How to use buffers

December 10, 2024 16:15

In this article we will walk you through setting up Calendly event buffers and how they work.

What are buffers?

Buffers are extra time added before or after a Calendly meeting. They’re useful for prep time, travel, or post-meeting tasks. Buffers are set per event type, so you can adjust them to fit each event's needs.

How to set up a buffer

From your Event types page, select the event type you wish to update.
Select More options from the bottom of the editor.
Expand the Limits and buffers section.
Select + Set buffer time.
Add your desired buffers
Select Save changes.

How to remove buffers

For future scheduled meetings:

From your Event types page, select the event type you wish to update.
Select More options from the bottom of the editor.
Expand the Limits and buffers section.
Set your buffer time to 0 min.

For existing scheduled meetings:

From your Meetings page, select the scheduled meeting you wish to edit.
- Make sure your Meetings page is set to Show buffers.
Select the pencil icon next to the buffer you wish to edit.
Edit or delete the buffer as needed.

From your connected calendar:

You can choose if you want buffers to appear on your connected calendar from your Calendar settings in the Availability page. When enabled, deleting or canceling a buffer from your connected calendar will remove the buffer from Calendly.

To enable this feature:

Find the Sync settings section in your Calendar settings.
Select Include buffers on this calendar.

Buffer logic

Buffers apply only to meetings booked through Calendly, but Calendly will consider non-Calendly events to avoid overlaps. This means that buffers cannot overlap events from your connected calendar(s).

For example, if you have a 30-minute event with 15-minute buffers before and after, you’ll need 60 minutes of free time for it to show as available on your booking page. The event itself remains 30 minutes, but the buffers ensure no overlap with other events on your calendar.

Remember that buffers on an individual’s scheduled meetings can impact how multi-user event types can be scheduled.

For round robin events, buffer settings on individual’s other event types could lead to uneven meeting distribution.
For collective events, buffer settings on an individual’s other events can prevent collective meetings from being booked in time slots that appear to be free.

The troubleshooting tool’s BUFFER message

Calendly’s troubleshooting tool helps identify when buffer settings are blocking certain meeting times. The BUFFER message may appear for several reasons:

BUFFER shows when buffers attached to a scheduled meeting block a time slot.
It also shows if the meeting you’re trying to book doesn’t fit due to its total length (meeting duration + buffer time).

Check the details in a BUFFER message to see if the issue is with a before or after meeting buffer.

Common Issues with Buffers

If you're experiencing issues with buffers, take a look at some common scenarios users often encounter:

The BUFFER message is showing but there are no Calendly scheduled meetings.

If a non-Calendly event is blocking a Calendly meeting from being scheduled, you can either:

Remove the conflicting calendar event or set its status to "free" (Remember to check your all day events!)
Or, change the buffer settings of the event type you want to schedule to 0 minutes.

The BUFFER message is showing for a Calendly scheduled meeting, but the buffers don't match the event type's existing buffer settings.

Scheduled meetings keep the buffer settings that were in place when they were booked. If you update buffer settings in the event type editor, the new settings only apply to future bookings, not to meetings already scheduled.

If you see a BUFFER message that doesn’t match current settings, it could be due to old buffer settings on that meeting.

You can see and manage your existing buffers from your Meetings page as well as from your connected calendar (if enabled).

Choose whether your buffers show on your Meetings page using the Show buffers toggle.
Show buffers.png

You can choose if you want buffers to appear on your connected calendar from your Calendar settings in the Availability page.
include buffers on this calendar.png

There are large periods of time in my calendar that appear to be free but meetings cannot be booked.

This can be caused by “double buffers.” Adding both a before and after buffer can cause the buffers to stack up and remove large time slots from your live scheduling page.

Buffers Explanation.png

Edit your event types to use only a single buffer either before or after your meetings. This will result in having more bookable time slots on your scheduling page.

For any previously scheduled meetings that are blocking desired times slots, you can edit the buffers from your Meetings page.