iCal all day events show up as "free" there is no "show as" option

I read that creating a new calendar will bring back the "show as" option, but I tried creating a new calendar and that did not work. Any suggestions? This first appeared a couple of years ago (per the threads I've read) and the fact that it hasn't been fixed yet is ponderous.


Running 12.5



MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.12

Posted on Mar 14, 2023 10:12 AM

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9 replies

Apr 20, 2023 9:43 AM in response to legaleagle2010

Not being able to specify “free/busy” and having the default different for all day vs hours is hurting my business. Clients schedule with me thinking I’m free and I’m not. Microsoft please prioritize fixing this.


Annoying workarounds:

— Set as “busy” on iPhone calendar, which supports it.

— Enter a block of busy for the whole day instead of “all day”

Mar 16, 2023 7:16 AM in response to Fawn Liebowitz

Hello Fawn Liebowitz,


Thanks for confirming that you're checking int he right place and still not seeing the option. From here, further assistance may be needed. We want to make sure you reach the right team for help with your device, so we recommend that you contact Apple Support directly. Depending on your region, you may be able to reach them here: Get Support - Apple.


Thank you for participating in the Apple Support Communities and have a wonderful day.


Mar 15, 2023 1:34 PM in response to Fawn Liebowitz

Hey Fawn Liebowitz,


Welcome to Apple Support Communities


By default, the Calendar app sets the status as free during all-day events and busy during all other events.


To change the status, double-click on the event in the Calendar app. The event info window should appear. You should see the Show as option there. If it is showing Free, tap to change to Busy.


This Calendar User Guide may help some information you find helpful: Calendar User Guide for Mac.


If you're wanting to see invitees availability, check out the information in this article: Invite people to events in Calendar on Mac. "You only see Check Availability if your event is on a calendar service that tracks availability, such as CalDAV."


Hope this helps. Take care.

Apr 20, 2023 10:05 AM in response to legaleagle2010

You're right. It is really stunning how outdated most of Apple's apps are. I used to happy to pay a premium for Apple because everything worked so nicely together, but that is no longer the case. One of the biggest problem areas is Mail, which is killing me, I might have to switch to another tool.


Apple - if you're listening, here are some of my gripes with Mail:


  • The search function is horrible. For 20 years, Outlook has given you fantastic search, allowing you to search for combinations of fields - sender, subject, date range, key word.
  • In addition to being poor from a utility perspective, it often doesn't work. I'll search for senders or subjects and the email I'm looking for doesn't appear. Then if I scroll through all of my emails by date, I'll find it.
  • How is it possible in 2023 that Apple doesn't let you schedule messages?


Since I'm complaining two other general issues:

  • my message sync between my phone and computer is constantly breaking
  • iCloud - wtf - it so confusing!


I'm done complaining for the day. Thanks leagleagle2010 for encouraging me to vent!

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iCal all day events show up as "free" there is no "show as" option

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