How to Share Your Availability Without Sharing Your Calendar

Use a booking link. It shows only your free time slots — not your calendar events or meeting details. Someone clicks, picks a time, and it books itself.

What is a booking link?

A booking link is a short URL that shows only your available time slots. When someone opens it, they see a grid of times when you are free — nothing else. No meeting titles, no existing appointments, no personal calendar details. They pick a slot, add their name and email, and the meeting is confirmed automatically in both calendars.

Booking links replace the stop back-and-forth scheduling emails problem entirely. Instead of a multi-day thread, you send one link. The other person self-serves a time that works for them. Your calendar blocks the slot immediately — no double-booking, no manual confirmation.

booking link A short URL that exposes only your open availability. Clicking it reveals a grid of free time slots. Selecting a slot confirms the meeting automatically in both parties' calendars — without either person granting calendar access to the other.

What does a booking link show — and what does it hide?

A booking link shows only the time slots when you are free to meet. It does not show your existing calendar events, their titles, who you are meeting with, or any personal details. The person visiting your link sees a simple availability grid. Your calendar privacy is completely preserved.

This is the most common concern people have before switching from calendar sharing. The table below makes the boundary clear.

What it shows	What it hides
Available time slots	Existing calendar event titles
Meeting duration options	Who you are meeting with
Your time zone	Personal appointment details
Confirmation once booked	Any other calendar data

Who uses booking links instead of calendar sharing?

Booking links are used by anyone who schedules meetings regularly and values their calendar privacy: sales reps, recruiters, coaches, consultants, therapists, and freelancers. They replace the 'when are you free?' email exchange with a link the other person can open on their own time — no back-and-forth, no calendar access required.

The use cases span almost every profession that relies on scheduled conversations. A few examples:

• Sales reps drop a booking link into outreach emails to let prospects self-schedule a demo — ideal for scheduling for sales teams at scale.
• Coaches and therapists share a single link for all intake calls — see how booking pages for therapists and coaches work in practice.
• Recruiters paste a link into interview invitations so candidates pick their own slot without a coordinator in the loop.
• Freelancers embed a booking link on their website so clients book a discovery call at any hour.

How to share your availability with a booking link

To share your availability without sharing your calendar: (1) connect your calendar to a scheduling tool, (2) set your available hours, (3) copy your booking link, (4) paste it into an email, your website, or your email signature. Cartoply generates your booking link in under two minutes and keeps it updated automatically as your calendar changes.

1. Connect your Google Calendar or Outlook to a scheduling tool.
2. Set the hours you want to be bookable each day.
3. Add buffer time between meetings so you never get back-to-back slammed.
4. Copy your personal booking link from the dashboard.
5. Paste it into your email signature, a prospect email, or your website.
6. The other person clicks, picks a slot, and it lands in both calendars automatically — helping you reduce meeting no-shows with automatic reminders.

Try it now — set up your free booking link on Cartoply in under two minutes, no credit card required.

Frequently asked questions

What is a booking link?

A booking link is a short URL that shows only your free time slots and lets someone schedule a meeting with you — no back-and-forth emails needed. It works with Google Calendar, Outlook, and Apple Calendar. The other person never sees your existing events or personal details; they just see when you are available and pick a time.

How do I share my availability without giving someone access to my calendar?

Use a booking link. It shows only your open time slots — the other person picks one and the meeting confirms automatically in both calendars. No calendar permissions are required on their end, and they never see your existing appointments or event titles.

Is it rude to send someone a booking link?

No — it saves both people time. The perception that a booking link feels impersonal is fading fast; most people prefer a self-service link to a three-email thread trying to pin down a time. One caveat: for very senior or formal relationships, add a brief personal note alongside the link to warm the handoff.

What information does a booking link show?

A booking link shows your available time slots and meeting duration options — nothing else. It does not show calendar event titles, existing appointments, the names of people you are meeting with, or any personal details. It is a view of your free time only.

How do I share my availability without Outlook?

Connect your Outlook calendar to a scheduling tool that generates a public booking page. The tool reads your availability from Outlook and displays only your free slots as a web link. Your recipient opens that link in any browser — they do not need an Outlook account or any Microsoft software to book a time with you.

Can I share my availability from my phone?

Yes — once your booking link is created, you can copy and paste it from your phone exactly as you would from a desktop. The booking page itself is mobile-optimised, so the person you send it to can pick a slot on any device. Most scheduling tools also have a mobile app or mobile-friendly interface so you can update your available hours on the go.