How to fix the error no free/busy information could be retrieved: Microsoft 365

Key Takeaways

The most common fix for the “no free/busy information” error is to turn off “Cached Exchange Mode.” [More…]

It’s important to remember that the “no free/busy information” error could be caused by the Outlook settings on your colleague’s device. In that case, you must request that they follow the solutions in this guide to resolve the issue.

You can share your calendar with internal and external users in Microsoft Outlook. However, some users need help to retrieve free or busy information. So, this guide will cover why free/busy information could not be retrieved and how to fix it.

How to fix the error no free/busy information could be retrieved in Outlook (Microsoft 365):

  • Firstly, open the desktop version of Outlook.
  • Go to “File” in the top menu.
  • Click “Account Settings” in the “Info” tab.
  • Click “Account Settings…” in the dropdown menu.
  • The “Account Settings” dialog box will open.
  • Select your account in the “Email” tab.
  • Click on “Change…”
  • Click the “More Settings” button.
  • Go to the “Advanced” tab.
  • Then uncheck the checkbox next to “Use Cached Exchange Mode.”
  • Finally, restart Outlook.

Outlook uses Cached Exchange Mode or Online Mode to connect with an Exchange Server. In cached exchange mode, Outlook will use locally stored OST files to retrieve your emails, which could result in an error when retrieving free/busy information from a shared calendar.

Please continue reading for an in-depth guide on how to fix the “no free/busy information” error in Outlook.

We’ve also created a video to help guide you through the solutions:


Overview: What might cause the “no free/busy information could be retrieved” error?

When using a shared calendar in Outlook, you can see if the calendar’s owner is free or busy, making it easy to schedule meetings. However, you may sometimes be unable to see that information.

No information.
No free/busy information could be retrieved.

This error may occur in one of two scenarios:

  • When you try to schedule a calendar meeting request.
  • When you try to view someone’s availability.

In cases such as these, you may be unable to view free/busy information because Outlook can’t connect to the Exchange Availability service or to the Exchange Autodiscover service.

There are various possible causes, such as:

  • Outlook is in Cached Exchange Mode instead of Online Mode.
  • An error with AutoDiscover.
  • The user has not accepted your meeting invitation.
  • A recent Windows or Office update.
  • Conflicting “work hours.”

The following section will address the causes and solutions to the “no free/busy information…” error.


How to fix the error no free/busy information could be retrieved in Outlook (Microsoft 365)

You can find a list of solutions below to fix the “no free/busy information….” error in Outlook. You can select the most appropriate solution, or try each one to find the best fix.

Solution 1: Turn off Cached Exchange Mode to fix “no free/busy information could be retrieved” in Outlook

  • Click Account Settings” in the “Info” tab.
  • Click Account Settings…” in the dropdown menu.
  • The “Account Settings” dialog box will open.
  • Select your account in the “Email” tab. (1)
  • Click on Change…(2)
  • Click the “More Settings” button.
  • Go to the “Advanced” tab.
  • Then uncheck the checkbox next to “Use Cached Exchange Mode.”
  • Finally, restart Outlook.

Solution 2: Check that AutoDiscover is working to fix “no free/busy information could be retrieved” in Outlook

You must have access to the Availability service in order to retrieve free/busy information from Exchange Online. And because the AutoDiscover service provides the Availability service endpoints, you should ensure that the AutoDiscover service is responding to requests.

  • Enter your email address in the first input box. (1)
  • Then click the “Sign in” button. (2)
  • Leave all other default options.
  • Scroll down and enter the captcha code.
  • Then click the Perform Test” button.
  • When the test is complete, click “Expand All” to view all results.

If the test fails, you must ensure that the AutoDiscover service is set up correctly. To do that, please follow the steps below:

  • First, type “Regedit” into your Windows search bar and click “Open.”
    • If you can’t find the Windows search bar, press the windows Windows + S keys on your keyboard.
    • Alternatively, press the windows Windows + R keys on your keyboard to open the Run app.
    • Then type “Regedit” into the text box and press the ↵ Return key or click “OK.”
  • In Registry Editor, navigate to the following subkey:
    Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\AutoDiscover

info Notes:
Replace 16.0 with your Office version if you are running a different version.
Back up your subkeys before making adjustments.
To back up a subkey, right-click the subkey folder and select Export.”

The image below demonstrates what your AutoDiscover values should look like. There are other possible DWORD values that you may find in the AutoDiscover subkey. However, if you’ve backed up the subkey, you can safely delete the DWORD values or set them to 0. Be sure to leave the DWORD values in the image below unchanged.

info Note: the value type for the redirect servers should be REG_SZ not REG_NONE.

  • The folders on the left are subkeys.
  • The items on the right are values, typically DWORD.
  • To create a value, right-click on the right pane and select “new > DWORD.”
  • To delete a value, right-click and select “Delete.”
  • To rename a value, right-click and select “Rename.”
  • To change the value’s “Data,” right-click and select “Modify.”
AutoDiscover DWORD values
ExcludeExplicitO365Endpoint
ExcludeHttpRedirect
ExcludeHttpsAutoDiscoverDomain
ExcludeHttpsRootDomain
ExcludeLastKnownGoodURL
ExcludeScpLookup
ExcludeSrvRecord
PreferLocalXML
PreferProvidedEmailInAutoDiscoverAuthPrompts
  • Delete or set the above values to 0 if they exist.
  • Then restart Outlook to see if the changes have fixed the “no free/busy” error.

info To learn more about AutoDiscover implementation, please view the Microsoft documentation.
info To learn more about how to fix problems with AutoDiscover, please view this Microsoft guide.

Solution 3: Fix conflicting work hours to fix “no free/busy information could be retrieved” in Outlook

If your “work hours” are dissimilar to your organization’s work hours, you may find that free/busy information cannot be retrieved from your colleagues. To fix that problem, please follow the steps below.

  • First, open Microsoft Outlook.
  • Click on “File” in the top menu.
    • Alternatively, right-click the calendar icon and select “Options.”
  • Go to “Options” at the bottom of the left menu.
  • The “Outlook options” dialog box will open.
  • Go to “Calendar” on the left menu.
  • Ensure your work hours are the same as the rest of your organization.

info Note: The person you are trying to retrieve availability details from may also need to follow these steps.

  • Click the “OK” button in the bottom right to finish the process.

Solution 4: Change the calendar permissions to fix “no free/busy information could be retrieved” in Outlook

If you can’t retrieve free/busy details from a colleague in your organization, it’s possible that they have set their sharing permissions to “None.” Unfortunately, only that user can change the sharing settings of their calendar, so you may have to request them to follow the steps in this section.

  • First, open your Outlook application.
  • Click the calendar icon in the left menu.
  • Go to the “Folder” tab in the top menu.
  • Then click “Calendar Properties.”
    • Alternatively, go to the “Home” tab in the top menu.
    • Click on “Share Calendar.”
    • Then select the calendar you want to share from the dropdown list.
    • You can also access “Share Calendar” from the “Folder” tab.
  • The “Calendar Properties” dialog box will open.
  • Go to the “Permissions” tab at the top. (1)
  • Select “My Organization.” (2)
  • Select a permission. (3)
  • Click the “OK” button. (4)

Solution 5: Clear your cached credentials to fix “no free/busy information could be retrieved” in Outlook

Cached credentials allow you to sign into your account without having to enter your password each time. However, this data can sometimes become corrupt, causing various errors. In fact, clearing your cached credentials is a common fix for many problems in Office 365 products and is always worth trying.

  • First, type “credential manager” into your Windows search bar.
    • If you can’t find your Windows search bar, press the windows Windows + S keys.
  • Click “Open.”
  • Go to the “Windows Credentials” tab at the top.
  • Go down to “Generic Credentials” and select any credential related to “Outlook.”
  • Then click “Remove” at the bottom of the expanded details.
  • Remove all other Outlook credentials.
  • Then restart Outlook to test if the “no free/busy” error persists.

Solution 6: Clean free/busy in the Run app to fix “no free/busy information could be retrieved” in Outlook

info Note: This method only works for Outlook 2007 & 2010.

  • First, press the windowsWindows + R keys on your keyboard to open the Run app.
    • Alternatively, type “run” in your Windows search bar and click “Open.”
  • Type outlook.exe /cleanfreebusy In the “Open” text box. (1)
  • Then press the “OK” button or press the Return key. (2)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How do I change my availability in Outlook 365?

You can let your colleagues know when you are free or busy by blocking out time slots in your calendar.

In the desktop version of Outlook:

  • In Outlook, click on the calendar icon on the left menu.
  • In the Home tab, click “New Appointment.”
  • By default, creating an appointment will set you as “busy” for the time slot you choose. But you can also set your status to “free” during that time slot.

In Outlook Web Access (OWA):

  • In Outlook, click on the calendar icon on the left menu.
  • In the Home tab, click “New event.
  • By default, creating an appointment will set you as “busy” for the time slot you choose. But you can also set your status to “free” during that time slot.

How do I turn off free busy in Outlook?

If you don’t want your colleagues to see when you are free or busy, you can set the calendar sharing permissions to “None” for your organization.

  • Click the calendar icon in the left menu. (1)
  • Go to the “Folder” tab in the top menu. (2)
  • Then click “Calendar Properties.” (3)
  • Go the the “Permissions” tab. (1)
  • Select “My Organization.” (2)
  • Set the permissions to “None.” (3)
  • Then click the “OK” button. (4)

If you want to stop sharing free/busy information with individuals, you can do that by selecting them and clicking the “Remove” button.

Conclusion

If you still can’t retrieve free/busy information from a colleague in the scheduling assistant, you could try and disabled your antivirus for a short period to test if the error is caused by that. You should also ask your colleague to check their internet or network connection to ensure they are properly connected.

If the error began after installing a new Windows or Office update, you could try and uninstall the update. You can use the following steps to uninstall a Windows update.

Uninstall a Windows update (Windows 10):

windows Start > Settings  >  Update & Security  >  Windows Update  >  View update history > Uninstall updates > right-click update > Uninstall.

Uninstall a Windows update (Windows 11):

windows Start  >  Settings  >  Windows Update  >  Update history  > Uninstall updates > right-click update > Uninstall

To uninstall an Office update, please view the Microsoft documentation.

It’s important to remember that if you’re faced with the “no free/busy information could be retrieved” the problem could be with the Outlook settings on your colleague’s device. In that case, you should urge them to follow try the solutions in this guide to fix the problem.

Thank you for reading.

Saajid Gangat

Saajid Gangat has been a researcher and content writer at Business Tech Planet since 2021. Saajid is a tech-savvy writer with expertise in web and graphic design and has extensive knowledge of Microsoft 365, Adobe, Shopify, WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and more! You can connect with Saajid on Linkedin.

Recent Posts