How to Block Time as ‘Busy’ in Google Calendar to Prevent Double Bookings

How to Block Time as ‘Busy’ in Google Calendar to Prevent Double Bookings

also: Title: How to Mark Time as Busy in Google Calendar to Sync with Booking Calendar

Summary:

If bookings appear during times when you’re unavailable, it’s usually because those events in Google Calendar are marked as Free instead of Busy. The booking system only blocks times marked as “Busy.”

Steps:

1. Open Google Calendar.
2. Click the time or date range you want to block.
3. In the event settings, change the status from Free to Busy (or select Out of office).
4. If you’re taking several days off, create an “Out of office” event and select the full date range.
5. Click Save.
6. The booking system will automatically sync and hide those times from availability.

Tip:

Watch this short tutorial for a visual guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvylMIFQiWI

Common Causes:

• Events marked as Free instead of Busy or Out of office.
• Calendar connection is correct, but personal or holiday blocks not properly set.
• Buffer added, but unavailable times not blocked directly in Google Calendar.

Solution:

Always mark unavailable times (meetings, holidays, OOF periods) as Busy or Out of office in Google Calendar. Once updated, the booking system will automatically prevent appointments during those periods.

Troubleshooting:

• Refresh or re-sync your connected calendar in the booking system.
• Check that the correct Google Calendar is connected to your booking tool.
• Ensure your booking platform has permission to access your calendar’s events.
• If the issue continues, remove and reconnect your Google Calendar integration.

Oppdatert: 30/10/2025