no sync of contacts or calendar with Outlook 2016

Running:

iPhone SE w IOS 11.2.6

iTunes 12.6.2

Windows 10

Outlook 2016 - (1) default data file PST with contacts and calendar; (2) OST file for IMAP xFinity email. (Had to go this route in order to use categories)

When syncing, iTunes does not even recognize that Outlook is installed and I get this error message: "Microsoft Outlook must be installed in order to sync calendars". The only option for syncing contacts is with Windows Contacts. This is a pretty fundamental problem and looks to have been common two years ago, but here we are in 2018 and no solution is readily apparent. Any ideas?