You need to schedule a recurring meeting or task that happens only on business days. Outlook’s recurrence feature can automate this, saving you from creating individual events. This article explains how to configure a calendar item to repeat every Monday through Friday.
Key Takeaways: Recurring Weekday Events
- Recurrence button: Opens the dialog to set the pattern for an event to repeat automatically.
- Weekly > Every Weekday pattern: The specific setting to schedule an event for Monday through Friday each week.
- Range of recurrence: Controls when the repeating series starts and ends, such as after a set number of occurrences.
Understanding Outlook’s Recurrence Patterns
Outlook allows you to make any calendar appointment, meeting, or all-day event repeat on a schedule. The “Every Weekday” option is a predefined pattern for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. It excludes weekends automatically.
You must create a new calendar event or open an existing one to access the recurrence settings. This feature works the same in the Outlook desktop app for Windows and the web version at Outlook.com. The steps below are for the desktop application.
Steps to Create a Recurring Weekday Event
- Create or open a calendar event
In your Outlook calendar, double-click on any date to create a new appointment. Alternatively, open an existing event you want to make repeat. - Click the Recurrence button
On the Appointment or Meeting tab in the ribbon, locate the Options group. Click the Recurrence button. This opens the Appointment Recurrence dialog box. - Select the Weekly pattern
In the Recurrence pattern section at the top, select the Weekly radio button. - Choose the Every Weekday option
To the right, you will see checkboxes for days of the week. Directly below these checkboxes, click the Every Weekday button. This automatically selects Monday through Friday and deselects Saturday and Sunday. - Set the recurrence range
In the Range of recurrence section, set the start date. Then choose when the series ends: select No end date, End after a specific number of occurrences, or End by a certain date. Click OK to close the dialog. - Save the recurring event
Back in the event window, add your subject, location, and other details. Click Save & Close. The event will now appear on your calendar for every weekday within the range you set.
Common Mistakes and Limitations
Event Repeats on Weekends After Manual Edit
If you open a single instance of a recurring “Every Weekday” series and change its date to a Saturday, Outlook may ask if you want to change the entire series or just that one occurrence. Choosing to change just this one breaks the pattern for that date. The original series continues on weekdays, but the edited instance will be separate and occur on a weekend.
Need to Exclude Specific Weekdays Like Holidays
The “Every Weekday” pattern includes all five days. To skip a specific date, like a company holiday, you must delete that individual occurrence. Open the series, select the specific date in the recurrence dialog, and delete that instance. The event will not occur on that day, but will resume on the next weekday.
Recurrence Options Differ in Outlook on the Web
In Outlook on the web, the process is similar but the interface differs. When creating an event, click the Repeat dropdown. You can select Every weekday directly from the list. For more advanced range settings, you may need to click Custom after selecting the pattern.
Recurrence Pattern Comparison
| Item | Every Weekday Pattern | Custom Weekly Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Days Included | Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri | Any days you manually select |
| Weekend Handling | Automatically excluded | You must manually exclude Sat and Sun |
| Best For | Standard business week schedules | Irregular weekly patterns like Mon/Wed/Fri |
| Setup Speed | One-click selection | Requires multiple checkbox selections |
You can now schedule standing meetings or daily reminders that automatically skip weekends. For more control, explore custom recurrence patterns to set events for specific days like every other Tuesday. Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+G from your calendar to jump to a specific date and check your recurring series.