How to add Microsoft Teams to Outlook?

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Here’s a question from Dolly:

In my previous workplace we used to work with Google Calendar and Zoom and we just switched to Microsoft Outlook and Teams for communication and collaboration. I understand that i can schedule a Teams meeting right from Outlook. The challenge is that i don’t see a Teams button on Microsoft Outlook 365 desktop calendar ribbon menu. Do you know why my Outlook toolbar is not showing Microsoft Teams? I don’t recall uninstalling or disabling it. U would like to integrate between the two.

Thanks for the question, see our answer below.

Enabling the Microsoft Teams add-on in Outlook

Here’s how to add the Microsoft Teams add-in into Microsoft Outlook:

  • First off, go ahead and open Microsoft Outlook.
  • Now open your Calendar.
  • Hit New Meeting.
  • You’ll probably won’t see the Teams meeting button in your toolbar.
  • In Outlook, hit the File menu item.
  • Then select the Options menu and select Add-ins.
  • In the bottom of the Add-ins dialog you’ll see a drop-down. Go ahead and select COM Add-ins.
  • Hit Go.
  • Now check the Microsoft Teams Add in for Office entry and hit OK to close the COM Add-ins dialog.
  • Return to your Outlook Calendar. You should now see a Microsoft Teams section in your Ribbon as shown above. Once the plugin is enabled you’ll notice also a New Meeting button available in your Outlook Calendar Ribbon.

Teams add-in missing or disabled in Outlook

Most probably the issue that our reader is experiencing is related to the Microsoft Teams for Office Add- in. The add-in (available from Microsoft) is required to link Teams and Outlook. The add-in is automatically installed when you setup Teams on a computer that has Microsoft Office 365 / 2021 / 2019/ 2016 installed.

Step 1: Verify that Teams in installed in your Computer

  • Key assumption is that the Outlook 365, 2019 or 2016 application is installed on your Windows computer. If you are currently using the desktop client, kindly move to step 2 below.
  • First, ensure that the Microsoft Teams desktop app is installed in your computer. You can easily do that by:
    • Hitting the Search Magnifying glass on your Windows taskbar.
    • Then simply type add and hit the shortcut to the Add or Remove Programs settings.
    • Scroll down the Apps and Features list and ensure that there is an entry for Microsoft Teams.
  • If you don’t see a Teams entry, kindly download and install Teams or ask your Information Technology Teams to help you install it.

Step 2: Enable the Microsoft Teams Outlook Addin

If both Outlook and Teams are installed, you should see a Teams button in your Outlook Calendar app as shown below.

If that’s not the case, then most probably your Teams Addin for Office is disabled. Kindly proceed as indicated in the first section of this tutorial.

Step 3: Troubleshoot your installation

If all the above didn’t help, kindly go ahead and proceed as following:

  • Save any open files.
  • Close your existing programs.
  • Restart your personal computer.
  • Open Microsoft Outlook and try again.

Removing the Teams meeting add-in from Outlook

In case that you are interested to uninstall the Teams calendar adding for Outlook, be aware that instead of a complete uninstall you can simply disable the Add-in as shown above. If you would like to carry on an uninstall, kindly proceed as following (and by all means, consult with your IT department as needed).

  • Open Microsoft Outlook.
  • Hit File, then Options.
  • From the left hand side bar, pick Add-Ins.
  • At the bottom of the Add-Ins dialog, select Com Add-Ins and hit Go.
  • Highlight the Microsoft Teams Meeting Add-In entry and hit Remove.
  • Close any open dialogs and finally, close the Outlook application.

New Teams meeting button still doesn’t show up?

If for some reason the Teams meeting command is still not visible, i would recommend that you’ll restart your PC:

  • Close Microsoft Outlook.
  • Save any existing work in other programs.
  • Restart your Windows computer, by hitting the Start button, then hit the Power button and selecting Restart.
  • Open Outlook and try again.

Teams meeting not showing in Outlook calendar

A somewhat tangent issue you might have encountered is that meetings that you have scheduled in your Microsoft Teams calendar are not synced into your email client, in this case -Outlook.

If that’s the case – then, first off, logoff from Teams, and clear the Teams cache. Then close and re-start Microsoft Outlook.

If that didn’t help, disable the Teams addin for Outlook (uncheck its entry in the COM addins -shown above), then restart Outlook and the Teams addin. Then check your calendar – your meeting should be there.