How to sort out overlapping appointments

Find where the overlap came from, move one booking and keep every booking in a single place.

Real-world problems

The public booking page offers only free times, so it doesn’t create overlaps by itself. Clashes usually come from a booking agreed outside the tool, an imported file or a schedule change made after the booking existed. Here’s how to sort them out and stop them coming back.

Spot the clash: open the day or week view for the provider concerned and look for two bookings sharing a time. Check how each was created: through the public page, by a team member, from an imported .ics file, or agreed by phone and entered later.

Decide which booking moves, usually the newer one or the one entered by hand, and phone the client yourself, because 4appointments sends no message about changes. Offer the nearest free time. The sooner you ring, the easier it is to find something that suits them.

Move the booking in the calendar by dragging it to a free slot or editing its time. Moving a booking checks the provider’s availability and overlaps, so you can’t swap one clash for another. If the booking was created by your team, you’ll need to send the client their management link yourself.

To stop it recurring, enter every phone or in-person booking in the Bookings section, where availability is checked for you, and subscribe to the ICS link of any other calendar you use so its busy blocks close those times (they refresh about every 15 minutes). Also check you haven’t added a block over bookings that already existed.

Key points

  • ✓The public page offers only free times, so most clashes come from bookings made elsewhere
  • ✓Creating or moving a booking in the panel checks availability and overlaps
  • ✓Warn the client by phone yourself, as the tool sends no change notices

Common questions

How did overlaps happen if I use an online system?+

Most often a booking was agreed by phone or message and never entered, an .ics file was imported over existing items, or a schedule change was made after the booking already existed.

Is it possible to get an alert when an overlap happens?+

There’s no separate alert. Instead, the booking page hides taken times and creating or moving a booking in the panel checks overlaps, so look at the day and week views regularly if you suspect a clash.

More guides to read

Tired of clashes in your schedule?

Let clients pick from free times and enter every other booking in the panel, so overlaps are caught before they reach your diary.

Give 4appointments a go