Microsoft Bookings is an online appointment scheduling tool included in many Microsoft 365 business plans. It allows your customers to book meetings or services with your team without sending endless emails. Whether you run a law office, hair salon, tech support, or consultancy, Bookings can save you time, reduce no-shows, and make your business look more professional.
Here’s a complete step-by-step guide to help you set up Microsoft Bookings for your business.
What you need before you start
- A Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Business Premium, or Enterprise subscription
- Admin access to Microsoft 365 (if you’re setting it up for the whole company)
- A clear idea of what services you offer and who provides them
You can access Bookings via https://book.ms or through Microsoft 365 apps.
Step 1: Open Microsoft Bookings
- Go to https://book.ms or open the Bookings app in Microsoft 365
- Click Get it now if it’s your first time
- Choose Create a booking calendar
You’ll be prompted to enter your business name, business type, and working hours
Step 2: Set up your business profile
In the Business information section, fill in:
- Business name and logo
- Phone number and email
- Physical address (optional if you offer only online meetings)
- Default scheduling policy (e.g., buffer times, minimum notice, cancellation window)
- Business hours (you can set custom hours per day)
You can adjust these later, but it’s a good idea to make them match your real availability.
Step 3: Add your staff members
Go to the Staff tab and add your team members.
For each person, specify:
- Name and email address (they must have a Microsoft 365 account in your org)
- Role (Administrator, Viewer, or Guest)
- Availability (use business hours or customize)
- Whether they can be booked for appointments
- If you want to automatically add bookings to their Outlook calendar
✅ You can also assign specific services to specific staff members.
Step 4: Create services
This is where you define what your clients can book. Click Services > Add a service
Enter:
- Service name (e.g. “Consultation”, “Haircut”, “IT Support”)
- Description (will be shown on the booking page)
- Duration (e.g., 30 min, 1 hour)
- Price (fixed, variable, or free)
- Location (physical address or “Online via Teams”)
- Choose which staff members can provide this service
- Define availability and buffer time for this specific service
- Optionally, set custom fields for customer questions (e.g. phone number, reason for visit)
You can also enable SMS or email reminders for both staff and customers.
Step 5: Customize your booking page
In the Booking page tab, you can set:
- Whether new customers must register before booking
- Time zone settings (customer or business-defined)
- CAPTCHA for spam protection
- Color theme and logo
- Which services are shown
- Whether customers can choose a specific staff member
Once you’re ready, toggle “Enable booking page” to publish it.
You’ll receive a shareable link like:
https://outlook.office365.com/book/[your-business-name]
You can embed it on your website or share it in email signatures and social media.
Step 6: Test your booking experience
Try booking a service from your own link:
- Make sure appointment times reflect your availability
- Check if confirmation emails are delivered properly
- Test both desktop and mobile views
- Confirm that bookings appear in Outlook for staff
Step 7: Monitor and manage appointments
Use the Calendar view in Bookings to:
- View upcoming and past bookings
- Reschedule or cancel appointments
- Add manual bookings (e.g., walk-ins or phone requests)
- Block out unavailable times
Staff will receive calendar invites and reminders automatically.
Final tips
- Add Teams meeting integration for virtual services
- Use the Bookings mobile app to manage schedules on the go
- Enable two-way sync with Outlook calendars to avoid double-booking
- Set up different calendars for different departments or services
- Review customer feedback and optimize your service times
With just an hour of setup, Microsoft Bookings can save you dozens of hours each month—and make scheduling smooth for your customers and your team.
