Offer Microsoft Bookings only on specific dates

Steps#

1. Open your shared booking page, go to Services and edit the service.
2. If the service uses the Default scheduling policy, turn that toggle off. Microsoft says it's on by default and that you turn it off to customise how customers book that service.
3. Open Availability options and set the general availability to Not bookable. On its own, this hides every time for the service.
4. Select Set availability for a different date range (some screens say Add a different date range).
5. Enter the start and end dates, choose Custom hours, and enter the hours for each weekday in that range.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each further date or period, then select Save changes.
7. Open the public page in a private window and step through the months to check that only your dates show times.

The three options for each range are the same as for the service as a whole: Bookable when staff are free, Not bookable and Custom hours. Use Bookable when staff are free for a range when the assigned staff hours are already right and you only need to limit the dates.

One slot on one day#

To publish a single appointment time, open one date range for that day and set its custom hours to exactly the appointment length, for example 10:00 to 11:00 for a 60-minute service. Only one start time fits. Microsoft doesn't describe single-day ranges explicitly, so check the page after saving. If the service has buffer time, customers only see a time when the appointment and its buffer both fit, so widen the window or remove the buffer for that service. For a one-off session that many people attend, combine this with a group service; see group bookings.

Why times still don't show#

The date range is one filter among several. A time is offered only when all of these allow it:

• Business hours. Microsoft calls them "the hours to which all bookings are restricted". A Saturday open day needs Saturday hours on Business information, or the staff member's own hours.
• Staff hours and calendars. At least one assigned person must be working and free in Outlook at that time.
• Scheduling policy. Minimum lead time and Maximum days in advance decide when a date becomes bookable and when it stops. See lead time.

If the page is empty, troubleshooting no available times walks through the rest.

Schedules that change every week#

For hours that vary week to week, the accepted Microsoft Q&A answer (January 2026) is to add one date range per week with Custom hours (recurring weekly) and repeat until two or three months are covered. It's manual, but it works. For staff-specific patterns, you can also change a person's hours each week instead.

The Booking page has its own Availability section, which Microsoft describes for "scenarios such as holidays or extended hours". Use service date ranges when only one service should follow the special dates.

Limits as of September 2026#

• No bulk entry. Each range is added by hand. The Graph beta bookingSchedulingPolicy has a customAvailabilities list, where each window has a start date, end date, availability type and hours, so a script can fill it. Microsoft says beta APIs aren't supported in production applications.
• The service stays listed. Outside its dates, the service still appears on the page with no times. Turn Publishing options off after the last date, or share the direct link to that service.
• Customers have to hunt. With a few scattered dates, visitors click through empty months to find one.

What we saw when testing (September 2026)#

In our captures of the public booking page, each service carries its date windows (start date, end date and bookable hours). The availability Microsoft returns to the page already has those windows applied, together with working hours, Outlook busy time and existing bookings. So a date range you save is enforced by Microsoft, not only hidden in the page.

Doing this with BookingsXP#

BookingsXP doesn't change which dates are bookable; that stays in Bookings. What it can help with is the hunting: the free Next available template lists the soonest open times as one list, and the calendar templates jump to the next month that has times rather than opening on an empty one. Both suit a service open on a few scattered dates. See templates. BookingsXP is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft.