Did you reserve a meeting room in Outlook, but now the person in charge cannot organize the meeting anymore?
In that case, it is necessary to change the meeting organizer so the event can go as smoothly as possible.
Can you change the organizer of an Outlook meeting?
Yes, in new Outlook, Outlook on the web and the calendar in Teams. Classic Outlook for Windows doesn't have it.
- Right-click the meeting in your calendar and choose Change organizer. For a recurring series, open the meeting first and find Change organizer under More options.
- Enter the new organizer's name or email, add a message if you want, and send the request.
- Wait for them to accept. Until they do, the meeting stays yours, and you can withdraw the request.
Attendees in your organization see their calendars update without having to respond again. External attendees get a cancellation from you and a new invitation from the new organizer, and they have to RSVP again. On a recurring series, only future meetings move.
When can't you change the organizer?
- Teams and other online meetings. Microsoft says support for those is coming.
- Meetings in a shared or group mailbox.
- Encrypted meetings, drafts, cancelled meetings and any meeting that has already started.
- A new organizer outside your organization, or anyone on a personal Outlook.com account.
For any of these, and in classic Outlook, cancel the meeting and send a new one with one of the two methods below.
Can an admin change the organizer?
Yes. Exchange Online admins can run Invoke-ChangeMeetingOrganizer against the organizer's mailbox. It has the same limits on shared and group mailboxes. On a Teams meeting it moves the calendar entry but not the Teams meeting, so the new organizer has to add a fresh Teams link.
Sources: Change the meeting organizer, Invoke-ChangeMeetingOrganizer.
Workaround 1: cancel the meeting and have the new organizer send it
The first method to change the meeting organizer in Outlook consists of canceling a meeting and setting up a new one.
Note that you can only cancel a meeting that you have created or if you have enough admin permissions to do so. These are the three steps you need to follow.
Step 1: Open Outlook Calendar and Browse the Meetings
Open Outlook, go to the Calendar View, and check the entire calendar until you find the meeting that you need to modify.
Once you find the meeting, click on it and proceed with the following step.
Step 2: Select the Meeting to Be Cancelled and Click “Cancel Meeting”
After opening the meeting, look for the “Cancel” button in the command bar.
Click “Cancel Meeting,” and the appointment will be canceled.
Step 3: Go to the Home Tab and Set a Meeting with the New Organizer
Now, go to the main tab of the Calendar View, and **create a new meeting.
Fill in the meeting details**, such as date, meeting attendees, meeting time, and more.
Set up the new meeting organizer, and send the meeting invitations. At this point, the attendees will receive a meeting invitation with updated info about the meeting.
Workaround 2: copy the meeting and send it from the new organizer
If you can't cancel the meeting, copy its details into a new one and send that instead.
To do this, follow these four steps.
Step 1: Open Outlook and Look for the Meeting You Want to Modify
Open Outlook, and surf through the Calendar.
On the Calendar View, look for the meetings booked for the week or month - find the meeting you want to change the organizer and click on it.
Step 2: Reply All and tell everyone who's taking over
Open the meeting and select Reply All. Add the new organizer to the To line, write that they're taking over the meeting and will send a new invitation, and send it.
Step 3: The new organizer turns that email into a meeting
The new organizer opens your email and selects Reply with Meeting (Message tab, Respond group). In new Outlook or Outlook on the web it's Meeting, on the Home tab. Outlook starts a meeting request from them, with everyone on the To line as required attendees and everyone on Cc as optional.
Step 4: Add the details and send
The new organizer sets the time, location and agenda to match the old meeting and sends it. They're now the organizer. Ask attendees to delete the old meeting, since you couldn't cancel it.
