Visual Basic script to delete calendar appointments with a specific subject

I had a user on Outlook for Mac 2016 who had thousands of duplicate appointments (created by an Outlook bug).  Here was my fix . . .

I set up the user's account in my Outlook.

I pressed alt-F11 and expanded Project1 and then expanded Microsoft Outlook object and then expanded this Outlook session.  I double clicked on this Outlook session and put in this text in the right hand pane where DESIRED SUBJECT is the subject of the messages you want to remove.

When done, I clicked on the play button in the toolbar (green triangle) to run the script.


Option Explicit

Sub deleteOutlookAppt()
Dim olApp As Object 'Outlook.Application
Dim olNS As Object 'Outlook.Namespace
Dim olAptItemFolder As Object 'Outlook.Folder
Dim olAptItem As Object 'Outlook.AppointmentItem
Dim i As Long

    Set olApp = CreateObject("Outlook.Application")
    Set olNS = olApp.Session
    Set olAptItemFolder = olNS.GetDefaultFolder(9) '9=olFolderCalendar constant
   
    For i = olAptItemFolder.Items.Count To 1 Step -1
        Set olAptItem = olAptItemFolder.Items(i)
        If olAptItem.Subject Like "DESIRED SUBJECT" Then
            olAptItem.Delete
        End If
    Next i
   
    Set olAptItem = Nothing
    Set olAptItemFolder = Nothing
    Set olApp = Nothing
   
End Sub

Fixing November 2015 issue of iphone users sending calendar acceptances over and over again

In October and November 2015, we found that in some cases, users would send calendar appointment acceptances over and over again to the meeting owner.  We think this is caused by the newest iPhone IOS update.  Here's the fix that Microsoft recommends:

1. Configure affected user's mailbox in Outlook in Online Mode (disable cache).
2. Download MFCMAPI tool from http://mfcmapi.codeplex.com
3. In O365 web portal from the Exchange Admin Center, open the affected user's profile, then select Mailbox Features > Mobile Devices > Disable Exchange ActiveSync.
4. Remove the mailbox from the user's mobile device.
5. On the system with Outlook is configured in Online Mode, run MFCMAPI.
6. Click OK to close the Usage Notes screen.
7. Click Session > Logon.
8. Select the Outlook profile set up for the affected user.
9. Double-click the display name of the affected mailbox.
10. In the new window, expand the Root Container menu.
11. Expand ExchangeSyncData menu.
12. For each listed AirSync device, right-click the item, then select Delete Folder and select the checkbox for Hard Deletion > OK.
14. Once all listed AirSync devices have been successfully deleted, from the main navigation select Actions > Exit.
15. Select Session > Logoff.
16. Select QuickStart > Exit.
17. In O365 web portal from the Exchange Admin Center, open the affected user's profile, then select Mailbox Features > Mobile Devices > Enable Exchange ActiveSync.
18. Add the mailbox to the user's mobile device.
19. The issue should be resolved and may be monitored via the Sent Items folder of the configured Outlook.

display shared Exchange calendars on an iphone/Droid

I'm documenting a solution for display shared calendars (for example your boss's calendar) on an iphone/Droid.  I tried this via two Office365 accounts (on two different domains), and it worked well.

Links to explain the process:
http://www.stevieg.org/2010/11/shared-exchange-calendars-on-ios-devices/

http://community.office365.com/en-us/f/158/t/13878.aspx

In essence, you share your boss's Exchange calendar as an iCal calendar (this does require a publishing process via right clicking on the calnendar and choose Share -> Publish this calendar).  In my tests, a web link to an .ICS files was created.  Send to the employee and the iphone (in my tests) will properly interpret the link as a shared calendar and add it as a calendar in calendars.

removing "copy" from calendar appointments after importing calendar

Sometimes when importing a calendar into another Outlook calendar, most or all of the appointments will say "copy" before the appointment title.  A VB script that gives a fix is here:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/officeversion_other-outlook/importing-pst-outlook-calendars-subject-title-adds/c58ccd50-451d-4519-a1c9-f0d2491abba8

Recreated here for reference:

1. Press Alt+F11 which will open the VBA window. 
2. In the left pane, navigate to Project1-MS Outlook Object and double-click 'ThisOutlookSession'.
3. Paste the code into the window in the right pane (code below)
4. Press the green arrow button to execute the code.

Code to enter in step 3 (above):

Sub FixCopy()
Dim calendar As MAPIFolder
Dim calItem As Object
    
Set calendar = Application.GetNamespace("MAPI").GetDefaultFolder(olFolderCalendar)
        
Dim iItemsUpdated As Integer
Dim strTemp As String

iItemsUpdated = 0
For Each calItem In calendar.Items
    If Mid(calItem.Subject, 1, 6) = "Copy: " Then
      strTemp = Mid(calItem.Subject, 7, Len(calItem.Subject) - 6)
      calItem.Subject = strTemp
      iItemsUpdated = iItemsUpdated + 1
    End If
    calItem.Save
Next calItem

MsgBox iItemsUpdated & " of " & calendar.Items.count & " Items Updated"

End Sub

options for syncing Exchange public folders with mailbox folders

Mobile mobile email devices pretty much only sync with a mailbox's default calendar and contacts, which makes it difficult if you want to sync with public folders. Here are some options I found for syncing public folders with mailbox folders:

http://www.diditbetter.com/add2exchange.aspx

http://www.wallpaper-calendar.com/olmixedfolders.php

instructions for sharing a calendar and viewing a shared calendar in Outlook (on an Exchange server)

For an employee to see another employee’s calendar the person sharing the calendar must set up permissions on his/her calendar. Then the person viewing the calendar must configure his/her Outlook to view the other employee’s calendar.

To share your calendar:

1. View your calendar, and on the Navigation Pane, under the Calendar folder, click Share My Calendar.

2. Next, add the name of the person you want to share with, and set permissions. Permission levels that you would be likely to use for calendar sharing include:

Reviewer—Can read calendar entries but cannot create, modify, or delete them.

Author—Can read or create calendar entries, and can modify or delete only entries that the author has created.

Editor—Can read, create, modify, or delete all calendar entries, whether or not the editor has created them.

To view another person’s calendar:

When viewing your calendar, you'll see a link in that pane called Open a Shared Calendar. To open the shared calendar, you would click this link, click the Name button, and select or type the name for the person sharing with you. Right away, you'll see the name listed under Other Calendars.

adding an item as a resource in Exchange/Outlook

Here's a KB on adding a item (like a conference room) in Outlook/Exchange as a resource that users can invite to a meeting for scheduling purposes:

http://kb.iu.edu/data/ajux.html