How to Sync Your Calendars to Prevent Double-Bookings
How to sync your calendars to prevent double-bookings: connect Google Calendar, Outlook/Microsoft 365, or Apple iCloud so your busy times block your booking page, choose where new bookings are written, understand how often it refreshes, and test that it works.
Start the GuideHow to Sync Your Calendars to Prevent Double-Bookings This step-by-step guide covers everything you need, from prerequisites to pro tips, so you can complete the process in 10 minutes or less. Browse all how-to guides.
What You Need Before Sync Your Calendars
Make sure you have the following ready:
- Access to your Google, Outlook/Microsoft 365, or Apple iCloud account
- For iCloud: an app-specific password from your Apple ID settings
- Admin access to your SchedulingKit account
How to Sync Your Calendars
7 steps · 10 minutes
Go to calendar integrations
Open the calendar connections in your SchedulingKit settings.
Connect your primary calendar
Click 'Connect' next to Google Calendar, Outlook/Microsoft 365, or Apple iCloud and authorize the connection. Google and Microsoft use a normal sign-in and permission screen; on a work Microsoft 365 account your IT admin may need to approve the app. Apple iCloud connects over CalDAV with an app-specific password you generate in your Apple ID settings, not your regular Apple password.
Connect all calendars you use, personal and professional, to avoid any conflicts.
Check both directions
Once connected, busy times on your calendar block slots on your booking page, and new bookings are written to the calendar you choose as your primary one.
Choose conflict behavior
Decide whether external calendar events block booking slots as 'busy' or if only specific calendars should affect availability. Pick one primary calendar where new bookings are written, and add others (personal, team, shared) as calendars that are only checked for conflicts. Each selected calendar counts toward your plan: 1 on Free, 6 on Standard, unlimited on Pro and above.
Select each calendar only once. Syncing the same calendar twice, or chaining subscriptions between Google and Outlook, creates duplicates and phantom conflicts.
Understand sync timing
Busy times from your connected calendars refresh every 10 minutes, and SchedulingKit checks your calendar again live at the moment a client books, so a slot you just filled cannot be double-booked. An event you add may take a few minutes to disappear from the booking page. It is not instant.
A short buffer between appointments gives you room if you add personal events at the last minute.
Verify sync is working
Create a booking and confirm it appears in your external calendar. Then block time in your calendar, wait for the next refresh, and verify the slot disappears from booking availability.
Set up your team and keep it tidy
Have each team member connect their own calendar so their availability is accurate. Color-code or label client bookings, personal events, and blocked time so anyone can scan the calendar quickly, and check once a month that no connection has expired.
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