In Scheduling, you can send automated emails to clients about their appointments, packages, and subscriptions. The emails are sent from scheduling@acuityscheduling.com.

This guide reviews the notifications you can send how to customize them.

Users on any paid plan can customize email notifications. Users on trial plans aren't able to customize these notifications. 

Before you begin

HIPAA considerations

If your account is HIPAA enabled, review Squarespace and HIPAA.

Other emails and notifications you can send

Here are some other ways you can communicate with customers and employees:

• Send text message appointment reminders on the Scheduling Growing and Powerhouse plans.
• Send internal appointment notifications and agendas to you and your staff. You can get notified about new, rescheduled, and cancelled appointments.
• Send marketing emails with Squarespace Email Campaigns.
• Send email notifications about Commerce orders.

Available email notifications

Use the table below to review email notifications you can send to clients.

Email notification	Details
Initial Confirmation	Optional Sent immediately after an appointment is booked Customizable timing
Reminders	Optional Send up to three reminders per appointment at customizable times Must be sent at least one hour before an appointment Reminder emails also control text message reminders Clients booking appointments closer than when a reminder is sent have an eight-hour grace period. For example, a client who books at least 16 hours in advance still gets a reminder set to send 24 hours before the appointment.
Cancellation	Optional Sent immediately after an appointment is cancelled
Rescheduling	Optional Sent immediately after an appointment is rescheduled
Follow-ups	Optional Send a maximum of six follow-up emails up to one year after an appointment Customizable timing
Package/Gift Certificate Order	Always sent Sent immediately after a client purchases a package or gift certificate
Subscription Paid	Always sent Sent immediately after a client pays for a subscription
Subscription Canceled	Always sent Sent immediately after a subscription is cancelled

Customize email templates

All Scheduling emails use templates, which are separate from your site's template and design. Each email type starts with a default template that's ready to use as-is, or you can customize the content and design of the email to match your brand. 

Note: Follow-up emails are disabled by default and start with a blank template. If you leave the follow-up email template blank, the follow-up email won't be sent. 

To edit an email template:

1. In the Account Dashboard, click Scheduling, then click Email Settings.
2. In the Email Settings panel, click the type of email you want to edit.
3. If you have multiple emails of the same type, like Reminders or Follow-ups, click the button for the email you want to edit. Learn more about Reminders and Follow-ups below.
4. To edit a subject line, click the Email Subject or Email Subject/Text Message field, and add your new text. You can use a mix of text and tags.
5. To edit the message body, click the text field. Use the editing toolbar to add text, images, buttons, and tags, or adjust the formatting, font, and colors. Click the <> to edit the HTML.
6. To edit a button's text or link, click the button, then click Edit.
7. To delete a button, highlight the button’s text, then press Delete. To add a new button, click Add Button in the editing toolbar.
8. To reset a customized template, click Use Default Template in the bottom-right corner, then click OK. This permanently deletes the customized template.
9. Click Save Template to save your changes.

Keep in mind:

• Email templates don’t support CSS.
• Email templates don’t support attachments. This helps keep your emails from being marked as spam. Instead, add the content to a page on your site and link to it.
• Email templates can't be renamed, but the names are for internal use only, and clients don't see them.

Customize templates by appointment type

You may want the email notification to look different depending on the appointment type. To customize a template for an appointment type, add a new template to the email. 

Note: Package/Gift Certificate Orders, Subscription Paid, and Subscription Emailed notifications only use one template and can't be linked to an appointment type. 

To assign a template to an appointment type: 

1. In the Account Dashboard, click Scheduling, then click Email Settings.
2. If you have multiple emails of the same type set up (like reminders or follow-ups) click the button for the email you want to edit.
3. Click Add New Template.
4. Select the appointment types that should use it.
5. Click Save New Template.
6. The new template will appear below the original template. Click the template name to edit it.

To change which appointment types use a template:

1. Click the name of the appointment type in the template.
2. Drag it to a different template.

To delete a template:

1. Remove all appointment types from the template group.
2. Click Remove this template.

Reminders

You can send reminder emails to remind clients about an upcoming appointment. 

On the Reminders page, each reminder email is represented by a button at the top of the page. Each button has a label showing when that email is sent. 

Reminder 1 is the button that appears all the way on the left. Reminder 1 also controls text notifications, if you have them enabled. 

You can send clients up to three reminder emails prior to an appointment. To add or edit a reminder email: 

1. In the Account Dashboard, click Scheduling, then click Email Settings.
2. Click Reminders.
3. To edit an existing reminder email, click the reminder email's button, then edit the template that appears below. To add a new follow-up email, click Add Extra Email Reminder.
4. Follow the steps above for editing an email template. 

To stop an email from sending, remove it:

1. In the Account Dashboard, click Scheduling.
2. In the Scheduling panel, click Email Settings, then click Reminders.
3. Click a button to open a reminder, then click Disable This Reminder.
4. Click OK to confirm.

To prevent all reminder emails from sending, delete all but one of the reminder emails, and assign the last reminder email to Inactive Types. At least one reminder email is required to stay in our system, but by setting it to Inactive, you'll stop it from sending.

To change when a reminder email is sent:

1. In the Account Dashboard, click Scheduling.
2. In the Scheduling panel, click Email Settings, then click Reminders.
3. Click a button to open a reminder.
4. Edit the Send This Reminder field, then click Save Settings.

Follow-ups

You can send emails after appointments to thank them, ask for feedback, or offer discounts for future appointments.

On the Emerging plan, you can send one follow-up email per appointment. On the Growing or Powerhouse plans, you can send up to six follow-up emails per appointment.

On the Follow-ups page, each email is represented by a button at the top of the page. Each button has a label showing when that email is sent. Follow-up 1 is the button that appears all the way on the left. 

To add or edit a follow-up email: 

1. In the Account Dashboard, click Scheduling, then click Email Settings.
2. Click Follow-ups.
3. To edit an existing follow-up email, click the follow-up email's button, then edit the template that appears below. To add a new follow-up email, click Add a Follow-up.
4. Follow the steps above for editing an email template. 

To stop sending a follow-up email, remove it:

1. In the Account Dashboard, click Scheduling, then click Email Settings.
2. Click Follow-ups.
3. Click the existing email's button.
4. Click Disable This Follow-up, then click OK.

To change when a follow-up email is sent:

1. In the Account Dashboard, click Scheduling, then click Email Settings.
2. Click Follow-ups.
3. Click the existing email's button.
4. Edit the Send this follow-up field. To send intervals less than a day, use decimal points. The minimum interval is 0.01 days, or about 14 minutes.
5. Click Save Settings.

To only send follow-up emails to clients who haven't booked another appointment:

1. In the Account Dashboard, click Scheduling, then click Email Settings.
2. Click Follow-ups.
3. Select Only send follow-up if the client doesn't have any upcoming appointments. This setting applies to all follow-up emails.

Customize with tags

When editing an email template, you can add tags to pull in appointment information like a client's name, the appointment date, appointment type description, and intake form responses. You can enter tags manually, or click Insert Field and choose a tag from the list.

• Tags require a percentage sign on either side of the tag name, like %first%. 
• Tags with href display the full URL of a link, rather than linked text.

Use any of these tags to pull information into your email:

Tag Name	Field Description
%first%	Client’s first name
%last%	Client's last name
%phone%	Client's phone number
%email%	Client's email address
%type%	Appointment type
%calendar%	Calendar name. This is useful if your account has multiple calendars.
%duration%	Appointment duration
%time%	Appointment date and time
%oldtime%	Original date and time of a rescheduled appointment
%date%	Appointment date without time
%price%	Appointment price
%total%	Total appointment price including any add-ons
%calendardescription%	Calendar description
%typedescription%	Appointment type description
%typeconfirmationmessage%	Appointment type confirmation message
%typecategory%	Appointment type category
%viewlink% / %viewhref%	Change/Cancel Appointment link / URL. Clients can reschedule, cancel, and review or edit intake form answers.
%tz%	Appointment time zone
%export% / %exporthref%	Calendar invite link / URL for iCal and Outlook
%googlehref%	Calendar invite URL for Google Calendar
%paylink% / %payhref%	Pay for Appointment link / URL
%formslink% / %formshref%	Edit Forms link / URL. Clients can edit intake forms after booking.
%certificate% / %certificatehref%	Print Certificate link / URL for gift certificate purchases
%product%	Name of the package, gift certificate, and subscription purchased
%code%	Code for package, gift certificate, or subscription purchased, including a link to redeem it
%rawcode%	Code for package, gift certificate, or subscription purchased, without a link to redeem it
%expiration%	Expiration date of package or gift certificate purchased
%nextappointment%	Client's next scheduled appointment
%appointmentID%	Unique appointment identifier number
%location%	Appointment location

Who gets replies

Client replies are sent to the site owner by default. You can customize this for each calendar.

To change who receives client replies to appointment notifications:

1. In the Account Dashboard, click Scheduling, then click Availability.
2. Find the calendar you want to customize, then click Calendar Settings.
3. Find Replies from clients will be sent to [email address], then click the change link.
4. Enter the new email address.
5. Click Save Changes.

Stop sending emails

To stop sending an email notification:

1. In the Account Dashboard, click Scheduling, then click Email Settings.
2. Click the type of email you want to stop sending.
3. Click and drag the name of the appointment type into the Inactive Types box.

Check if clients received email notifications

To view the messages sent for an appointment, click the appointment to open appointment details, then click View all changes & notifications sent. The changelog shows all sent email and text messages for the appointment.