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Free/busy rules overview

 

Calendly’s Free/busy rules help you open up more time in your calendar. You can use them to book over certain meetings, giving you more control over your availability.

Before you begin

Make sure to:

  • Connect your calendar on the Calendar settings page.
  • Set it as a calendar to check for conflicts.
  • This feature doesn't work with the Outlook plug-in. You’ll need an online calendar connection.
  • You don’t need a calendar to add events to, but if you do, make sure it’s also set to check for conflicts.

Need help? Read more here.

What you can do with free/busy rules

Use free/busy rules to:

  • Book over future events.
  • Book over personal events or Calendly meetings on your connected calendar.
    • Note: You can’t book over full Group meetings, even if their titles are listed as exceptions.

Set up free/busy rules

You’ll set these up in the event editor. Here's how:

  1. Go to your Scheduling page.
  2. Choose the event type you want to update.
  3. Scroll down and select More options.
  4. Expand the Free/busy rules section.
  5. Click + Add meeting exception.
  6. In the dropdown, choose:
    • Includes – to match part of an event title.
    • Matches exactly – to match the full event title.
  7. Type the event title in the search bar.
  8. Press Enter.
  9. Click Save changes.

Now, Calendly will allow those calendar events to be booked over.

Booking over Calendly meetings

If you book over a Calendly meeting:

  • You’ll get an alert in your New Event email.
  • Click View in Calendly to go to your Meetings page.
  • From there, you can choose to reschedule the original meeting, if needed.

Frequently asked questions

What events can I book over?

You can book over:

  • Calendly meetings on calendars marked for conflict checks
  • Events on your connected online calendar
  • Focus time or break blocks on your calendar

Note: This doesn’t work with Outlook plug-in connections. Use an online calendar instead.

Will booking over a Calendly meeting cancel it?

No. You’ll get a conflict alert in your email. Select View in Calendly and choose to reschedule or keep the original meeting.
Book over meetings conflict message.jpg

How do I check if my event is set up to book over meetings?
  1. Go to your home page.
  2. Select the event type.
  3. Click More options.
  4. Expand the Free/busy rules section.
  5. Review the meeting exceptions listed.
Why isn’t my Calendly meeting showing as a meeting exception?

There are a few reasons:

  • The meeting wasn’t added to a calendar set to check for conflicts.

  • The scheduled meeting title doesn’t match your event type title.

  • You're using the Outlook plug-in, which isn't supported.

To fix this:

  1. In your Availability page, go to your calendar settings.

  2. Make sure your Calendar to add events to is also marked as a Calendar to check for conflicts.

  3. If you use calendar invitations, go to your event type settings to make sure the event title is included in the invite.

  4. You can switch to email confirmations instead. Learn how here.

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