iCloud calendar sync problems

[Vincenzo]

My friend's Outlook 2010 is again having problems. The "Refresh" button that lets you sync is gone, and events are not syncing automatically either.
I tried logging out of iCloud and back in, did not help.
i uninstalled iCloud and reinstalled, it gave Outlook Setup Unexpected Error.
I uninstalled/reinstalled, but first ran sfc/scannow. it found errors that it could not fix.
I ran DISM in the RestoreHealth mode and it seemed to fix some issues.
I also ran scanpst.exe on both Outlook files, it found errors.
iCloud installed successfully now, but the Refresh button is missing.

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[Vincenzo]

I've uninstalled iCloud and re-installed a few times, still no luck.
I am noticing a couple of other odd things. When the iCloud setup dialog asks me which calendars I want to download to Outlook, two of the four calendars are not shown, even though when I go to icloud.com they are shown there.

And after the iCloud setup is complete and says it was successful, the folder list on the left side in Outlook does not have the section called "iCloud" like it used to have. (it does have the 2 out of the 4 calendars that it did download, but they are just shown with the local calendars with (icloud) appended to the name.

And the Refresh button is not there.

 

[Vincenzo]

I also see that the iCloud add-in in Outlook is disabled. When I enable it and restart Outlook, it is disabled again.

 

[Vincenzo]

Could it be that the new verision of iCloud has issues with Outlook 2010?
I might be able to dig up an old version of the installation file to try.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

I don't think Outlook 2010 is the problem - i tested a build from a few weeks ago with Outlook 2007 and it worked fine. i have a virtual machine with 2010 installed, will install icloud and test it.

t does have the 2 out of the 4 calendars that it did download, but they are just shown with the local calendars with (icloud) appended to the name.

Switch to the folder list (Ctrl+6) to see where the calendar is - under icloud or in the pst as a backup from a previous install.

Did you delete the icloud data file from outlook ? You'll need to sign out of icloud then sign back in to recreate it.

 

[Vincenzo]

I've been under the weather so i took a break from this. But now I am on it again.

When I switch to the calendar and look at the folder list, there is not a separate icloud section, but the icloud items say "iCloud" next to them. There are 2 that don't say that, but when i look in Properties for it the location is //icloud. (she has a whole bunch of calendars in iCloud, other stuff that seems to be remnants of old calendars or contact lists. I've tried cleaning them up online, maybe I'll do some more when she is watching, to see what I can remove.) When I install icloud i tell it to just download the 1 calendar, but it does the others anyway.
The icloud data file has been getting deleted automatially (or at least it is not showing up on the data files tab). Maybe on my next try I'll check the folder location to confirm.
i also will try creating a new profile and see if that helps.
Any other ideas?
Thanks

 

[Lewis-H]

Follow these steps:
iOS: Settings>Apple ID>iCloud>iCloud Drive. Toggle to On
To refresh your iCloud Calendars, launch the app on your iOS device and tap the “Calendars” button at the bottom of the page. When you get to the next page just tap and hold your finger on the screen and drag the list down until the activity icon appears and releases the page. The activity icon will spin briefly, and you should find iCloud has synced your calendars for you. Try these methods to sync Outlook with iCloud.
Hope this is helpful!
Regards,
Lewis

 

[Vincenzo]

The problem is not on a phone, it is Outlook on a desktop.
The phone and the cloud sync ok.
Thanks

 

[Vincenzo]

A new profile and new .pst did not help. I also installed the previous version of iCloud.

I've tried just about every fix I can think of. I am going to be re installing Office next.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

When I switch to the calendar and look at the folder list, there is not a separate icloud section, but the icloud items say "iCloud" next to them.

They might be backups - when you sign out of icloud, it asks if you want to keep a copy on the computer. Most people say yes, but if you are signing back in, you don't need to. Depending on your profile (and maybe the icloud version), it either creates the backup in a new pst or in the cirrent data file, and names it '[calendar name] from iCloud'.

When I install icloud i tell it to just download the 1 calendar, but it does the others anyway.

AFAIK, it will always sync all calendars down (unless the new version changed that) - but you can control if it merges local calendar with the server.

The icloud data file has been getting deleted automatially (or at least it is not showing up on the data files tab).

This is the correct behavior and it works most of the time. Except when it doesn't. <g>

 

[Vincenzo]

Diane, I think you are right about those entiries being old leftovers. I have at times in the past told it to retain them when uninstalling, until i learned it is not necessary.


If iCloud is installed and you were to switch to a different profile, do you expect iCloud would be in that profile too?
I kind of think it would, but not sure. If that is the case, that would mean that icloud is independent of the pst file and the profile, which would save me some troubleshooting time.

 

[Vincenzo]

I ran a repair on Office. Checked that the icloud data file from previous install is gone. Log into icloud and it configures itself.

I have two profiles, the original one, and a new one, both have the email account that I log into icloud with.
icloud sync does not work with either one, no Refresh button, and nothing showing in the folder list in Calendar.

But what is odd is that while the old profile does show the icloud data file in Account Settings, the new profile does not. Why would it be picky about that?

 

[Diane Poremsky]

If iCloud is installed and you were to switch to a different profile, do you expect iCloud would be in that profile too?

No, it's only added to the default profile.

 

[Vincenzo]

I decided I needed to get this resolved. I figured it was either Outlook or Windows that had a problem. I ran sfc, I ran DISM, on Windows. Both found errors. But problem remained.

I compacted the two pst files, ran pst repair tool 3 times on each to make it come up clean, still no joy.

I created a new Outlook profile. Still ng.

Then I deleted icloud and installed it this time from the Microsoft store.
And it worked.
But I was in the new profile, and it would mean a lot of work to get up to speed, so i disconnected icloud, switched to the old profile, re-initiated icloud, and it would not work.

So I had to use both the new profile (and had to transfer the old outlook content and autocomplete info to it) and the MS Store installation file to get it to work.

(btw in the process of all this I confirmed what Diane said that icloud only installs in the default profile, thank you for that info, otherwise my tests would have really been messed up).