How to find out why a time slot is unavailable with the calendar troubleshooting tool
In Settings › Calendars, click the wrench icon next to the calendar (or Troubleshoot Calendar while editing it). Pick a date and hover over an unavailable slot: the code shown (USER, CONFLICT, BOOKED, BUFFER, NOTICE…) tells you exactly what's blocking it.
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Before you start
- You need access to Calendars.
- The tool shows slots in the logged-in user's timezone, not the client's.
- It only diagnoses calendar setup; it doesn't show workflow errors.
Where to find it
Settings › Calendars › (wrench icon next to the calendar)
Step by step
Open the tool
- Open Settings › Calendars.
- In the list, find the calendar with the problem and click the wrench icon next to it.
- Alternatively, with the calendar open for editing, click Troubleshoot Calendar in the top-right corner.
Read the diagnosis
- Pick the date on the grid.
- Hover over a slot marked unavailable to see the reason.
- Interpret the code:
- USER: no user available at that time. Review the availability of whoever is on the calendar.
- COLLECTIVE: on a collective calendar, one or more members are unavailable.
- CONFLICT: there's an event on the external calendar (Google/Outlook/iCloud) set as a conflict.
- BOOKED: a booking already exists in the system.
- BLOCKED: the slot was blocked manually.
- NOTICE: it violates the minimum scheduling notice.
- TOOFAR: it's beyond the allowed date range.
- DAYLIMIT: the day's booking limit has been reached.
- SLOTMAX: the maximum bookings for that slot has been reached.
- BUFFER: another booking's pre/post buffer occupies this slot.
- DURATION: the free gap is shorter than the appointment duration.
- PAST: the time has already passed.
- LOOKBUSY: hidden by the "look busy" setting.
- NO SEATS: the class is at capacity.
- RESOURCE: the required resource (room, equipment) is taken.
Fix the most common cases
- USER or no slots at all: edit the calendar, open Availability and add time blocks for the right days. Make sure at least one user is assigned.
- CONFLICT: check the user's external calendar under Connections; if the event shouldn't block, mark it Free in the external calendar or remove that calendar from conflicts.
- NOTICE, TOOFAR, BUFFER, DAYLIMIT: adjust the booking rules and buffers in the calendar's settings.
- The external calendar was deleted (error banner under Connections): click Fix This, review the list and click Remove Deleted Calendars; then pick a valid calendar.
Tips
- The tool only shows the slots the calendar would generate (e.g. with 10 AM–12 PM hours and 60-minute meetings, only 10 AM and 11 AM appear). If a day has no hours, nothing shows for that day.
- It also works with round robin calendars and groups, and shows which user is causing the block.
- To confirm external connection status, open Connections and check that Google or Outlook shows Connected.
Common problems
- I don't see the wrench icon → Make sure you're in Calendars, on the calendar list, and that you have permission to edit calendars.
- Every slot shows as unavailable → Usually no user is assigned, no availability is set, or the external connection dropped. Check those three things in that order.
- The client sees different slots than I do → The tool uses your timezone; the client sees theirs. Compare after converting the time.
- The slot looks free in the tool but the client can't book → Check whether it's a widget issue (site cache) by reloading the booking page, and that the calendar is active and shared with the right link.
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