# Waitlists for Appointments

Let customers wait for an appointment time and tell them when one opens

Canonical URL: https://www.naayya.com/help-center/appointment-waitlists
Category: services
Last updated: 2026-11-14T00:00:00Z

# Waitlists for Appointments

When no time suits a customer, they can join the waitlist for the service. When a time that fits them opens, everyone waiting for it is told. No time is held: the first to book gets it.

## Turn on appointment waitlists

In **Admin > Settings > Booking > Waitlist**, turn on **Appointments**. It is separate from **Classes**, so a class waitlist that is already on does not change.

- **Waitlist size limit** caps how many people wait for one service.
- **Cutoff before start (minutes)**: nobody is told about a time that starts sooner than this.

Appointments always tell everyone waiting. **Class waitlist mode** and **Class offer expiry** apply to classes only.

## How customers join

On a service's booking page, a signed-in customer selects **Join waitlist** under the times. They choose:

- the first and last day they can come, from today to the end of your booking horizon;
- a provider, or **Anyone**;
- optionally, the earliest and latest start time.

Once they are waiting, **Change** updates their days and start times, and **Leave waitlist** takes them off. To wait for another provider as well, they choose that provider on the booking page and select **Join waitlist**. A request for **Anyone** already covers every provider. If **Verified customer phone** is on in [Admin > Settings > Booking > Checkout](/help-center/booking-settings), customers verify before joining.

## When a time opens

Every few minutes Naayya checks the free times customers can book against each request. A time opens when an appointment is cancelled or moved, when a provider gets more hours, or when a closure is removed.

Everyone whose days, provider and times fit is told, with a link to book. Messages follow your [waitlist message settings](/help-center/configure-waitlist-messages). A time that stays free is not repeated. A time that is booked and frees up again is told again.

A request ends when the customer books the service at a time that fits it: on one of their days, within their start times, and with the provider they chose. It also ends when they leave, are removed, or its last day passes.

## See who is waiting

Open the service in **Admin > Services**. **Waitlist** lists each customer, the provider they chose, their days and start times, and when they joined. Select **Remove** to take someone off.

## Troubleshooting

- **Join waitlist is missing:** Check that **Appointments** is on under **Waitlist**.
- **Cannot join:** Check sign-in, that the days are within your booking horizon, that the list has room, and phone verification.
- **Nobody was told:** Check that the time fits the customer's days, provider and times, and that it starts after the cutoff.