How SavvyCal decides when you're busy

SavvyCal checks the calendars you've selected for conflicts every time someone loads your booking page. An event on one of those calendars blocks the time when it's marked busy, it hasn't been canceled, and you haven't declined it. Meetings booked through SavvyCal always block your time, on every link. Your schedule, buffers, and other link settings then decide which of the remaining times are offered.

Which events block my time?

An event on a calendar you check for conflicts blocks your time when:

• It's marked busy. Events set to Free in your calendar app never block. In Outlook, everything other than Free blocks, including Tentative, Out of office, and Working elsewhere.
• You haven't declined it. Invites you've accepted, marked as tentative, or not answered yet all block. Declined invites don't.
• It hasn't been canceled.

A few more things to know:

• All-day events follow the same rule. If an all-day event is marked busy, it blocks the whole day, from midnight to midnight in your time zone.
• Travel time you add to an event in iCloud counts as part of the event and blocks too.
• Time block events never block. An event that matches one of your schedule's time blocks adds availability instead.
• SavvyCal bookings block your time on all of your links, even if the calendar they were added to isn't checked for conflicts. That includes bookings waiting for your approval or for payment. A booking you've canceled in SavvyCal stops blocking right away, even if a copy is still on your calendar.

Which calendars does SavvyCal check?

Go to Settings > Integrations and find the Calendars section. Each connected account lists its calendars, with a checkbox next to each one. A checked calendar is checked for conflicts. The account header shows how many are checked (for example, 2 of 5 selected).

• When you first connect an account, only its main calendar is checked.
• To pull in calendars you've created since connecting, click the Sync button on that account. New calendars start out unchecked.
• The calendar with the Primary badge is where new events are created. You choose it with Create events on... at the top of the section. Choosing a calendar there also turns on conflict checking for it.
• Unchecking a calendar also hides its events from the calendar preview in the link and schedule editors.

You can reach the same list from the calendar preview in the link or schedule editor. Click the gear icon (Calendar settings) next to Show calendar events.

Can different links check different calendars?

No. The calendars you check for conflicts apply to all of your scheduling links. What you can change per link is the calendar new events are created on.

To change availability on one link only, use overrides on that link, a different schedule, or time blocks in that schedule.

Why can someone book over an event on my calendar?

Check these, in order:

1. The event's calendar isn't checked for conflicts. See which calendars SavvyCal checks.
2. The event is marked Free. Change it to Busy in your calendar app.
3. You declined the invite.
4. The event was added a moment ago. SavvyCal can take up to a minute to see changes on your calendar. Reload the booking page to see the latest times.
5. An Allow override has Ignore calendar conflicts turned on for that time. See overriding availability.
6. A [Force] time block covers that time. A time block event with [Force] in its name overrides busy events. See force-allowed time blocks.
7. The busy person is an optional attendee on the link, so their calendar isn't checked. See optional attendees.
8. Someone booked it with Book an event, which can use any time. See booking on behalf of others.

SavvyCal checks availability again when the scheduler submits the booking, so a time that became busy after the page loaded is caught then.

Why does my all-day, out-of-office, or holiday event block me (or not)?

SavvyCal doesn't treat these events differently. They block when they're marked busy, and they don't when they're marked free. Check the event's busy/free setting in your calendar app.

Holiday calendars are separate calendars. Their events only count if that calendar is checked for conflicts in Settings > Integrations.

If you want an all-day busy event to block most days but still take bookings during part of it, create an Allow override with Ignore calendar conflicts turned on, or use a force-allowed time block.

Does a tentative or declined invite block me?

• Tentative: yes.
• Not answered yet: yes.
• Declined: no.

Declined events are hidden on the calendar preview by default. To show them (crossed out), turn on Show declined events in Calendar settings on the preview.

I deleted an event. Why is the time still blocked?

• SavvyCal hasn't seen the change yet. Wait a minute and reload the booking page.
• The same event is on another calendar you check. Invites often appear on more than one calendar. Delete it or decline it there too, or uncheck that calendar.
• It was a meeting booked through SavvyCal. On Google Calendar and Outlook, deleting a SavvyCal booking from your calendar cancels it in SavvyCal, and the time opens up. On iCloud and Fastmail, deleting it from your calendar doesn't cancel the booking, so it keeps blocking. Cancel it in SavvyCal instead.

How do teammates' calendars count on a collective link?

On a collective link, a time is offered only when every Required attendee with a SavvyCal account is free. Each one's own checked calendars and SavvyCal bookings count.

• Optional attendees don't affect availability. See optional attendees.
• Attendees added by email who don't have a SavvyCal account don't affect availability.
• When Limit time slots to this attendee's schedule is off for an attendee, their busy events still block, but their schedule hours don't limit the link.

On a round-robin link, a time is offered when at least one person in the pool is free, and every attendee excluded from the pool is free too.

Why was my link booked outside its hours?

Times outside your schedule's hours can open up when:

• An Allow override covers that time. See overriding availability.
• An event on your calendar matches one of your schedule's time blocks. Time blocks add availability on top of your schedule's hours.
• Someone booked it with Book an event, which can use any time.
• A scheduled time zone change moved your hours for those dates.

What else can make a time unavailable?

Calendar conflicts are only one part. A time is also unavailable when:

• It's outside your schedule's hours.
• It falls inside a buffer around another event, or inside the link's Minimum Notice window. See configuring link availability.
• A daily, weekly, or monthly limit has been reached. See frequency limits.
• A Block override covers it. See overriding availability.
• It's outside the link's fixed date ranges. See limiting availability by fixed dates.
• It's already in the past.