Creating Custom Outlook Holiday Calendars 2007/2010

Outlook comes with predefined holidays. However, this tip helps you create and distribute a custom Outlook holiday calendar to your team!

Add events, such as corporate paydays, quarterly expense due dates, company holidays and more to your Outlook calendars.

1. Exit Outlook if it is running.
2. In Microsoft Windows Explorer, locate the following file: {Local Drive Letter}:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office 12\{LCID}\outlook.hol
   
   Note: LCID is your locale identification (LCID) number. This is typically identical to your username.
3. Make a backup copy of the file.
4. Using a text editor, such as Microsoft Notepad, open the Outlook.hol file.
5. Press CTRL+END to position the insertion point at the end of the file.
6. Type a new header and custom events by using the format described below.
   
   [Country or Description] ###
   Holiday or event description, yyyy/mm/dd
   Holiday or event description, yyyy/mm/dd
   
   In the above format, ### is the total number of items listed for a particular country/region or description. There is a space between the closing bracket and the number, as well as a carriage return at the end of the line. On each holiday line, there are a comma and a space between the holiday description and the date, as well as a carriage return at the end of the line. For example:
   
   [Expense Reports] 4
   Q1 Expense Reports Due, 2007/04/15
   Q2 Expense Reports Due, 2007/11/15
   Q3 Expense Reports Due, 2007/12/15
   Q4 Expense Reports Due, 2007/01/15
7. Save and close Outlook.hol.

The next time you run Outlook, the new Expense Reports dates are available for adding to your calendar.