Leave in your Outlook calendar
Outlook calendar sync that keeps time off visible
Approved leave lands in Outlook and Microsoft 365 calendars on its own, shown as out of office for the days someone is away — and in the Teams calendar too.
Free for up to 10 people · 11 to 50 people: $37.50 a month on Pro
The reason booked leave gets double-booked is simple: it lives in a leave tool nobody opens, while the rest of the company plans meetings in Outlook. So a manager schedules a review for a day the employee is already off, because the calendar they were looking at didn't know. Absenca closes that gap by syncing approved leave straight into people's Outlook and Microsoft 365 calendars.
When a request is approved, it appears in the employee's own calendar, shown as out of office — all day, or for the hours of a half day — and the company can see it on a shared team calendar. Because the calendar in Microsoft Teams is the same Outlook calendar, the absence shows up in Teams too. The leave tool and the calendar finally agree.
What you get
Approved leave, in Outlook automatically
Each approved request becomes an event in the employee's Microsoft 365 calendar, shown as out of office — no copying dates across by hand, no forgotten bookings.
Visible in Teams too
The calendar in Microsoft Teams shows the same Outlook calendar, so approved leave appears there without a separate Teams app.
Half days as half days
Half-day and hourly leave sync as timed blocks, so a morning off doesn't show as a whole day away.
Shared team leave calendar
Publish a read-only team or company leave calendar that anyone can add in Outlook, so coverage is visible to the whole organisation. Available on Pro and the Custom Pack, not on the free Starter plan.
How the Outlook sync works
Each person connects their Microsoft 365 account once. From then on, every approved leave request writes an event to their Outlook calendar, shown as out of office, and a cancelled or withdrawn request takes it off again. The leave tracker stays the system of record; the calendar just mirrors it.
Out of office on the calendar, replies left to you
Because each event is marked out of office, anyone checking someone's availability in Outlook or Teams sees they're away before booking a call into their holiday.
Absenca doesn't touch mailbox settings: it doesn't send automatic replies or decline invitations, so people keep control of their own inbox and set their Outlook auto-reply as usual.
One shared calendar the whole company can see
Beyond individual calendars, Absenca can publish a shared leave calendar for a team, an office or the whole organisation. People subscribe to it in Outlook once and see who's off alongside their own meetings — useful for planning around half-terms, busy periods and overlapping trips.
Why teams choose Absenca
- Approved leave syncs to Outlook and Microsoft 365, shown as out of office
- The same leave shows in the Microsoft Teams calendar
- Half-day and hourly leave as timed blocks
- Shared team or company leave calendar to subscribe to in Outlook
- Free for up to 10 people; Pro is $37.50 a month for up to 50 people
Frequently asked questions
- Does Absenca sync leave to my Outlook calendar?
- Yes. Once you connect a Microsoft 365 account, every approved leave request is written to your Outlook calendar, shown as out of office, and removed again if it's cancelled.
- Will my leave show up in Microsoft Teams?
- In the Teams calendar, yes: it shows the same Outlook calendar, so synced leave appears there too. Absenca's Teams bot isn't available yet.
- Can it turn on my Outlook automatic reply?
- No. Absenca marks your calendar as out of office but doesn't change your mailbox settings, so set your automatic reply in Outlook as usual.
- Will it decline meetings while I'm on leave?
- No. Your calendar shows you as out of office, so people can see you're away, but Absenca never declines invitations for you.
- Can the whole team see a shared leave calendar in Outlook?
- Yes. You can publish a read-only team, office or company leave calendar that people subscribe to in Outlook, so absences show up next to everyone's normal meetings.
- Is the Outlook integration free?
- Personal calendar sync is on every plan, the free Starter plan included; the shared team calendar is on Pro and the Custom Pack, not on the free Starter plan. Absenca is free for up to 10 people. Pro is $37.50 a month for up to 50 people, or $33.75 a month billed annually ($405 a year).