how to use categories in Outlook

How do I use categories to organise appointments in Outlook?

Use categories in Outlook to get the most out of your schedule

Why do I need categories in Outlook?

Microsoft Outlook offers a categorisation feature that allows you to colour-code appointments, meetings and tasks and group them according to specific topics. This helps you keep track of things and quickly identify which meetings, projects or tasks are important.

In this article, you will learn how to use categories in Outlook to make appointment management clearer.

1. What are categories in Outlook?

Categories in Outlook are colour labels that can be assigned to appointments, meetings, emails and tasks. They enable visual organisation and help you quickly identify different types of events.

An example:

Blue for team meetings

Red for urgent customer meetings

Green for private appointments

Yellow for recurring project meetings

These colours can be customised and named individually.

2. Add a category to an appointment in Outlook

Create a new category

Open Outlook and switch to the calendar.
Right-click on an existing appointment or create a new appointment.
Select ‘Categorise’ > ‘All Categories’.
Click on ‘New’ to create a new category.
Enter a name and select a colour.
Confirm with OK – the new category is now available.

3. Use multiple categories for one appointment

If an appointment belongs to several projects or departments, multiple categories can be added at the same time:

Open the appointment and go to “Categorise”.
Hold down the Ctrl key while selecting multiple categories.
The appointment will now be marked with multiple colours.

This allows you to link appointments with multiple topics without having to enter them twice.

4. Common problems and solutions

Categories are not displayed in the mobile app

In Outlook Mobile, categories are currently only supported for emails, not for calendar appointments.
The colour coding is visible in the desktop version and Outlook Web App.

Categories are missing after synchronisation

If Outlook is used on multiple devices, check whether the calendar is synchronised with Microsoft Exchange.
Sometimes it helps to recreate categories if they disappear after synchronisation.

Colours are not consistent

Each person can define their own categories. If different colours are displayed in a shared calendar, shared categories can be adjusted manually.

Why booking software with categories is useful

Categories in Outlook are a great way to organise appointments. But when it comes to managing meeting rooms, catering or technical equipment, categories are often not enough.

Centralised management of meetings and resources

While Outlook can only colour-code appointments, booking software such as arbooMEET allows you to link meetings directly to additional resources, services and room bookings.

Targeted use of Outlook categories

The categories in Outlook help to make the calendar clearer and distinguish between different appointments by colour. With customised colours, meetings can be organised according to priority, team or project affiliation.

If you also need to book meeting rooms, services or catering, a booking solution such as arbooMEET ensures that not only appointments but also all associated resources are managed optimally.

Would you like to learn how to make your meeting planning even more structured? Contact us for a live demo of arbooMEET and experience how appointment and room management work together seamlessly.