It sounds like this is something that should be handled by a setting in Exchange’s organization configuration to control the default permission created for new calendars.

There will always be exceptions where you want to protect calendars against casual browsing (“I wonder what the CEO is doing today…”), but the idea is to allow general access as a default. Things become more complicated if you decide that it would be better if everyone could see more information. You’re all set and there’s no more to do if you’re happy with everyone seeing calendar slots instead of appointment details. Using PowerShell to Set a New Default Permission This is what happens when people need to manage the calendar for other users. For instance, OWA refers to the Default user as People in my organization and interprets the permission as Can view when I’m busy (Figure 2).įigure 1: OWA displays calendar sharing permissions, including the default for the organizationįigure 2 also shows that individuals can assign specific permissions to different users to allow them to have custom access to a calendar. People see this assignment in a slightly different manner because clients present the information in a more user-friendly manner. To make sure that everyone within an organization has at least limited visibility of each other’s calendar, Exchange Online assigns the AvailabilityOnly permission to a special user called Default.

The ability to see this information is governed by the other special permission ( LimitedDetails), which allows people to see the time slot reserved, the title, location, and its time status (busy, tentative, out of office, etc.). However, this permission doesn’t allow you to see details of what you’re up to like the Procurement call highlighted in Figure 1. This is one of two special permissions available for the calendar folder and it allows other users to see a graphic representation of when someone is available. The default permission used within Exchange Online is AvailabilityOnly. The ability to view details of someone’s availability depends on the permission you have to their calendar (private items like the one shown are exceptions to the rule). Figure 1: The Outlook for Windows scheduling assistant displays free and busy information for attendeesĪs you can see from Figure 1, more insight is available about the availability of some people than others.

Outlook private appointment permissions