Bookings Customized Hours not working

Angela Scott 0 Reputation points
2026-09-15T19:57:04.92+00:00

Hello,

I set up a bookings page with custom hours. Not needing to book appointments with Outlook availibiility. My time zone is set to central. All other settings are confirmed and work, my cache is cleared. Yet sending out the link to book shows there are zero slots available. How can I fix this? I also waited 10 minutes for the lag.

Outlook | Web | Outlook on the web for business | Calendar
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  1. Ivory 1,420 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-09-15T20:40:21.9033333+00:00

    Hi Angela ,

    A common cause of this behavior is the staff availability layer, which is separate from the service's custom hours and is not bypassed when calendar-based availability is turned off.

    To help identify where the issue is occurring, please review the following:

    1. Check staff availability hours
    • Go to Staff and edit the assigned staff member.
    • Review the weekly availability schedule and verify that it is not restricting your service hours.
    • As a test, set the staff availability to a wider range (for example, 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM) on all required days, including weekends if applicable.
      • Then allow the service's custom hours to handle the actual scheduling restrictions.
      • Additionally, please uncheck "Use Business Hours" toggle
        User's image
    1. Confirm that the staff member is assigned to the affected service.
    2. Review the minimum lead time
    • The default setting is often 24 hours.
    • When enabled, no appointment slots will appear within the next 24 hours, even if the staff member is available.
    1. Navigate to Business Information and verify that the business hours align with the service availability you expect.
    2. Verify time zone settings
    • Go to Bookings Page > Region and Time Zone Settings and confirm that the configured time zone is correct.
    • If the booking page time zone differs from the public booking page time zone, available slots or custom availability ranges may not display as expected.
    • For testing purposes, enable "Always show time slots in business time zone" on the Bookings Page tab to ensure you are not comparing the visitor's local time zone with the business time zone.
    1. Check the service end-time boundary When using 30-minute time increments, the end time must extend an additional 30 minutes beyond the last desired appointment slot. Otherwise, the final time slot may not be displayed.

    After completing the checks above, please test the public booking link in an InPrivate/Incognito browser window. This will help determine which configuration may be affecting availability. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments on this post so I can continue to support you.  

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  2. AI answer

    2026-09-15T19:57:26.2766667+00:00

    If custom hours are set but the public page shows zero slots, the most common causes in this scenario are a time zone mismatch, service availability settings, or staff availability overriding the service hours.

    Try this end-to-end check:

    1. In Bookings > Booking page, verify the Region and time zone setting is Central and save again.
    2. In Bookings > Booking page, review the Scheduling policy:
      • Confirm the time increments are appropriate for the service.
      • Confirm lead time in hours is not blocking near-term bookings.
      • Confirm maximum days in advance still includes the dates being tested.
    3. Open the service being booked and check Availability:
      • If the service should follow only the service schedule, confirm the service availability is set correctly.
      • If using a date-specific override, verify the start and end dates are correct.
      • If needed, test with Custom hours for the service instead of a broader default.
    4. Check whether the service is set to Bookable when staff are free. If it is, staff schedules must also be available or no slots will appear.
    5. In Bookings > Staff, open the assigned staff member:
      • Check whether Use business hours is enabled.
      • If staff should have their own schedule, clear Use business hours and set the working hours directly.
      • Save the staff record.
    6. If the booking page should not depend on Outlook free/busy, make sure the service and staff configuration are not effectively restricting availability through staff availability.
    7. Save and publish the booking page again, then test the public link in a private/incognito browser window.

    Important checks based on known Bookings behavior:

    • Service availability can be set to Bookable when staff are free, Not bookable, or Custom hours. If the wrong option is selected, the page can show no availability.
    • Date-range availability overrides general availability. If a custom date range was added incorrectly, it can block all slots.
    • Staff working hours can override what appears bookable on the page.
    • Scheduling policy settings such as lead time and time increments can prevent slots from appearing even when hours look correct.

    A good isolation test is:

    • Create or edit one service.
    • Set its availability to Custom hours.
    • Assign one staff member.
    • In that staff member’s profile, set matching working hours.
    • Use a simple interval that matches the service duration.
    • Save, publish, and test again.

    If slots still do not appear after confirming time zone, service availability, and staff hours, the issue may require the Microsoft 365 admin to open a support request for backend investigation.

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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