If you use a corporate Google Workspace account, Google Calendar allows you to set specific “Working Hours” (e.g., 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM). If a colleague attempts to invite you to a meeting that falls outside of this designated window, Google Calendar will display a prominent warning to the organiser, alerting them that they are scheduling outside of your normal availability.
While this is an excellent feature for protecting your work-life balance, it can become incredibly annoying if you work highly flexible hours, are a freelancer, or frequently collaborate across multiple global time zones where standard “9 to 5” restrictions simply do not apply. If you want colleagues to be able to schedule meetings at any time without the software discouraging them, you can completely turn this feature off.
Disabling the Working Hours Feature
You can manage this setting directly within the main Google Calendar web interface.
- Open your web browser and navigate to Google Calendar on your desktop (this setting cannot be changed from the mobile app).
- Look in the top-right corner of the screen and click on the Gear icon.
- Select Settings from the dropdown menu.
- In the left-hand navigation sidebar, scroll down to the General section.
- Under General, click on Working hours & location.
- Look for the main checkbox labelled Enable working hours.
- Click the checkbox to uncheck it.
Google Calendar will automatically save this change the moment you uncheck the box. From this point forward, your calendar will appear completely open to your colleagues, and they will never receive a warning when inviting you to an early morning or late-night meeting.
Note: If you do not see the “Working hours & location” option in your settings menu, it means you are using a standard, free Google Account (like a personal Gmail address). This feature is exclusive to paid Google Workspace (business or education) accounts.