How to fix overlapping appointments

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

When things go wrong

The public booking page only offers free times, so it doesn’t create overlaps by itself. When two appointments clash, the usual cause is a booking agreed outside the tool, an imported file or a schedule change made after the booking existed. This guide shows how to fix the clash and keep it from returning.

Find the clash. Open the day or week view for the provider concerned and look for two bookings sharing the same time. Check how each one 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. Ring the client yourself, because 4appointments sends no automatic message about changes, and offer the nearest free time. The sooner you call, the easier it is to find an alternative 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 the tool won’t let you swap one clash for another. If the client used a management link, they can also pick a new time themselves, but you have to send them the link if you created the booking.

Look for the cause. Did you add a day off or a block over existing bookings? Did a calendar subscribed through ICS refresh late, since busy blocks update about every 15 minutes? Then prevent repeats: 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.

What to remember

  • ✓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
  • ✓Subscribe to your other calendars by ICS so their busy times are blocked

Common questions

How did overlaps happen when I have an online system?+

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

Can I be alerted when a clash is created?+

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

Want fewer clashing bookings?

Keep every booking in one calendar, where taken times are hidden from clients. The first 12 months of 4appointments are free, with no card.

Give 4appointments a go