Outlook for executive assistants on Mac: delegates, calendars and templates in 2026

Check your Outlook version before you follow any steps

Outlook for Mac now has two versions. The current one is new Outlook for Mac. The older one is Legacy Outlook. Menu steps and settings differ between them, so check first. Microsoft describes a Legacy Outlook switch. Turn it off to move to the new version, or choose Help > Revert to Legacy Outlook to go back.

The deadline matters more than the menu. Microsoft says legacy Outlook for Mac stops working against Exchange Online mailboxes starting October 2026. That month has passed. A university IT blog gives October 1, 2026 as the stop date, the day Microsoft retires the EWS service behind it. If your mailbox sits in Exchange Online, update now. If it is Exchange On-Premises, Microsoft says legacy gets only security updates through October 9, 2029, with best-effort technical support.

To update, turn off the Legacy Outlook toggle, or use Help > Check for Updates. You can also update from the Apple App Store. Accounts added in new Outlook do not carry over to Legacy Outlook, or back. Plan the switch before you add a principal's account. Microsoft lists 16.42 as the minimum Current Channel version, on macOS 10.14 or later.

Set up delegate access to your principal's calendar

Delegate access is the core of the job. Microsoft says a delegate receives and responds to email and meeting requests on the principal's behalf. With more permissions, a delegate can also read, create, or change items in the Exchange mailbox. Delegation needs a Microsoft Exchange account. The steps start from the account that owns the calendar, so plan a short session with your principal.

Sharing Permissions steps

1. Hover over the account name in Outlook.
2. Click the ellipsis button, or right-click the account name.
3. Choose Sharing Permissions.
4. In Calendar Properties, click the plus button.
5. Choose the delegate and a permission level.
6. Pick Delegate only, or Both my delegate and me, for meeting and message notifications.

Read the notification labels as written. Delegate only sends notices to you. Both sends them to you and to your principal. Choose the option your principal wants, because it decides who hears about each new invite. Set it once, then check it after the first week.

To remove a delegate, open Calendar Properties, select the user, and click the minus button. Do this when a delegate changes roles or leaves the team. A removed delegate keeps no rights from that point on.

Pick the right permission level for each delegate

Microsoft names these three options on its Mac delegation page. It does not use the names Editor or Reviewer. It also does not say whether delegates can send mail on the principal's behalf. Do not assume sending rights. Test them with a message you send to yourself.

Known delegate issues matter too. Reminders set by a delegate can show the wrong value when the delegate views the event. The principal's reminder is correct. Categories are not supported in partial delegate mailboxes. If you rely on categories to sort meetings, check them from the principal's view.

Shared calendars and shared mailboxes in Outlook for Mac

Outlook for Mac can open a shared Mail, Calendar, or People folder. The limits differ by type. Microsoft says Outlook for Mac currently supports only Full Access permissions for shared mailboxes. New Outlook for Mac can open only a shared calendar. Check the type of access before you promise a team a shared inbox.

Three more limits catch people out. Auto-mapping of shared mailboxes is not supported. Custom folders do not appear without top-level mailbox permission. A shared mailbox sends email only if you hold Send As or Send On Behalf permission.

Take a common setup. You have Full Access to a team inbox called Finance. You can read and file mail there. You try to reply, and the message does not send, because you lack Send As or Send On Behalf. Ask your admin to grant the sending right, then send a test reply to yourself.

Templates for the emails you send every week

Most executive assistant mail repeats. Meeting confirmations, travel details and follow-ups to the same vendors take a few minutes each. A template cuts that to a few seconds. Save one with File > Save As Template. Start a new message from it with File > New > Mail From Template. Outlook opens a .emltpl file.

Two template options exist, and they differ. The built-in template controls need Outlook for Mac 15.35 (170610) or later. Microsoft says they are available to Microsoft 365 subscribers. The My Templates add-in works only with Exchange accounts. It is not available in shared mailboxes opened in Outlook for Mac. Your organization's admin can turn it off.

Build a template in four steps

1. Write the email once. Put variable parts in square brackets, such as [Principal], [Date] and [Room].
2. Choose File > Save As Template, then name it, for example Meeting confirm, external.
3. Next time, choose File > New > Mail From Template.
4. Replace each bracket, read the draft, and send. Edit the template only when the wording changes.

Scheduling with suggested times, the Scheduling Assistant and work hours

Scheduling takes more of an executive assistant's day than most people expect. Microsoft's telemetry says employees spend 57 percent of their time communicating, through meetings, email and chat. That leaves 43 percent for creating. Outlook for Mac has three tools aimed at the scheduling part of that load.

First, suggested meeting times use the availability of the recipients. Second, the Scheduling Assistant helps with large meetings. Third, the 3-day view shows three days on one screen. You can spot a cluster of conflicts before you send a single invite.

Version 16.113 adds work hours and work-location schedules. It also lets you choose whether accepted invitations leave the Inbox, and whether conflicting events are auto-declined. Test auto-decline on one conflict before you turn it on for the whole calendar. A declined event is easy to miss.

Two smaller options help too. Version 16.112 can open new calendar events in a separate window. Version 16.114 lets you choose a supported third-party online meeting provider when you create an event. Use the Working Elsewhere status when your principal works from another location, so colleagues plan around it.

Where Lazur helps while you work in Outlook

Lazur is a voice assistant for the Mac that lives in the notch. Hold ⌥ ⌘ (Option and Command) to ask about anything on screen. Lazur sees the screen only while you hold the shortcut, answers out loud, and points at what you need. Audio and the screenshot go to AI providers to answer, and they are not stored.

Ask where something is, and Lazur draws a circle and a label around it. Ask how to do something, and Lazur guides you one click at a time, waiting for each click. That fits Outlook well. A delegate setup has many small steps, and you keep your hands on the mouse.

Lazur does not click buttons, edit files, or operate other apps for you. It is not a plugin or add-in for Outlook. Lazur is a separate app from Microsoft, and it works beside Outlook. You stay in control of every change in your mail and calendar.

Hold fn to dictate clean text at the cursor in any app. Dictation works in Outlook replies and in notes. Snippets, a personal dictionary and clipboard slots help with names, addresses and the standard lines you type every day.

Lazur also covers everyday tasks outside Outlook. Set timers, add Apple Reminders, create Calendar events, write notes, change music and volume, open apps and links, run web searches, and run Shortcuts by voice. Lazur keeps a memory of what you asked and did, on the Mac.

Research runs in Lazur's own Chrome tabs, through the Lazur for Chrome extension. It comes back with a summary and a report. Use it for vendor comparisons while you keep working in Outlook. Read the sources in the report before you pass a figure on.

Draft replies with Lazur, then check them yourself

Many executive assistant replies need the same three facts: a time, a place, and a deadline. Hold ⌥ ⌘ with the thread open. Ask Lazur to draft a reply that offers two slots. Lazur types the draft at your cursor, and you check every line before you send it.

Here is a worked example. Your principal's calendar shows free time at 10:00 and at 15:00 on Thursday. You say, draft a reply offering Thursday at 10 or 3. Lazur writes the reply from what it sees on screen. You confirm the times against the calendar, change one word, and send it yourself.

Dictation fits longer replies. Hold fn and speak the note. Read it back before you send. Dictated text can mishear a name, so check every proper noun. Add recurring names to your personal dictionary so they come out right next time.

Common mistakes executive assistants make in Outlook for Mac

• Using Can edit by default. Edit lets a delegate change events. Start with the lowest level that does the job.
• Assuming delegates can send mail for the principal. Microsoft's delegation page does not say that. Test it first.
• Expecting a shared mailbox to send without Send As or Send On Behalf permission.
• Building templates in a shared mailbox. My Templates does not run in shared mailboxes opened in Outlook for Mac.
• Trusting a reminder set by a delegate. It can show the wrong value in the delegate's view. Check it in the principal's view.
• Skipping the version check. Legacy Outlook stops working against Exchange Online mailboxes from October 2026.
• Turning on auto-decline for the whole calendar without a test conflict first.

A first-week setup routine for Outlook for Mac

1. Check the build under Outlook > About Outlook. Confirm you are on new Outlook for Mac, not Legacy Outlook.
2. Set delegate access with your principal. Confirm the permission level and the notification choice.
3. Send one test invite from another account. Confirm you see it and can respond.
4. Save three templates for the emails you send most.
5. Turn on work hours in version 16.113 or later, after one test conflict.
6. Hold ⌥ ⌘ once and ask Lazur where Sharing Permissions appears in your window.

Where to go next

See how Lazur reads Outlook screens for the parts of the window it can point at. Check pricing before you commit to a plan. Lazur starts with a 3-day Pro trial, and it needs no credit card. Download it from the download page when you are ready to try the steps in this guide.