Show evenings and weekends as Busy at work

Events that start at 18:00 or later, or on a Saturday or Sunday, show as Busy. Other events keep their title.

Works on: Plus.

When this is for youCopy Anchor Link

The calendar your colleagues see mixes working-hours events with commitments outside work, and you only want the second kind to read as Busy.

Before you turn it onCopy Anchor Link

• Start time and Weekday are read in the time zone the event was created in, not yours.
• All-day events have no start time, so only the weekday check applies to them: an all-day event on a weekend shows as Busy, and one on a weekday keeps its title.
• An event that starts before the working day, such as 06:30, keeps its title. Add a Start time check that starts before the hour you want, joined with or, to catch it.
• A repeating event that does not repeat weekly on one day has no single weekday. If it starts before 18:00, the weekday check cannot be decided and that event shows as an issue instead of being copied.

How it worksCopy Anchor Link

SYNCDATE copies each event to the calendar your colleagues see. A rule on the Title row checks the start time and the weekday: an event that starts at 18:00 or later, or on a Saturday or Sunday, gets the title Busy. Every other event keeps its title. Description, location and guests are left out.

What you'll pickCopy Anchor Link

• The calendar with all your events (1 calendar; copies come from here): Nothing is written to it.
• The calendar your colleagues see (1 calendar; copies land here): Where the copies appear.

Setting it upCopy Anchor Link

1. Pick the calendar with all your events as the source. Nothing is written to it.
2. Pick the calendar your colleagues see. The copies appear here.
3. Under "What copies look like", open the "Title" row. It is already set to "Custom" with one rule: if "Start time" starts at or after 18:00 or "Weekday" starts on Sat, Sun, use the text "Busy". "Otherwise" is the "Title" variable. Change the hour if your evening starts earlier or later.
4. Check it worked: look at an event that starts after 18:00 and one on a weekend. Both copies should read Busy. A weekday event during the day should keep its title.

VariationsCopy Anchor Link

You can add these to this sync at any time, without starting over.

Sync everything except all-day eventsCopy Anchor Link

Add an "All-day events" exclude rule and holidays, birthdays and travel banners stay out of the calendar you sync into. It also catches birthdays from a subscribed calendar, which "Special dates from contacts" cannot — those arrive as ordinary events, so only the all-day rule sees them.

Only invitations you've acceptedCopy Anchor Link

Set "Invitations" to "Only yes" and meeting requests you haven't answered stay out of the calendar you sync into until you accept them.

Set this upCopy Anchor Link

Start with this recipe opens the sync screen with this recipe's direction and common settings already filled in. You pick the calendars, and you can change any setting before anything syncs.

The rule is already written. Open the row it names under "What copies look like" to read it or change it before you start the sync.

Start with this recipe

Related

Custom text and rules: decide what each copy says

Write a copy's title, description or location yourself with pieces of the original dropped in, and use if-this-then-that rules for text, privacy and free or busy.

Why your free slots show as Busy

Free or busy decides whether a copy blocks your time; the title setting doesn't. Which one you actually want, and what to check when it's already on.

Hide details only for some events

Use a rule to show Busy or Private for the events you pick, such as big meetings or one source calendar, and leave every other copy as it is, on Plus.