How can I prevent last-minute bookings?

TidyCal lets you require minimum advance notice before clients can book, ensuring you always have time to prepare. This setting hides time slots that fall within the notice period. Available on all plans and configured per booking type.

Setting your minimum booking notice

1. Go to Booking types in the sidebar.
2. Click to edit the booking type you want to configure.
3. In the editor sidebar, click Restrictions.
4. Find the setting: Require at least [number] [minutes/hours/days] notice.
5. Enter your desired notice period and select the unit (minutes, hours, or days).
6. Click Save at the top of the editor.

How it works

If you set the minimum notice to 24 hours:

• A client viewing your page on Tuesday at 3:00 PM can only book from Wednesday at 3:00 PM onward.
• All earlier time slots are automatically hidden.

You can set this to anything from 0 minutes (no notice) to several days.

Troubleshooting

No time slots available for clients

• If the minimum notice is too high and combined with a narrow booking window (days ahead), no slots may be visible. Try reducing the notice or increasing the booking window.
• Verify your availability schedule has open time slots.

Clients still booking same day

• Ensure the minimum notice is set correctly. A value of 0 means no restriction.
• Check that you saved the booking type after making changes.
• Contact support@tidycal.com if the issue persists.

Tip: Use the Troubleshoot availability button on your booking page to see exactly which slots are blocked and why. Slots affected by this setting show the NOTICE PERIOD badge. See How to Fix Missing Availability for details.

Team booking types note: For a team booking type the troubleshooter evaluates each host individually — not just the plan owner — using each host's own availability, connected calendars and existing bookings, in that host's own timezone. It runs the same per-host logic your public team booking page uses, so the two agree. When a slot is unavailable you get a per-host breakdown naming which host is blocked and why. Round Robin slots stay open when any host is free; Collective slots need every host free. See Simplify Team Scheduling for per-host availability details.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I set different notice periods for different booking types?

Yes. Minimum notice is configured per booking type.

What units can I use?

Minutes, hours, or days.