How to block holidays and staff time off in Microsoft Bookings

Option 1: Add time off (closures and leave)#

This is Microsoft's documented method for holidays, closures and vacations.

1. Open Bookings and choose your shared booking page.
2. Go to Calendar and select Add time off in the top bar.
3. Enter a title, the start and end dates and times, a location and any notes.
4. For whole days, tick All day event.
5. Select every staff member for a business closure, or only the people who are off.
6. Select Save.

When a customer tries to book a day when the business is closed, the booking page shows them a message saying so. Once the time off ends, everyone becomes bookable again under their normal hours.

Recording time off sends a notification email to the staff it covers. Microsoft's FAQ doesn't offer a way to turn this off. It only recommends a descriptive title or note, such as "Bank holiday – office closed", so nobody is confused.

Option 2: Make one service Not bookable for a date range#

Use this when the whole team is working but one service shouldn't be offered.

1. Go to Services and edit the service.
2. Open Availability options.
3. Select Set availability for a different date range (some pages call it Add a different date range).
4. Enter the dates.
5. Choose Not bookable and save.

You can add several date ranges. Each one overrides the service's normal availability for that period. The same screen offers Custom hours for a range, which is useful for shorter hours in a holiday week rather than a full closure. Staff can still book a Not bookable service by hand from the Calendar.

The Booking page also has an Availability section. Microsoft describes it as a place to set specific date and time ranges for scenarios "such as holidays or extended hours".

Option 3: Change staff hours for recurring patterns#

Time off entries are for dates. For a schedule that repeats every week, edit the person instead:

1. Go to Staff and edit the staff member.
2. Untick Use business hours.
3. Set hours per day. A day with no hours means they can't be booked that day.

This answers the common "I don't work every Friday" case when the pattern is regular. If the rota changes week to week, Microsoft's Q&A suggests either editing staff hours each week or using service date ranges.

Which one to use#

Outlook calendars count too#

If Events on Microsoft 365 calendar affect availability is on for a staff member (it's on by default), their Busy Outlook events block Bookings times too. An out-of-office block in Outlook can therefore do the job. All-day events are often created as Free, though, and Free time doesn't block anything, so mark them Busy. See stopping Bookings from booking over Outlook events.

Limits as of September 2026#

• Microsoft doesn't document a way to import a holiday calendar, bulk-add time off, or script it with PowerShell. Add each closure in the Calendar.
• Microsoft doesn't document yearly recurring time off either. Add next year's holidays when you plan the year.
• For Personal Bookings (Bookings with me), there's no Add time off. Block the days with a Busy event in your Outlook calendar.

If the page suddenly shows no times at all after adding closures, check the dates and staff selected on each entry. Troubleshooting "no available times" walks through the other usual causes.