Resolving issues that will not allow a repeating meeting to be deleted from your outlook calendar.

Delete After Editing

Technical issues in Outlook can cause an event to become locked. Editing the event and then attempting to delete it again can often unlock the event. Open the event, change a couple of characters or date details, save it and attempt once again to delete it.

Reset Calendar View

The inability to remove an event in Outlook may be the result of a temporary error in Outlook. Restart Outlook and try deleting the event again. If it still won’t delete, reset the calendar view. Open the calendar from which you want to delete the event, and then click the “Work Week” button. Move through the calendar pane until it displays one hour before the beginning of your work week. Click “Today” in the Go To group, click the “View” tab, and then click “Reset View.” You may be prompted to click “Yes” to confirm that you want to reset the view. After the view is reset, try deleting the event again.

Run Outlook Commands

Windows enables you to run a series of commands that can help to clear out problem files. Swipe your mouse pointer to the upper-right corner of your Windows 8 screen and click your cursor in the Search charm. Type “outlook /cleanreminders” and press “Enter.” Type “outlook /cleandmrecords” and press “Enter.” Finally, type “outlook /cleanfreebusy” and press “Enter.” When entering these commands, do not include the quotation marks.

Delegate Access

The Delegate Access feature in Outlook enables other people to manage the contents of your calendar. If Delegate Access is enabled for your calendar, you may not actually have the rights to remove your own events. To check whether Delegate Access is enabled, click “File,” click “Account Settings,” and then click “Delegate Access.” To view permissions assigned to delegates, click the delegate’s name and click “Permissions.” To delete a delegate, click the delegate’s name and click “Remove.” Attempt once again to delete the event from your calendar.

Version Disclaimer

Information in this article applies to Outlook 2013. It may vary slightly or significantly with other versions or products.