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Does Outlook Express have a Calendar?

Does Outlook Express have a Calendar?

In a word, no.

And unfortunately, it gets even a little worse than that.

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There’s not even an add-on to perform the function that I’m aware of. As I discussed “How do Outlook and Outlook Express
Relate?
“, Outlook Express wasn’t really designed to support add-ons, calendar or otherwise. If you don’t like Outlook (which does have a calendar, and much more), my recommendation is to find a separate, stand-alone calendaring or personal information management package to run in addition to Outlook Express.

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Posted: August 26, 2004 in: ask-leo.com
Shortlink: https://askleo.com/2165
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Leo Who?

I'm Leo Notenboom and I've been playing with computers since I took a required programming class in 1976. I spent over 18 years as a software engineer at Microsoft, and "retired" in 2001. I started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place to help you find answers and become more confident using all this amazing technology at our fingertips. More about Leo.

11 comments on “Does Outlook Express have a Calendar?”

  1. I did not know that there were two different Outlook progreams. I used Outlook at work for many years. But when I retired had had to buy one it never occured to me to ask for Outlook and could not figure out why I didn’t have a calendar. We need calendars to keep “track of”stuff” like birtdays and appts. Can Idownload Outlook or go to Best Buy?

    Reply
  2. Outlook (not Outlook Express) is part of Microsoft Office and must be purchased, either as part of Office, or I believe there is an Outlook-only option as well. In other words: Best Buy (or other retailer).

    Reply
  3. This really sucks! I recently bought a blackberry thinking I would be able to synch my calendar and other important info. to my handheld. It never occurred to me that outlook express didn’t have a calendar..
    what do I do? How much of a hassle is it to add a separate program and which one is the best?
    L-

    Reply
  4. I am using outlook express for my email.
    I am using outllok for the calendar.
    both on the same computer.
    I want to export the email files to outlook and begin using ONLY outlook.
    Will I lose the calendar data on oultook after I export/import from outllok express to outlook?

    Reply
  5. I use Thunderbird at home. (I am stuck with MS products at work). Thunderbird has Lightning (a plug-in) which I have started using and LOVE. My wife uses Outlook at work and said that Lightning seems to do everything Outlook does. I’m sure there are differences, but at first glance, it seems great.

    Not to bash MS just for the sake of it, but MS really is more interested in rushing buggy products to the market so they can increase their profits. I like Mozilla and other Open Source products because they are interested in supplying a good product, not the bottom line for some investors.

    Reply
  6. I used to think that open source was the way to go. After many years of using open source though, I realized that for profit software almost always out performs the free stuff. I equate open source with third party political candidates however. Even though we know they wont win, they force the major players to intergrate some of thier party’s platforms into thier own in order to gain more support. Thunderbird/Firefox are not better than E/outlook, but they do make E/outlook better programs and thus have value

    Reply
  7. It really depends on how heavily you use the programs. Some people only get a few emails a day and don’t need a calendar. For them, Thunderbird is great. Openoffice is perfect for a letter or a poster or the kind of casual use that most users do, same with Openoffice Calc, it is a fine spreadsheet for the checkbook balancing most people do. For a quick crop and adjust colors on an image, Picasa is perfect.
    There is no need to spend a hundred or more on commercial software unless you really use that type of software very heavily. Most users do not.

    Reply
  8. Very helpful article – I was similar to the OP – I use the full Outlook at work, found the calendar handy and wasn’t sure if OE had it or not.

    Sunbird looks great and very similar to the calendar in Outlook – and I trust Mozilla – thanks for linking to it.

    I also previously used the calendar in Microsoft Works 6.0, which works but is a bit basic and not freeware (although likely less $$$ than office). There are also a lot of options if you search for Calendar Freeware – although I’m pretty sure I’ll be happy with Sunbird.

    Reply
  9. As others have posted, I’ve made the mistake of presuming Outlook Express would have Calendar and Tasks functionality. My specific need is to synch and back-up my SonyEricsson mobile with Contacts/Calendar/Tasks – is there any FREE software that will perform this well like I was able to with full Outlook?

    Reply

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