Setting up a recurring meeting invite for 5th business day of each month

Hi @Anukta Nanda,

Thank you for posting your question to the Microsoft Q&A Forum.

Currently, classic Outlook for Windows does not include a built-in option to schedule recurring meetings based on the “nth business day” of the month. The available recurrence patterns are limited to:

• A specific date (e.g., 5th of each month)
• A day of the week (e.g., first Monday)
• Custom intervals (e.g., every X days)

The challenge with “business day” logic is that it depends on weekends and organization-specific holidays, which Outlook does not automatically account for in its recurrence rules.

To achieve this customization, you can consider an advanced approach such as using Outlook with a VBA macro. For example:

• Create a recurring appointment for the 5th calendar day.
• Use a VBA script to adjust each occurrence to the 5th business day.

This method requires enabling macros and some coding. A helpful resource is this GitHub project: VBA Recurring Appointments in Outlook It demonstrates how to set up first/last business-day recurring appointments with logic you can adapt for the 5th business day.

To modify individual occurrences within a recurring series:

• Use AppointmentItem.GetRecurrencePattern to access the recurrence.
• Call RecurrencePattern.GetOccurrence for the specific date.
• Update the corresponding AppointmentItem as needed.

For reference:

• RecurrencePattern Object (Outlook) | Microsoft Learn
• RecurrencePattern.RecurrenceType Property | Microsoft Learn

You can also combine this with Excel’s WorksheetFunction.WorkDay method to compute business days and include holiday arrays.

However, I understand this approach can be complex for end users. In cases like this, the most effective solution is to submit a support request through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center using your admin credentials. This ensures a Microsoft support engineer can:

• Initiate a remote session
• Investigate backend configurations
• Run advanced diagnostics
• Escalate to specialized teams if needed

These backend resources are essential for resolving issues beyond what’s visible in the user interface.

As community moderators, we’re here to guide you, but due to privacy and security limitations, we don’t have access to these backend tools. For this reason, contacting Microsoft Support via the Admin Center is the most secure and efficient way forward.

Please ask your IT admin to create a support ticket from: Microsoft 365 Admin Center > Support > Help & Support

You can also find regional customer service phone numbers here: Customer Service Phone Numbers - Microsoft Support

Additionally, your suggestion to enhance Outlook usability is excellent and could benefit many users. We continuously improve Outlook based on user feedback, and your input plays a vital role in shaping future updates.

If this feature is important to your workflow, please submit a suggestion directly from Outlook by navigating to: Outlook · Community

Once you’ve submitted your feedback, feel free to share the link here in the comments—I’ll gladly upvote it to help increase visibility.

Additionally, if my response has helped clarify the situation and guide you toward the next steps, please mark it as the Accepted Answer. This will pin the post and make it easier for others facing the same challenge to find helpful guidance.

Thank you again for your time and for raising this important usability concern.

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