Bookings services times not showing correctly

Dear @Tamara,

Please note that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators, contributors including external Microsoft employees cannot directly intervene in Microsoft product features or access back-end systems. Our role is limited to providing technical guidance on reported issues, requests, or ideas. 

Based on the information you shared, it appears that you and your colleagues are experiencing an issue with the Microsoft Bookings page. Even though the settings have been configured correctly, the available booking times shown on the booking page do not appear as expected.

To help us better understand what is happening, could you please provide screenshots of your current settings as well as a screenshot of the booking page showing the incorrect times? This will help us compare the configuration with the actual result and identify where the mismatch may be coming from.

As an additional troubleshooting step, you may also try creating a new Bookings page and applying the same settings to see whether the issue still occurs. This can help determine whether the issue is related to the specific booking page or to the Bookings service behavior in general.

Please remember to hide or blur any personal or sensitive information before sharing the screenshots.

I look forward to your response.

Service availability in Microsoft Bookings is controlled at the service level and then constrained by staff availability and any buffer times configured. When the booking page shows more times than expected, the usual causes are:

1. Service availability mode
   Ensure the service is not set to “Bookable when staff are free” if only specific slots should appear. For strict control, use Custom hours on the service and define only the exact times that should be bookable.
2. Date‑range overrides
   On the service’s Availability options, check if Set availability for a different date range has been used. Any date‑range entries override the general service availability. If a date range is set to Bookable when staff are free, extra times will appear even if the general service is restricted.
3. Staff calendar and free/busy behavior
   In Staff settings, if Events on Microsoft 365 calendar affect availability is enabled (it is on by default), Bookings will open up any time where staff are not marked Busy/Tentative. Make sure:
   • Staff are not marked Free during times that should be blocked (including all‑day events, which default to Free).
   • Any “leave” or blocking events are set to Busy, not Free, so those times are removed from availability.
4. Buffer time extending the required slot
   If buffer time is enabled on the service, Bookings requires a block large enough for appointment + buffer and marks that whole block as occupied. For example, a 60‑minute service with a 15‑minute pre‑buffer needs a 75‑minute free block. If the calendar has larger free blocks, Bookings may show times that look outside the “core” duration because it is accounting for buffer.

To align what appears on the booking page with the intended exact slots:

1. Open the service, go to Availability options, and set:
   • General availability to Custom hours, defining only the allowed slots.
   • Any special date ranges to Custom hours or Not bookable as needed, avoiding “Bookable when staff are free” if that is too permissive.
2. In Staff:
   • Confirm Events on Microsoft 365 calendar affect availability is configured as desired.
   • On each staff member’s calendar, ensure any blocking events (including leave) are set to Busy so Bookings does not treat those times as available.
3. On the service Service details page, review buffer time settings and adjust or disable them if they are causing unexpected extra availability.

These steps ensure that only the defined service hours, further constrained by Busy time on staff calendars and any buffer time, appear as bookable slots.

References:

• Configure service availability in Microsoft Bookings
• Set buffer time in Microsoft Bookings
• Add team members to Bookings
• Bookings with me calendar doesn’t honor user’s personal calendars
• Understanding staff roles in Microsoft Bookings
• Allowing customers to manage their bookings in Shared Bookings