Outlook.com Account Sync No Longer Possible on Lollipop?

[consultant1027]

I few days ago, I noticed that a contact I created on my Android phone (Nexus 5) didn't sync with my Outlook.com contacts. I'm running Android 5.1 Lollipop.

So I went into the Outlook.com app on the phone and pressed the Contacts and Calendar Sync settings button and NOTHING HAPPENS! WHOA!?

Come to then discover that the Outlook.com app isn't even in the Play Store anymore and do some Googling to find there is a new app called "Microsoft Outlook Preview."

After uninstalling Outlook.com app and installing Microsoft Outlook Preview and connecting it with my Outlook.com account, it appears that the new app does not sync Contacts or Calendar events created on the phone using the native Android Contacts or Calendar app with my Outlook.com account.

And the Preview App crashed frequently on my phone.

How can I sync Outlook.com contacts and calendars with the native Android contacts and calendars on my phone? Before when you installed the Outlook.com app it added that as an account type under Settings > Accounts so you could set up syncing. This new app doesn't add an Outlook account type under settings! Is Microsoft trying to force Android users to use only their app to access their Outlook.com data??? YIKES!

 

[baldingone]

Do you have an Exchange account? I had to set-up my Exchange account through the Gmail app. It synced email, calendar and contacts.

I didn't want my Exchange emails in the Gmail ecosystem, so, I turned off syncing the Email.

Now I am using Outlook preview app and others to sync email.

 

[consultant1027]

Do you have an Exchange account? I had to set-up my Exchange account through the Gmail app. It synced email, calendar and contacts.

I didn't want my Exchange emails in the Gmail ecosystem, so, I turned off syncing the Email.

Now I am using Outlook preview app and others to sync email.

Ah, you are indeed correct. MS confirmed the new Outlook Android App doesn't do sync anymore (it doesn't add an Outlook.com account type to the phone like the previous app did. However, this isn't that big of a deal as you are correct that even though there is no longer an Outlook.com account type on the phone any more, you can use the Exchange account type and use server address: s.outlook.com and then you can sync everything. Why the MS Tech didn't point this out it baffling.

 

[mbrossar]

Problem is, the other piece Microsoft broke and hasn't fixed yet, if you have multiple calendars in a Microsoft Live account, Android calendars see all of the calendars through the main calendar only. Meaning that all of the calendars have only one color, not a different color for each calendar. And, if you want to create a new calendar entry, you can only create an entry on the main calendar. iOS handles it just fine. The Outlook app actually handles it right too. Problem is, the Outlook app, imo, is far inferior to the Google calendar on Android.

Anyone know how to deal with this one?

 

[Greg Zoll]

Thank you for the info. I added my outlook.com account as a corporate account and everything is synchronizing properly again.

 

[envanloo]

Did anyone find a solution yet?
I notice that the problem still exists with Marshmallow on Samsung S6. A one time sync is possible of the calendar of outlook.com to the android calendar. But once synced (one way), none of the changes made, either in the outlook.com calendar or the android calendar (google calendar, Splanner) will get synchronized.

Wiping the android calendar leads to renewed syncing and then the changes on the outlook.com appear. However, this is not practical and still a one way sync (outlook -> android).

Does anyone know a fix?

The only 'fix' that works is to use the outlook.com app for android and forget about the android calendar. However, the outlook.com app is not as nice as S-planner or Week Calendar.