iCal: Checking when attendees are available for a meeting

If your calendar is hosted on a CalDAV server (for example, at your workplace), you can check the availability of people you want to invite to your meeting in order to find the best time for everyone.

To check attendees’ availability and schedule a meeting:

1. Drag in Day or Week view of a calendar to create an event.
2. Double-click the event to open the event editor. Click Edit, and then click Add Attendees.
3. Type the names of the people you want to invite to your meeting.

As you type, iCal completes the names for you. You can select from a list of suggested names by using the arrow keys and then pressing the Return key or the Comma key.

You can also use the Address panel to add attendees to the list, as well as schedule rooms or other resources.

4. To see the availability of your guests, click Available Meeting Times.
   • Drag the meeting backward or forward to find a time when attendees are available.
   • Click the Forward and Backward arrows on either side of the date at the top of the window to see attendees’ availability for the following or previous day.
   • To have iCal show you the next time all attendees are available, select Next Available Time.

In the Availability panel, the hours of the day when each attendee is unavailable are shaded in gray next to the attendee’s name. The meeting you’re proposing appears as a colored block. Times when all attendees are available are shown in dimmed color blocks.

5. When you’ve found the best time, click Done.

In the calendar view, your meeting moves to the time you selected.

6. When you’re ready to invite the attendees, click Send.