A timed Google Calendar task can use Free or Busy availability. Choose the state that reflects whether the planned work should occupy your schedule. Availability is separate from the task’s visibility, deadline, completion, and any automatic meeting-decline setting.
Open the timed task
On a computer, select the task and choose Edit task. Confirm its start and end time and the intended task list. Google’s current task guidance provides availability controls in Advanced settings. Review recurrence restrictions if an end time is not available.
Choose the intended availability
Open Advanced settings and select Free or Busy through the offered control. Busy can represent time reserved for work; Free can retain the task on the calendar without representing the same occupied interval. Save the change and check the actual task afterward.
Google limits Do not disturb and Automatically decline meetings options to work or school accounts. The latter is described for Busy availability. Do not assume setting Busy alone automatically rejects every invitation.
Verify scheduling and privacy separately
Inspect a representative shared availability view when appropriate and confirm the intended interval. Review task visibility independently before placing confidential work in its title. A Busy block can communicate occupied time without justifying disclosure of the underlying task details. Conversely, a Free task should not be assumed absent from every permitted viewer’s information merely because it does not block availability. Keep the actual inclusion rules of any appointment schedule separate. The completed edit should express the intended availability of this task, without promising universal privacy or universal conflict handling across every calendar and external scheduling service.
References
Reviewed against the linked official product guidance on November 4, 2026. Features, limits, screen labels, and access can vary by account, platform, region, and organization policy.