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. If you’re drafting this response outside business hours, consider using scheduled send in Gmail or Outlook so it arrives during working hours.
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 free booking pages
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.
When you’re coordinating with a group rather than one person, a list of times in an email falls apart fast — everyone replies with different constraints. A free group availability poll collects everyone’s availability on one grid instead. See the best group scheduling tools for the options.
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 · How to schedule an email in Outlook · How to schedule an email in Gmail
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See what people say
"Before Carly, I relied on a Calendly link, but the whole process felt impersonal and not very professional. Carly changed that by handling all the back-and-forth, so I'm no longer stuck in endless email threads trying to line up schedules.
Now Carly reaches out to candidates, shares my real-time availability, lets them pick a slot, then sends a Zoom link and drops it straight into my calendar. She sends reminders to both of us before each call, which has significantly reduced no-shows and last-minute confusion.
On top of scheduling, Carly acts like a full executive assistant, sending me my schedule the night before so I can prepare for each call. It reminds me of the old x.ai assistant, but Carly is noticeably smarter, faster, and better suited to my healthcare recruitment business."
