By Anthony Schorling

Introduction

[Updated April 30, 2025]

Did you know that you can override your previously-set availability in Calendly?

For many, this might be a feature in which they've overlooked. When it was first added to Calendly, they dubbed this feature "date overrides", but in recent months, have given it a fresh coat of paint and a new name, "date specific hours". With this feature, you can offer unique availability options, or block off certain dates/times based on the hours you've already set. This is a huge help to those who want to either add to or scale back the amount of booking options they offer on specific days for one reason or another.

Currently, there are a few ways in which you can go about utilizing date-specific hours - either via your regular availability, via an event type, or via a contact booking. Here's how you can go about overriding your availability using any of these options:

Overriding Availability in General

To override availability within your previously-set hours, click the Availability button from the left-hand menu. Then, find the Date-specific hours column on the right side of the screen.

From here, you'll see a dialogue box with a calendar pop up. Within this box, you can select a date (or multiple dates) in which you want to adjust availability for. Upon selecting your date(s), the time interval(s) set for the selected date(s) will appear at the bottom. To make the selected date(s) unavailable altogether, simply hit the "x" button next to each interval. To edit the existing timeframe(s), click into one of the boxes and select a new time. To add a new, separate interval to the selected date(s), click the "+" button.

Once you're finished editing, click the blue Apply button. You can repeat this process for as many availability schedules as you need to.

Another fun bonus tip: Under the Availability settings, be sure to make use of the new Holidays tab! This tab allows you to override your ability on holidays based on the national holidays of the country you select. You can also individually apply holidays from the list.

Overriding Availability via an Event Type

To override your availability for a specific event type, first click on the event type you'd like to edit. From there, click on Scheduling Settings from the left-hand event settings menu, and then the existing available hours you have set for the event type.

After clicking on the existing available hours, you can add date-specific hours from two areas - either the Calendar view button, or the Add date-specific hours button.

Selecting either of these options will prompt you to select a date (or dates), and from there, follow the same process to add date-specific hours as you would if you were changing them via the Availability menu, as outlined in the section above.

Overriding Availability via Contact Bookings

To override your availability on contact bookings, first click on Contacts from the left side of your Calendly homepage.

Next, find the contact that you'd like to book with and then click Book Meeting.

From here, you'll be able to choose from your list of existing event types. Once you've chosen an event type, you'll see a button that says Override Available Times.

Click this button to open up your calendar, where you can add a one-off booking link for times where you'd initially be unavailable. You can book over any existing meeting, over blocked-off time, outside of your normal schedule, etc. The only thing you can’t do is book in the past. When you're done, click Book Meeting to finalize your selection.

Alternatively, if you want to offer that time slot to someone who is not a contact, you can do that as well. To accomplish this, choose an event type from your Calendly homepage and click Share. A box will pop up with a few different options, and you'll want to click Customize & Share at the bottom.

Clicking this button will bring up an availability customization menu for the event that looks and functions the same as the settings within the event type itself. Similarly to customizing general event type availability, you'll want to click the Add Date-Specific Hours button at the bottom of the page. Lastly, customize your availability to your liking and click Share Link. This will return you to the sharing page, where you can copy the link so that you can send it to your intended recipient.

Conclusion

And there you have it! Now, you can begin editing your availability as needed to either allow for more booking options, or cut back on what you already have set up. This granular availability control is a perfect solution for situations such as working odd hours, needing to account for a personal event like a doctor's appointment, or making an exception for a client who needs to meet outside of regular booking hours. Make sure you file away your knowledge on this lesser-known feature for when you need to take advantage of it!

If you need assistance setting up your team's Calendly accounts, or would like to set up automations with Calendly, be sure to schedule an intro call with us! We're more than happy to help bring your vision to life.

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