Set up your availability in Practice Better to control exactly when clients can book sessions with you. Whether you need one-time slots or ongoing weekly hours, availability settings give you the flexibility to manage your schedule on your terms.
In this article:
- Adding Availability for One-on-One Services
- Adding Availability for Group Services
- Customizing the Description and Color of Your Availability
- Testing Your Availability
- Removing Availability
Adding Availability for One-on-One Services
Creating availability is as simple as selecting a time on your calendar. You can either click and drag to block out available hours or use the Fast Action Button to get started.
Creating Your First Availability Slot
- Go to My Schedule > My Availability.
- Click the Fast Action Button > Add Slot.
- Or click on your desired start time and drag your cursor to select the time range you want to be available.
- Or click on your desired start time and drag your cursor to select the time range you want to be available.
- Choose between one-on-one services or group service availability.
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Add an optional description and set a custom color for the availability block.
- Choose your time zone from the Time zone field (this defaults to your account time zone but can be adjusted if you're traveling or working remotely).
- Set your start and end times in the availability window.
- Select the date you want this availability to begin.
- Keep the availability pop-up open and proceed to the next section of this article.
Understanding Recurrence Options
If you maintain regular business hours, recurring availability saves you time by automatically blocking out the same hours each week or month. Practice Better makes it easy to establish ongoing patterns without manually creating each slot.
When you enable This time slot recurs, you can choose:
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Daily recurrence: The same time slot appears every day
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Weekly recurrence: The time slot repeats on specific days of the week
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Monthly recurrence: The time slot repeats on the same date each month
You can also set an optional end date in the Ends field if you know your availability will change after a certain date.
Tailoring Availability to Specific Services
Not every time slot works for every type of session. You can customize which services are bookable during each availability window, creating as many availability blocks as needed.
💡 Example: If you only offer discovery calls and initial consultations on Monday and Wednesday afternoons from 1 PM to 5 PM, you can enable just those services for that specific time block.
- Review the list of services in your availability setup window.
- Toggle the switch next to each service name to enable or disable booking for that service during this time slot.
Restricting Session Methods and Locations
You have complete control over how and where sessions can be conducted during specific availability windows.
💡 Example: On Tuesdays, you might only accept in-person Initial Consultation sessions at your primary location, while Thursdays are reserved for virtual sessions only.
For each availability slot, you can specify:
- Service methods (in-person, virtual, phone)
- Location restrictions (primary office, secondary location, etc.)
📍In-person sessions? Learn more about Working with Multiple Locations
Once you have configured your desired availability options, click the Save button in the availability pop-up.
To make adjustments, simply click on the time block in your availability page to open the availability pop-up again.
✅ All set! Your recurring availability is now active. These time slots will automatically appear on your calendar each week, and clients can book within these windows according to your service settings.
Adding Availability for Group Services
Setting up Group Session Availability
After creating your service, set up availability for clients to register for upcoming sessions:
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Go to My Schedule > My Availability.
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Click on a time in the calendar or click the Fast Action Button in the bottom-right corner.
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Select Group class/service.
- You can only set up one service per group availability slot. If you have multiple sessions per day (e.g., at 9 AM and 3 PM), create separate availability slots for each time. The length of the availability slot will match the duration of your group service.
⚠️ When you set up group availability, you are only creating placeholder slots for your service. A placeholder is essentially a tentative/unconfirmed session.
Clients will be prevented from double-booking you for one-on-one sessions at any time that overlaps a group session placeholder. However, you won’t receive reminders for a placeholder group session until a client registers or you manually confirm the session.
Setting up Recurring Group Sessions
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In the Add/Edit Availability popup, enable the This time slot recurs option.
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Choose to recur daily, weekly, or monthly, and specify which days of the week your session is available (e.g., every week on Mon, Tue, Wed).
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Your set availability will be displayed on your availability calendar.
Group Availability & One-on-One Sessions
- Group availability will override any existing availability set for one-on-one sessions.
- If you have recurring availability for a group service, you will receive warnings about potential conflicts when booking one-on-one sessions on behalf of clients.
Customizing the Description and Color of Your Availability
Visual organization helps you quickly identify different types of availability at a glance. Adding custom descriptions and colors makes your calendar easier to navigate, especially when you have multiple availability types.
Adding Custom Details
- Open any availability slot by clicking on it.
- Add a description in the description field (for example: "Standard Office Hours" or "Virtual Only - Evenings").
- Select a color from the color picker.
Clients won't see this description or color. Your custom description and color will display in:
- My Availability view
- My Schedule > My Calendar view (as hash lines)
- The availability sidebar when manually booking sessions for clients
This visual system helps you and your team quickly distinguish between different availability slots without opening each one.
Testing Your Availability
Before clients start booking, it's a good idea to verify that your availability displays correctly. You can preview exactly what clients will see when they try to book with you.
For detailed instructions on testing your availability setup, refer to our dedicated testing guide.
Removing Availability
Plans change, and Practice Better gives you flexibility to remove availability either for a single day or for an entire recurring series. Our team understands that managing your schedule means sometimes stepping back from previously available times.
Deleting a Single Instance
If you need to block out one specific day from a recurring availability pattern (like taking off for a personal appointment or holiday):
- Click on the availability slot from your Availability Calendar on the specific day you want to remove.
- Click the Delete button in the bottom-left corner.
- Select This instance only from the options provided.
📍 Please note: Deleting a single instance doesn't affect your recurring pattern. The availability will continue to appear on all other scheduled days.
Restoring a Deleted Instance
Changed your mind? You can easily reinstate availability for a previously deleted day:
- Open the recurring availability slot either from the left navigation menu or by selecting another instance of the same recurring availability from a different week.
- Scroll down to locate the Excluded Dates section.
- Click the trash can icon next to the date you want to restore.
Deleting an Entire Series
When you need to completely remove a recurring availability pattern:
- Select any instance of the recurring availability slot.
- Click the Delete button in the bottom-left corner.
- Select Entire series from the options provided.
⚠️ Important: This action removes all instances of this recurring availability, including any future dates. If you have existing sessions booked during these times, they will remain on your calendar, but clients won't be able to book new sessions in these slots.
Need help? Our support team is here to assist you with availability setup and scheduling questions. Reach out anytime – we're happy to help you create the perfect schedule for your practice.