No Free/Busy Information Could be Retrieved [Fix]

Change permissions or clear the cache!

3 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

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Key notes

Microsoft Outlookusers have been reporting all sorts of problems as of late. One sucherroris thatOutlookSchedulingAssistant’sFree/Busy data could not be retrieved.

Thiserrorusually occurs when users try toschedule a meetingor after a mailbox is moved to Microsoft Office 365. If your account is hosted on an Exchange server and the Free/Busy data couldn’t be retrieved byOutlook, the information for other users will be displayed as slash marks.

Keep reading to find out what to do when Scheduling Assistant in Outlook is not showing free/busy!

How can I fix Scheduling Assistant Free/Busy data could not be retrieved?

1. Change the default permissions

It’s frustrating not having the chance to see the Free/Busy information for the mailbox inSchedulingAssistant. The issue sometimes further extends to no longer viewing theCalendarfolder either.

You just receive aCould not be updatederrormessage instead. Long story short,SchedulingAssistant makes cross-forest requests on behalf of the organization relationship instead of on behalf of the actual user who is requesting.

In a hybrid deployment, with the default permissions set to None or Contributor, no Free/Busy information can ever be natively displayed for remote users.

The mailbox owner can though solve this issue by changing the default permissions to Free/Busy time or Free/Busy time, subject, and location.

2. Clear the Auto-Complete caches

Changing permissions onOutlookCalendar solves theSchedulingAssistant Free/Busy data issues for most users.

3. Verify Autodiscover CNAME record

There’s also a high chance to find out that the Autodiscover record is missing or is incorrectly set up. Verify that the Autodiscover CNAME record has been created for your domain.

Outlook2007 and up discovers the Availability Service URL using theAutoDiscovery featurein the Exchange environment.

4. Turn on Public Folders when Scheduling Assistant is not showing conflicts

You’re used to creating meeting requests using theSchedulingAssistant inOutlook, but there’s a problem when the notificationConflicts with another appointmentis missing.

This indication of potential conflicting appointments is often related to improperly configured Public Folders.

If turned off, turn them back on. The Scheduling Assistant should start telling users once again that resources are already booked, and invitations cannot be sent without changing the room or the time.

We hope these methods were helpful in solving Outlook Scheduling Assistant’sNo free/busy information could be retrievederror.

In case you still face issues, switch to anotherreliable email clientfor an error-free experience.

If you have any other questions or suggestions, don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments section below.

No Free/Busy Information Could be Retrieved [Fix]#

How can I fix Scheduling Assistant Free/Busy data could not be retrieved?#

1. Change the default permissions#

2. Clear the Auto-Complete caches#

3. Verify Autodiscover CNAME record#

4. Turn on Public Folders when Scheduling Assistant is not showing conflicts#