How to Fix Slots Showing as Available When You're Busy

A slot shows as available during a busy time for one of three reasons: the event is on a Google calendar you have not chosen as a blocking calendar, the event is marked Free instead of Busy, or your available hours and days off have not been set. Viralyze reads busy events only from the calendars you tick, so the first thing to check is that list. The second is the event's own Free/Busy setting in Google.

Fix those two and double bookings stop. The rest of this article explains each cause and the settings that control them.

Which calendars are set to block slots?

Open Bookings in Viralyze, then Google Calendar settings, and look at the blocking calendars list. Only ticked calendars affect availability. A dentist's "Personal" calendar with a 3 PM school pickup will not block 3 PM unless Personal is ticked.

Tick every calendar that holds commitments you want respected. Shared calendars and calendars from a second Google account count too, as long as they are visible in the connected account. If your busy events live in a Google account you have not connected, connect that one instead, or share its calendar to the connected account.

Is the event marked Busy or Free?

Google Calendar lets each event be marked "Busy" or "Free". All-day events and some imported events default to Free, and a Free event does not block anything.

Open the event in Google, look for "Show as", and set it to Busy. Repeat for recurring events once; the whole series updates. This single setting explains most "but it is on my calendar" complaints.

Have I set available hours and days off?

Blocking calendars only subtract from the hours you have made available. If your weekly hours say Monday to Saturday, 9 AM to 8 PM, every slot in that range is open unless a Busy event covers it.

Set the real window. A physiotherapist who takes Instagram bookings only in the evenings should set 6 PM to 9 PM, not the whole day. Then add days off: a single date for a wedding, a partial day like "after 2 PM" on Fridays, or a date range for a holiday. Add a buffer between sessions so back-to-back bookings do not leave you with zero travel or prep time.

How do I fix it in five steps?

1. In the app, open Google Calendar settings and tick every calendar that should block slots. 2. In Google Calendar, open the offending event and set "Show as" to Busy. 3. Set your weekly available hours to the window you actually work. 4. Add days off and any buffer time. 5. Open your booking link in a private browser window and confirm the busy time is gone.

Changes are live immediately; the booking page reads availability each time it loads.

Does the sync lag?

Two-way sync is quick in practice but not always instant. If you added a Busy event thirty seconds ago and the slot still shows, reload the booking page. If it still shows after a few minutes, go back to the blocking calendars list; the event is almost certainly on an unticked calendar.

Frequently asked questions

**Can I block a slot without creating a Google event?** Yes. Use days off in the app for single dates, partial days or ranges, and they block without touching Google.

**Will a booking from the app also block that time for future bookings?** Yes. The booking is written to your destination calendar as a Busy event and the slot disappears for everyone else.

**What if two people book the same slot a second apart?** The booking page checks availability at the moment of payment, so the second person is shown the slot as taken.

Start the 7-day free trial of Viralyze, no card needed, and tick the right calendars so your busy time stays yours.