Microsoft 365 - Getting Started with Personal Bookings

Personal Bookings is how you manage your own appointment timeslots, it allows you to easily configure and share your availability with your customers, clients, or colleagues. You can be in charge of your own time and avoid the back and forth of scheduling. You can also set aside time for specific activities by creating meeting types. Once you publish your personal booking page, you can share the link with anyone who can then see your availability and easily schedule a time when you're free and is convenient for them.

When is Personal Bookings Available?

Personal Bookings will be enabled on October 29, 2024.

Who can create a Personal Booking?

  • Current UW-Madison Faculty/Staff with PAID Appointments
  • Currently Enrolled UW-Madison Students
  • Student Employees

Important: Due to licensing restrictions, service accounts cannot be licensed for Personal Bookings.

How do I access Personal Bookings?

Personal Bookings may be accessed via a web browser or Outlook/Teams desktop clients.

Via Web:

  • Web Access: Users can easily access Microsoft Bookings through the web by visiting the following link: book.ms.

Via Outlook and Teams:

  • Outlook and Teams Integration: Microsoft Bookings can also be accessed directly within Outlook and Microsoft Teams desktop clients. Users can add the Bookings app to the left rail for convenient access:

    1. Open Outlook or Microsoft Teams.
    2. Navigate to the left rail.
    3. Select the Apps icon.
    4. Search for Microsoft Bookings.
    5. Select Add to integrate it into your Outlook or Teams interface.
    6. Pin the app to the left rail for easy and quick access.

Is Shared Bookings enabled?

No. This feature is currently pending evaluation/further development.

Is Personal Bookings supported by DoIT Help Desk and UW-Madison Microsoft 365 Service and Support team?

Yes. If you have questions/issues interacting with Personal Bookings, please contact DoIT Help Desk.

FAQs

Why am I receiving "This link is not valid" error when clicking on a bookings link?

When clicking on a bookings link you received from a colleague, you receive the following message:
this link is not valid when attempting to access a bookings page

Solution: Your colleague has disabled their bookings page - ask them to publish it.

What is the difference between a public and private?

Public meeting type: Public meeting types are available to anyone that you share your Bookings page link with.

Private meeting type: Private meeting types are only available to people that you share the individual private meeting type with. Private meeting types can also generate single use links.

What is the maximum lead time you can set?

90 days is the maximum lead time you can set for your personal booking. This value is preset by Microsoft and cannot be increased.

What can I do if the page is timing out or freezes when I attempt to reserve a meeting?

This is most likely due to a corrupt meeting type - please ask your colleague to delete and recreate the specific meeting type you are having issues with.

My time zone is Central Standard Time (CST). Why is MS Bookings showing a different time zone when I sign up for an appointment?

When scheduling an appointment through Microsoft Bookings, most UW–Madison Microsoft 365 accounts will default to the Central Standard Time (CST) zone for "meeting hours". However, some accounts may be set to Pacific Standard Time (PST) during account creation. If this occurs, your Bookings appointments will display in PST instead of CST.

Example: Pacific Standard Time (PST)
ms bookings time zone globe    ms bookings time zone pst

Solution: You can update your account's meeting hours time zone by going to your account's settings in Outlook on the Web > Calendar > View > Time Zones. A disclaimer will appear stating that your meeting hours differs from your account's time zone and will offer the option to update it. Click the Yes, update option to resolve the MS Bookings time zone discrepancy. 

ms account update time zone

Example: Central Standard Time (CST)
ms bookings time zone globe    ms bookings timezone cst

Support resources for Personal Bookings


Keywords:
microsoft office365 o365 m365 microsoft 365 collaboration calendar outlook public private meeting availability available schedule request personal time zone meeting hours bookings timezone 
Doc ID:
143058
Owned by:
O365 S. in Microsoft 365
Created:
2024-10-16
Updated:
2025-12-30
Sites:
DoIT Help Desk, Microsoft 365