SharePoint Calendar Color Coding: Overlay & View Formatting Explained

If you’ve ever opened a SharePoint calendar and stared at a wall of events — all the same color, all blending together — you know how quickly it becomes a headache. Color coding your SharePoint calendar is one of those small changes that makes a surprisingly big difference in how you and your team actually use it.

In this tutorial, I’ll walk you through two ways to add color codes to your SharePoint calendar: the classic overlay method and the modern view formatting approach. I’ll also cover how to fix the annoying duplicate events issue that trips up a lot of people.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• SharePoint calendar color code using Calendar Overlays (classic method)
• SharePoint calendar color code using View Formatting (modern method)
• SharePoint calendar color code without overlay
• How to fix SharePoint calendar overlay duplicate events

Why Color Code Your SharePoint Calendar?

Before we get into the steps, let me quickly explain why SharePoint color coding is important.

When you’re managing a team calendar with meetings, holidays, training sessions, and project deadlines all mixed in, it becomes impossible to get a quick read at a glance. Color coding lets you separate events by category — each type gets its own color — so you can spot what’s what within seconds.

It also helps with priority. If you want urgent deadlines to stand out in red and general team meetings to stay in blue, that’s exactly what color coding gives you.

Check out How to Use SharePoint Group Calendar Web Part?

Method 1: SharePoint Calendar Color Code Using Overlay (Classic Way)

This is the older approach, but it still works in SharePoint Online and it’s great if you’re using a classic Events list. The idea is simple: you create a separate calendar view for each event category, then overlay them all with different colors onto one default view.

Here’s how to do it step by step.

Step 1: Open your Events list

Go to your SharePoint site → Site Contents → open your Events list like in the screenshot below:

Step 2: Set up your Categories

Go to the CALENDAR tab → List Settings → click the Category column. You’ll see a set of default choices like Meeting, Holiday, and a few others. You can keep these or add your own — for example, Training, Client Call, Internal Review. Hit Save when you’re done. Here is the screenshot below for your reference.

Step 3: Create a Calendar View for each category

Now, for each category, you need a dedicated calendar view. Click Create View → choose Calendar View like the screenshot below:

• Name the view after the category (e.g., “Meetings View”)
• Set a filter: Category is equal to Meeting
• Save the view

Repeat this for every category you have. Yes, it takes a few minutes, but you only do it once.

Step 4: Create a “blank” default view

You also need a base calendar view that shows events with no category assigned. Create one more Calendar View and set the filter as Category is equal to (leave the value blank). This becomes your default overlay base. Below is the screenshot for your reference.

Step 5: Add Calendar Overlays

This is where the color magic actually happens.

• Go to the CALENDAR tab → click Calendars Overlay
• Click New Calendar, like in the screenshot below:

• Fill in the name (match it to your category name so it’s easy to track)
• Pick a color for that category
• Click Resolve — this populates the available views from your list
• Select the corresponding calendar view you created
• Click OK

Do this for each category. SharePoint allows up to 10 calendar overlays, which is more than enough for most teams.

Once you’re done, your calendar will show events in their respective colors based on the category assigned when the event was created. Each new event automatically picks up the right color depending on which category is selected — you don’t have to do anything extra.

Here is the screenshot below for your reference.

A quick tip: On the left sidebar of the calendar, SharePoint shows a color legend — so anyone viewing it knows exactly what each color represents. Very handy if multiple people use the same calendar.

Check out Create Calendar Events from a SharePoint list using Power Automate

Method 2: SharePoint Calendar Color Code Using View Formatting (Modern Way)

If you’re working with a modern SharePoint list (not a classic Events list), the overlay method isn’t available to you. Instead, you use View Formatting — and honestly, once you get the hang of it, it’s more flexible and cleaner.

Here’s the scenario I’ll use: I have a SharePoint list called Event Tracker with a Choice column called “Department” (IT, HR, Finance, Operations). I want each department’s events to appear in a different color on the calendar.

Before you start: Make sure your list has two date columns — a Start Date and an End Date. SharePoint needs both to create a calendar view like in the screenshot below:

Step 1: Switch your list to Calendar View

Click the View dropdown on your list → Create new view → select Calendar. Set the start and end time columns and save.

Step 2: Open Format current view

While in your calendar view, expand the view dropdown → click Format current view.

Step 3: Apply formatting to Month

In the Format view pane, select Apply formatting to: Month → click the Manage rules link.

Step 4: Create your color rules

You’ll see a default rule that shows all items in a neutral color. Here’s what to do:

• Click + Add rule
• Set the condition: Department is equal to IT
• Under “Show list item as,” pick a color — say, blue
• Hit Save

Repeat this for each department, picking a different color each time:

• IT → Blue
• HR → Green
• Finance → Orange
• Operations → Purple

You can also use the More commands (…) menu on any rule to move it up or down, edit it, or delete it. The order matters — if an item matches multiple rules, SharePoint applies the first matching rule.

Step 5: Save and check your calendar

Once all your rules are saved and you close the pane, your calendar will immediately reflect the colors. Each event gets the color based on the department it belongs to. You can see the output in the screenshot below:

This method works with any column type — choice, text, person — not just the Category column. So it’s much more versatile than overlays.

SharePoint Calendar Color Code Without Overlay

If you’re on SharePoint Classic and looking for a way to add color codes without using overlays, there used to be a workaround using the Content Editor Web Part — where you could inject CSS directly into the page to style calendar events.

However, that web part is not available in SharePoint Online. So if you’re on a modern SharePoint environment, your go-to option is the View Formatting method covered in Method 2 above. It’s cleaner, doesn’t require any custom code, and is fully supported by Microsoft.

Check out Create a Board View in a SharePoint Online List

How to Fix SharePoint Calendar Overlay Duplicate Events

This is one of the most common issues people run into. After setting up your overlays, you suddenly see the same event appearing twice (or more) on the calendar. Here’s why it happens and how to fix it.

Why duplicates appear:
When you have a default calendar view that shows all events AND separate category views overlaying it, SharePoint ends up displaying the same event from multiple views at once — hence the duplicates. Here is a screenshot you can see in the below.

How to fix it:

1. Open your Events list → go to the CALENDAR tab → open the Default View
2. Click Modify View
3. Go to the Filter section
4. Change the filter from showing all items to something like: Category is equal to [your categories] — for example, Meeting OR Holiday OR Training
5. Save the view, check out the screenshot below for your reference.

By filtering your default view so it only shows events that belong to specific categories, you prevent events from being pulled in twice. After this fix, your calendar should show each event exactly once, with the correct color. You can see the screenshot below for the exact output.

Choosing the Right Method

Here’s a quick way to decide which method to use:

• Using a classic SharePoint Events list? → Go with Calendar Overlays (Method 1)
• Using a modern SharePoint list? → Use View Formatting with rules (Method 2)
• Want more flexibility in conditions? → View Formatting is your friend — you can add complex rules, use multiple columns, and manage everything from a simple UI

Both methods achieve the same visual result. The modern View Formatting approach is where Microsoft is investing, so if you’re starting fresh, I’d recommend going that route.

Conclusion

Color coding your SharePoint calendar is a small one-time setup that makes a big difference every day. Whether you’re tracking team availability, managing project deadlines, or organizing company-wide events, having a visually organized calendar means less time squinting at event titles and more time actually using the information.

I personally prefer the View Formatting method for modern lists — it’s more flexible and where Microsoft is headed. But if you’re on a classic Events list, the overlay method works just as well.

Try it out, and let me know if this works for you.

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