How to add travel time to Outlook Calendar
To add travel time to Outlook Calendar, create a separate event for the trip that ends when your meeting starts, lasts as long as the journey takes, and is set to Show as: Busy. Outlook has no travel time field in the new Outlook, classic Outlook, Outlook on the web or the mobile app, so a busy event is the only thing that actually blocks the time for you and for anyone checking your availability.
The steps in Outlook (new Outlook and Outlook on the web; classic Outlook is the same idea):
- Open the meeting and copy its address from the location field.
- Look up the trip in a maps app. Set the origin to where you'll be beforehand (often your previous meeting, not your desk), pick driving, transit, cycling or walking, and use Arrive by the meeting's start time so the estimate reflects traffic for that hour.
- Round the estimate up and add a few minutes for parking, finding the room or signing in at reception.
- In Outlook, select the empty slot right before the meeting and create a new event called "Travel to [place]" that ends when the meeting starts.
- Check that Show as is Busy (it is by default), turn off the reminder if you don't want one, and save. Don't invite anyone; this event is just for you.
- Repeat for the trip to your next meeting or back to the office.
That's the whole method. For one or two off-site meetings a week, it's all you need.
Where Travel Time fits
The manual way gets old once you're out of the office most days. You repeat the lookup for every meeting, the estimate is frozen the moment you type it in, and when a meeting moves the travel event stays behind.
Travel Time does those steps for you. You sign in with your Microsoft account once, and it watches your Outlook calendar for events with a location:
- Travel time appears on its own. A travel event is created before each meeting that has an address, as a normal Outlook event, so it blocks the time in Outlook on every device and in Microsoft 365 free/busy lookups.
- Real routing, not a guess. Durations come from Google Maps routing in your preferred travel mode (driving, public transport, cycling or walking), rounded up to the next five minutes, with an optional buffer of 5 to 30 minutes.
- Between meetings, not just from the office. With back-to-back appointments, the trip is routed from your previous meeting's location.
- It follows your changes. Move the meeting or change its address and the travel time is updated to match.
- Travel back too. You can block the return trip as well, and you can connect more than one calendar you own in your Microsoft account.
One honest limitation: on Outlook, Travel Time doesn't handle recurring meetings yet. One-off meetings with a location work today, and recurring support on Google Calendar is already there. If you use both calendars, you can connect Google Calendar as well.
It's $3/month billed annually after a 14-day free trial, and you don't need a card to start.
| Manual travel event | Travel Time | |
|---|---|---|
| Blocks time on your Outlook calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Shows you as busy to colleagues | Yes, if Show as is Busy | Yes |
| Uses traffic for that time of day | If you set "Arrive by" | Yes |
| Routes from your previous meeting | Only if you check | Yes |
| Moves when the meeting moves | No | Yes |
| Recurring meetings | Yes, by hand | Not yet on Outlook |
| Effort per meeting | About a minute | None |
| Cost | Free | $3/mo, billed annually |
Outlook settings that help (a little)
A few built-in options come up whenever someone asks how to add travel time in Outlook. They're worth knowing, but none of them blocks a trip that depends on where you're going.
Shorten events. In new Outlook and Outlook on the web, Settings → Calendar → Events and invitations has an option to shorten the duration of events you create, so they end a few minutes early or start a few minutes late. Classic Outlook for Windows has the same thing under File → Options → Calendar → Shorten appointments and meetings. It only affects events you organize, the gap is the same for every meeting, and five or ten minutes won't cover a drive across town.
Reminders. You can set a longer reminder, say 45 minutes, so Outlook nudges you to leave. The time before the meeting still looks free, so a colleague can book a call into your commute.
Microsoft Bookings buffers. If clients book you through Microsoft Bookings, each service can have buffer time before and after it. It's a fixed gap whether the next appointment is next door or an hour away, and it doesn't apply to meetings booked any other way.
Apple Calendar's travel time. If you read your Outlook account in Apple Calendar on an iPhone or Mac, you may have seen Apple's travel time option. It isn't available for every account type, and even where it is, it lives in Apple Calendar and isn't saved to Outlook as a busy event, so colleagues never see it. The same problem with Google Calendar is covered in why Google Calendar travel time is not showing.
Tips for travel time that holds up
Whether you add travel time by hand or automatically, a few habits make it more accurate:
- Put a full address in the location field. "Client HQ" or a Teams room name can't be routed; "221 Main St, Springfield" can. Outlook often fills the location with a meeting room or online meeting link, so check it for in-person meetings.
- Estimate from where you'll actually be. The trip from your 10am meeting to your 11:30 is not the trip from the office.
- Check traffic for the right hour. A 20-minute drive at 11am can be 45 minutes at 5pm. Use "Arrive by" instead of "Leave now".
- Block the trip back. If your last meeting is across town, add the return trip too, or the afternoon will look free when it isn't.
Common questions
Does Outlook have travel time like Apple Calendar? No. Outlook has no travel time field and doesn't calculate travel time for you. It can show a map for an address, but the trip is never added to your calendar unless you create an event for it or use a service like Travel Time.
Can I add travel time in the Outlook mobile app? Yes, the same way: create a busy event before the meeting in the Outlook app on iPhone or Android. Anything you add there syncs to Outlook on your computer and on the web.
Will colleagues see my travel time? If it's an Outlook event shown as Busy, yes: they see you as busy in the scheduling assistant, and if they can see event details they'll see the title too. Mark it private if you'd rather they only see that you're busy.
Does this work with Microsoft 365 work accounts? The manual method works anywhere you can create events. Travel Time works with Outlook and Microsoft 365 calendars through your Microsoft sign-in, though some company IT policies restrict which apps employees can connect.