Getting started with Calendly

When you get started with Calendly (which, as you're about to see, is super easy to do!) you’re well on your way to simpler, more efficient scheduling. 

Calendly users save an average of 4 hours each week. Think about how much more time you’ll have to focus on your business goals when you're not busy going back and forth, trying to find a time to meet!

Fortunately, Calendly is a snap to set up. Follow these easy steps to customize your booking page and then test the experience from start to finish. You’ll feel confident you’re creating a polished and professional scheduling experience.

Customize your Calendly booking page

Let’s start by customizing what people see when they book time through your booking page. The first thing to do is update your account settings. It’s where you can change your picture and name, and connect your calendars to Calendly.

Personalize your account settings

To get to your account settings, go to the top right of your screen and click “Account.” A drop-down menu will appear. Select the first option — “Account Settings.”

This takes you to the “Profile” section, where you’ll make your first booking page updates. 

Add a profile photo

The profile photo is the image people will see when they visit your booking page. It’s best to use a headshot or your company logo. Just select “Update” and choose an image on your computer that you want to use. When you want to change the image, select “Remove” and pick another one.

Change the profile name

This name will appear on your booking page, meeting confirmations, and invitations. As with your profile picture, use your name or your company name.

Connect your calendars

Next, it’s time to let people see when you’re available to meet. When you connect calendars to Calendly, the app looks at your complete schedule and only shows your open time slots on your booking page, so you never need to check your calendars manually for scheduling conflicts. Connecting your work and personal calendars is a great way to further avoid getting double booked. 

For more details on connecting your calendar, check out this step-by-step guide.

Customize an Event Type

Now that you’ve adjusted your account settings and connected your calendars, let’s customize one of Calendly’s preset Event Types. The settings control what people see when they book time on your calendar. To get started, simply go to your Calendly home page and click on the Event Type you’d like to edit. 

What event is this?

This section contains your meeting’s basic settings. Let’s fill in a few details so people will know more about the meeting.

Hot Tip

Whenever you change your Event Type settings, remember to click the blue “Save” button to keep your changes.

Event Type name

The top field is for “Event name.” This could be as basic as “one-on-one meeting with [your name]” or something more descriptive, like “Coffee chat,” “Interview,” or “Demo.” 

Event Type location

The next drop-down menu lets you pick a location for your meeting. You can specify a physical address or location (like a favorite coffeehouse) for in-person meetings, provide a phone number, or let the person who’s booking time with you pick a location. People often use Calendly for virtual meetings through video conference services like Google Meet, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams. All of these options (and more) are available in the location menu.

Hot Tip

Be sure to connect your favorite video conference tool to Calendly! When you connect these apps, Calendly adds all conference access details to your meeting invitations automatically. There’s no risk of no-shows or late arrivals because someone can’t find the login information.

Event Type description

Once you’ve updated the name and location, it’s time to add a meeting description that will appear on your booking page. This can be a short summary of what you expect to talk about at the meeting, or what someone will learn by meeting with you. The more descriptive you are, the better people will understand the purpose of the meeting — and be more likely to book time with you.

When can people book this event?

The next section informs when people can book a meeting with you. This is where you fine-tune your schedule to get booked as much — or as little — as you want.

Event Type date range

Set the date range to let people know how far in advance they can book a meeting with you. The standard is 60 days, but you can change this to any range you like. You can also specify a range of days in your calendar, or have no limit at all.

Event Type duration

This field sets the length of your meeting. You can select from standard lengths of 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes, or use a custom length.

Event Type schedule

Next, you need to show what times and days during the week people can book the time slot you defined in “Duration” (when you’re available). You can either use the pre-populated schedule, or opt to “Set custom hours.”

Add breaks between meetings

On busy days, it’s helpful to build in breaks between meetings so you have time to get ready for your next appointment. The “Want to add time before and after your events?” section is where you can add time buffers before or after your meeting — but it’s not a best practice to choose both, as it can reduce your windows of availability more than you might expect. The standard break is 15 minutes, but you can customize the length.

Adjusting time zones

The last step is to make sure your Event Type displays the correct time zone on your booking page. By default, Calendly displays the time zone of the person who’s looking at your booking page. When the meeting is booked, Calendly adjusts all times to appear on everyone’s calendar correctly. 

However, when you’re meeting someone in person, it’s better to lock the time zone to your meeting’s location in case that person booked the meeting from a location in another time zone.

For a deeper dive into availability settings, check out this guide.

Test your Calendly booking page

Now that you’ve customized the most important settings that inform what people see on your booking page, let’s test the experience so you feel confident inviting others to schedule with you.

Before you start sharing your booking page, it’s a good idea to do some testing and make sure your booking page shows the right information. That way, you’ll feel great about the efficient and professional scheduling experience you’re setting up!

Preview your Calendly booking page

Start by previewing your booking page. Go back to your Calendly homepage, find your new Event Type, and click the link that says “View booking page.” Then you’ll see exactly what your clients, prospects, or candidates see. 

This is where you’ll see your hard work in action. Check your profile picture and name, as well as the meeting’s name, duration, location, and description — all the information you entered earlier. Revisit the steps above to update any incorrect or missing details.

Confirm why times show (or don’t) with the troubleshooting tool

Now let’s confirm that the right times are displaying. Calendly provides a handy troubleshooting tool to help you discover why a time can’t be booked when you think you should be available. 

Back on your live booking page, select the “Troubleshoot” button below the calendar. This button and the view it opens are only visible to you. Select any day, and you’ll see all your time slots and whether they are open for meetings. When a time slot is unavailable, Calendly will show you why. A slot could be filled by an appointment on a connected calendar, or a time buffer from an Event Type is preventing a booking during that time, or you may be marked as unavailable on a particular day.

Once you’ve discovered why a certain time isn’t available for meetings, you can adjust your settings accordingly.

Review your meeting confirmations

You’re almost ready to share your scheduling link and start booking meetings! Before you do, let’s do a little more testing to make sure your meeting confirmation emails look as good as your booking page.

First, we’ll need to get your scheduling link again. Find your Event Type on your Calendly home page, but this time click “Copy link.” Now, you’ll need a test subject — you can test on your own with a different email address, or ask a teammate or a friend to help. Email them the link and ask them to book a time slot with you.

Once your test subject schedules a time slot, Calendly will send both of you an email confirming the booking and sharing all of the meeting details. Review this email to make sure that the information is correct.

Luckily, it’s easy to make changes to the email confirmation. In your Event Type editor, scroll down to “Notifications and Cancellation Policy” and look for the first option, “Email Confirmations.”

You’ll see an email template with the same fields you filled out when creating your Event Type. You can keep all of the fields and language in this default template, or personalize them how you see fit.

Review your calendar meeting invitation

Lastly, make sure that the meeting invitation has been added to your calendar and your test subject’s calendar. Simply look at your calendar to see if the meeting has been added. Then, ask your test subject to look for the same meeting on their calendar. 

Repeat this process until everything in your booking page, Event Type, meeting confirmation, and calendar invitation appears the way you want it to.

Webinar: Getting started with Calendly

New to Calendly? Join this webinar to learn how to get started with help directly from the experts!

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Next steps: Sharing your booking page

Now you’re ready to offer the professional and streamlined scheduling experience you’ve always wanted. The next step is to explore the most effective ways to share your link so people will want to book time with you. It can be intimidating at first, but Calendly has you covered. 

Check out part two of the Getting Started Guide. You’ll have all the information you need to put what you’ve learned here into action and start booking meetings effectively.

Getting started with Calendly, part 2: Share your scheduling link

Learn how to share your scheduling link, get scheduling messaging and etiquette tips, and see how Calendly lets you share links when you’re on the go or within a workflow.

Read the guide