Calendar Problems

How to Add Microsoft 365 Calendar Permissions to Multiple Users

Maira Mehtab Sep 27, 2026 869 views

Question details

Administrators need to grant Microsoft 365 individual mailbox calendar permissions to multiple users, as distribution groups cannot always be directly assigned access.

Product: Microsoft 365 Exchange Online
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Assigning calendar folder permissions to a large group of users in an organization via distribution groups.
Observed behavior: Directly assigning calendar access to a standard distribution group fails or is unsupported, requiring individual mailbox permission grants.

Before you start

Ensure you have the Exchange Online PowerShell module installed and that your administrator account holds Organization Management or Recipient Management privileges.

Solution 1Recommended

Assign Calendar Permissions via Exchange Online PowerShell

Retrieve members of a distribution group and assign them individual calendar access using a PowerShell script loop.

Since Microsoft 365 does not support assigning calendar permissions directly to a standard distribution group, administrators must extract the group members and loop through them to apply the access rights individually.

Connect to Exchange Online

Open PowerShell as an administrator and run the Connect-ExchangeOnline cmdlet to authenticate and connect to your Microsoft 365 environment.

Retrieve Distribution Group Members

Use the Get-DistributionGroupMember cmdlet to fetch all users within your target distribution group.

Apply Mailbox Permissions

Use a foreach loop to iterate through the retrieved members. Inside the loop, execute the Add-MailboxFolderPermission cmdlet, specifying the target mailbox calendar (e.g., targetuser@domain.com:\Calendar), the current user from the loop, and the desired access level (such as Reviewer or Editor).

Verify Applied Permissions

Once the script finishes executing, run Get-MailboxFolderPermission on the target calendar to confirm that all distribution group members have been successfully granted access.

Handling Existing Permissions: If a user already has permissions on the target calendar folder, the Add-MailboxFolderPermission command will return an error. You must use Set-MailboxFolderPermission to modify an existing permission entry instead.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use an Office 365 security group instead of a distribution group for calendar permissions?

Yes, Microsoft 365 allows administrators to assign calendar permissions directly to mail-enabled security groups. However, standard distribution groups do not support direct permission assignment, which is why the PowerShell extraction method is required.

What PowerShell permissions do I need to run Add-MailboxFolderPermission?

You must be assigned the Organization Management or Recipient Management roles in Exchange Online to have the necessary rights to view and modify other users' mailbox folder permissions.

How do I modify existing calendar permissions instead of adding new ones?

Use the Set-MailboxFolderPermission PowerShell cmdlet. The Add-MailboxFolderPermission cmdlet is strictly for new entries and will fail if the user already holds a permission level for that specific calendar.

Can regular users assign calendar permissions to multiple people without PowerShell?

Yes, individual users can share their own calendars directly from Microsoft Outlook or Outlook on the Web by manually adding users or groups. The PowerShell method is designed specifically for administrators who need to manage these permissions centrally on behalf of other users.

Outlook & Email Problems