Mar 9, 2026

How to Send Your Availability in an Email (With Examples)

Sending your availability over email sounds simple, but most people do it in a way that creates more back-and-forth, not less. This guide covers the formats that actually work.

The Basic Format

The goal is to give the other person enough options that they can pick one without asking follow-up questions.

What to include:

Specific days and time ranges (not just “next week”)
Time zone
How long you expect the meeting to be

Example:

I’m free for a 30-minute call at any of these times:

Tuesday, March 12: 10am–12pm or 3–5pm ET

Wednesday, March 13: 9–11am ET

Thursday, March 14: 2–4pm ET

Does any of those work? If not, let me know what does.

Simple, direct, actionable. The recipient can pick a slot and reply with one line.

Common Mistakes

Too vague:

“I’m pretty open next week, what works for you?”

This puts the work back on the other person. They have to check their calendar, think of options, and send another email. You just created a round trip.

Too many options: Listing 15 possible slots is overwhelming. Three to five time windows is ideal.

Missing the time zone: “Tuesday at 2pm” means nothing if you’re not sure you’re in the same city. Always include it.

No duration: If the other person doesn’t know whether you need 20 minutes or 2 hours, they can’t tell if a slot actually works for them.

Formats for Different Situations

Short availability window

If you have limited availability:

I have a tight week — available times are:

Monday 3–4pm ET

Wednesday 10–11am ET

If neither works, I can do [following week].

Long availability window

If you’re flexible:

I’m fairly open this week and next. A few specific windows:

This week: Tue/Thu afternoons (1–5pm ET)

Next week: Mon–Wed mornings (9am–noon ET)

Pick whatever works — happy to make any of those times work.

Responding to “when are you free?”

When someone asks without proposing times, don’t just say “whenever” — that kicks the decision back to them:

Here are a few times that work for me:

Wednesday 2pm ET

Thursday 10am or 3pm ET

Do any of these work for you?

Using a Scheduling Link Instead

For recurring scheduling situations — sales calls, client onboarding, office hours — sending availability manually every time is inefficient. A scheduling link lets people book directly from your available slots.

Tools: Calendly, Cal.com, Carly’s click-to-book

The tradeoff: scheduling links require the other person to click, visit a page, and pick a time. For warm relationships and quick one-off meetings, a plain-text availability list in the email feels more personal and gets faster responses.

Letting AI Check Your Calendar

If you’re tired of manually checking your calendar before writing availability emails, Chat with Cal does it for you. Tell it what you need:

“Write an availability email offering 3 times for a 45-minute call next week. Not before 9am or after 5pm ET. Avoid Thursday.”

It checks your actual Google Calendar or Outlook, finds the open slots, and drafts the email. Free to use.

Template: Copy-Paste Ready

Hi [Name],

Happy to connect — here are a few times that work for a [duration] call:

[Day, Date] at [time] [TZ] or [time] [TZ]

[Day, Date] at [time] [TZ]

[Day, Date] at [time] [TZ] or [time] [TZ]

If none of those work, just let me know what does and I’ll find a match.

[Your name]

More on scheduling: How to schedule a meeting by email · How to schedule meetings without back-and-forth · Best group scheduling tools