phone and laptop are both syncing the same calendar but using EXCHANGE and IMAP protocols, Outlook may interpret them as duplicate events or duplicate each other’s calendars.
- Repeated Calendar Imports
When you import calendar files second or third time, Outlook generally adds the events again without checking the database for duplicates. This is common when:
- You downloaded the holiday calendar multiple times.
- You imported a previously exported backup of a calendar.
Every time you import a calendar, it will be treated as new data, so the entries will simply get chaotic.
- Shared Calendar or Invite Update Problems
When using shared calendars or updates from meeting invites:
- Any small edit like changing location, date or time can cause a new event to be created instead of updating the existing event.
- Responding or resending multiple invites might result in duplicate entries.
- If there is a problem with guests’ calendars or there are permission level issues, this can also create duplicate entries.
- Outlook Add-Ins or Custom Rules Malfunctions
Sometimes, third-party Outlook add-ins or custom Rules could cause duplicate events, but it is rare; they do the following:
- If automation is enabled, then it might unintentionally paste events on a different calendar without checking existing events.
- Add-ins that sync or backup calendar data might even duplicate an event during the process.
- Damaged or Bugged Calendar Data
Although rare, Outlook is not without bugs! But, you can always run into corrupted issues in calendar files, which can sometimes create:
- Duplicated Calendar folders.
- Duplicate events that you can’t find that look the same (i.e. repeated or phantom entries).
Methods to Remove Duplicate Events in Outlook Calendar
These problems can create duplicate calendar in Outlook, so it is important to understand how to remove duplicate events in Outlook Calendar. It can be removed by both manual and automated methods, which are followed below:
- Using Outlook Calendar View
- Sort and Grouping Calendar Entries
- Filtering Calendar Items
- Using an Automated Solution
Let’s discuss them one by one with both their pros and cons:
# Method 1: Using Outlook Calendar View
Steps to switch to list view:
- Go to Calendar > View tab > Change View and select List.
- The calendar view displays calendar entries as a sortable list. Columns shown are displayed like Subject, Start Date, End Date and so on.
Find and Sort by Subject or Start Date
- Sort by clicking Subject or Start Date column to sort by either alphabetical order or chronological order.
- One positive aspect of duplicate events is that they will now be next to each other which makes identifying them easier.
Delete Duplicates Manually
- Choose with Shift + Click
- Click Delete.
# Method 2: Sorting and Grouping Events
Sort by Fields
- Click on Column header like start time, date, or location.
- This action will sort and arrange the entries making it easier to scan for duplicate events.
Group by Similar Attributes
- Navigate to View > View Settings > Group By.
- Choose group by Subject or Categories.
- This groups similar entries or events together which allows you to see duplicates more easily.
# Method 3: Filtering Calendar Items
Use Search & Filter Tools
- Use Search Bar located at the top of calendar view.
- Type some keyword like Event Date this will assist you in searching for a specific meeting or entries.
Apply Filters with Advanced Find
- Navigate to Search Tools, then click Advanced Find.
- Apply filters as start date, subject, or location.
- This effectively allows duplicates to come up front and allows you to delete quickly.
Limitations of Manual Methods to Remove Duplicate Events in Outlook Calendar
While knowing how to delete duplicate events in Outlook Calendar. Here are some drawbacks which should be known for manual methods:
- Not efficient for large calendars
It’s very depressing going through hundreds of events and deleting those duplicates; it makes the process inefficient.
- Not possible to delete duplicates in bulk
It is not possible to remove duplicate calendar events in Outlook in bulk, as it doesn’t provide any option to delete in one go.
- Risk of deleting valid appointments
Events that look similar may not be duplicates which increases your risk of deleting valid appointments and events.
- Duplications May Come Back
Manually removing duplicates does not resolve their duplication origins. If syncing is not done correctly, it will bring duplicates back and become a big issue.
- Error-Prone Process
The manual process of sorting, recognising and deleting duplicates can mislead users, especially when filters and advanced filtering capabilities are not present.
Note: It’s not the only solution; other third-party automated tools are available on the market which can easily remove duplicate events in Outlook Calendar. So, let’s take a look at this professional solution.
# Method 4: Delete Duplicate Events in Outlook Calendar Using Automated Method
If you’re working on bulk or large Outlook data which consists of many duplicates, you should try to opt best automated solution to remove duplicate events in Outlook Calendar, which is SysTools Outlook Duplicate Remover. It is the most trusted, safe & secure tool to remove duplicate calendar entries in Outlook. The suggested solution also remove duplicate tasks in Outlook, emails, notes & journal.
- Delete multiple copies of Outlook items at once in a few seconds.
- Use advanced filters and options to make your Outlook focused and precise.
- It keeps original data intact while removing duplicates.
- Full support for all major versions of Outlook and file types.
- It supports files like PST/OST/BAK to remove duplicate calendar events in Outlook.
Steps to Remove Duplicate Events in Outlook Calendar Using Professional Solution
Steps to follow:
- Install and run the SysTools Software to remove duplicate calendar entries.
- Click Add File & Folders to load your Outlook-supported files.
- It provides to add files within folder or across folder.
- Choose Destination to save the output file where you want.
- In select item types, choose Calendar option for removing duplicates.
- Set Specific Duplicate Criteria such as attachments, subject, end date, etc.
- Click Ok to delete duplicate events in Outlook Calendar.
How Do I Stop Duplicate Calendar Entries in Outlook?
To prevent duplicates is more effective than deleting later. So here’s how:
- Avoid syncing multiple calendar services
When syncing Outlook with multiple services such as iCloud, Google Calendar, and Teams, using them all at the same time can cause issues with duplicated entries. This is probably due to an incorrect way of syncing behaviour.
- Do not auto-import calendar invites from email
Outlook sometimes creates calendar events from an incoming email. This may create confusion and duplicate entries if you have added it manually. You should disable this feature in calendar settings.
- Don’t Import the Same.ICS Files Again
When importing an .ics calendar file, check if those events exist before importing them to prevent duplicate events from occurring.
- Use only one sync method on all devices
If you are syncing Outlook to multiple devices (PC, phone, tablet), only use one sync method, either Exchange or IMAP, to avoid creating duplicates which were not synchronised.
Conclusion
Now you must have understood how to remove duplicate events in Outlook Calendar to maintain your calendar clean and organised using either manual method or choosing an automated solution to delete duplicate events in Outlook Calendar. By following our guide, you can easily prevent issues like cluttering your calendar with duplicate meetings.
Keep your calendar organised and efficient by always taking backup of your outlook before removing data.
FAQs on Duplicate Calendar Entries
Q.1 How Do I Stop Duplicate Calendar Entries in Outlook?
A. You can stop duplicating calendar events by disabling all other syncing devices or by not accepting the auto-import of calendar invites.
Q.2 How to Delete Duplicate Calendar in Outlook?
A. Use Outlook’s folder view to manually delete by sorting and grouping method.
Q.3 Can Outlook Remove Duplicate Calendar Entries Automatically?
A. No, Outlook doesn’t provide any automated offer to delete duplicate calendar events, it can be removed manually or by using any automated tool.