Schedule meetings in Outlook or in Teams

  • 5 minutes

Microsoft Teams is integrated into the rest of Microsoft Office. This integration makes it easy to create a meeting, whether it’s immediate or in the future. Both Microsoft Outlook and Teams offer options to schedule a meeting.

Scheduling Teams meetings is quick and easy. All educators need to do is:

  1. Create a subject for the meeting.
  2. Add attendees.
  3. Find a common time that works for everyone using the scheduling assistant.

Schedule meetings in Outlook

The Teams Meeting option under the calendar tab in Outlook makes meeting creation as easy as sending an email. Think of the title of the meeting as the subject line of the email. Required attendees are like the "To" field, and optional attendees are like the cc field.

Screenshot of the Teams meeting scheduler in Microsoft Outlook.

Configure settings for meetings scheduled in Outlook

When educators use Outlook to schedule a Teams meeting, they can edit the meeting options for the call as soon as they send the invite. To access the call’s settings, select the Meeting options link from Calendar details.

In the meeting options settings, educators can:

  • Select who can bypass the lobby
  • Choose co-organizers for the call
  • Designate who can present
  • Determine if attendees can use their audio and video
  • Set up automatic call recording
  • Determine if attendees can chat during the meeting
  • Turn on the Q & A feature
  • Allow reactions
  • Create a green room for organizers and presenters
  • Display an attendee list
  • Decide whether to use Copilot with or without transcription (additional license required)

Screenshot of meeting options that can be pre-configured after scheduling in Outlook.

Schedule meetings in the Microsoft Teams calendar app

There are also many ways to create a meeting in Teams.

In the Teams app:

  1. Select the Calendar app in the Me space.
  2. Select New Meeting to schedule a meeting.

Screenshot of the Calendar app in the Me space and the New meeting button.

Post the meeting invite to a channel

When you're scheduling a meeting from this tab, you can select a channel, which creates a post in that channel and invites everyone with access to it to join the meeting.

Screenshot showing the option to create a meeting in a team's channel.

Configure options for meetings scheduled in Teams

To save time, educators can define meeting options ahead of time in the Teams meeting invitation.

Under Options, educators can:

  • Select who can bypass the lobby
  • Designate who can present
  • Determine if attendees can use their audio and video
  • Set up automatic call recording

Screenshot of the Options button when scheduling a new meeting in Teams.

Meeting response options

Teams meeting invites also come with response options that the sender can choose based on their needs, like:

  • Ask invitees to respond
  • Prevent invitees from forwarding the invitation for security or privacy reasons
  • Require invitees to register for the meeting

Screenshot of the response options when scheduling a new meeting in Teams.

Team members receive a notification and can join the meeting wherever they use Teams—whether it's computer, mobile, or browser. Meetings can also be recorded and shared later for staff members or learners who can’t make it to the live meeting.

Schedule meetings from a Teams chat or channel

Another way to schedule a meeting in Teams is through the Chat app in the Me space or in a specific channel.

Schedule a meeting from a chat

In a chat, everyone who’s part of the conversation is automatically invited.

Screenshot showing the option to schedule a meeting with all participants of a chat in Microsoft Teams.

Schedule a meeting from a channel

In a channel, everyone who is a member of the channel receives an invitation. Educators can also invite others to join the channel meeting—unless the meeting is scheduled in a private channel.

Screenshot showing how to schedule a meeting from a team's channel in Microsoft Teams.