Recurring events
Choose the right scope when rescheduling one occurrence, changing future dates, or updating a series.
A recurring event generates occurrences from one rule. Repeat daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly, with an interval and an optional end date or occurrence count.
Define the repeating pattern
Start with the event's first date and duration, then choose a frequency and interval. Every two weeks is a different schedule from twice a month: the former follows weeks, while the latter depends on dates within each month.
Choose an ending condition that matches the commitment:
- No end for an ongoing schedule you will manage later
- An end date for a schedule that stops at a known boundary
- An occurrence count for a fixed number of sessions
A series rule describes future dates; an occurrence is one date produced by that rule. An exception changes or removes a particular occurrence without replacing the regular pattern.
Check month-end patterns
An imported rule that specifies the 31st does not necessarily create an event in every month. A rule for February 29 can also produce dates only in leap years. Review generated occurrences instead of assuming that invalid dates move to the last day of the month.
Countdowns use a different date-clamping rule for these cases. See short months and leap years if you are tracking a milestone rather than a recurring appointment.
Choose a change scope
Before editing or deleting, decide which dates should change.
| Scope | Use it for | Result |
|---|---|---|
| This event | Postponing this week's meeting | Only the selected occurrence changes; other dates keep the original rule. |
| This and following events | Moving the regular meeting from next week onward | Earlier dates stay intact; the selected occurrence and future dates use the new settings. |
| All events | Correcting settings for the whole series | The entire series changes. This option is available when editing from the series' first occurrence. |
If you open an occurrence in the middle of a series, the whole-series option is not available. Return to the first occurrence rather than repeatedly applying a change to following events.
Reschedule one occurrence
To postpone one meeting, keep the series rule and create an exception for that date.
Open the intended occurrence
Check the date in the preview. Identical titles can refer to different occurrences of the same series.
Apply the change to this event
Change the start and end times, then confirm the single-event scope when saving. Next week's meeting keeps its original schedule.
Check the next occurrence
Review the rescheduled date and the next meeting to confirm that a temporary change did not become a permanent one.
Change the schedule from a date onward
Editing this and following events splits the schedule at the selected occurrence. Earlier dates remain in the original segment; later dates use the new settings. When you edit again, treat each segment as its own series with its own first occurrence.
For example, a weekly review moves from 10:00 to 11:00 beginning next month. Open the first review that should use 11:00 and apply the change to this and following events. Do not start from an earlier date unless you intend to change those earlier meetings too.
After saving, inspect the last occurrence before the boundary and the first occurrence after it. Also check any individually rescheduled dates near that boundary.
The same scopes apply to deletion. Deleting one occurrence excludes that date from the rule. Deleting this and following events ends the remaining schedule.
Confirm invitation scope separately
An event change does not determine which dates a newly added participant is invited to. You can reschedule only this week's meeting while inviting a colleague to future meetings. Check the invitation confirmation before sending. See Invitations.
Diagnose a missing occurrence
Check the rule before recreating the event. A missing occurrence can have several explanations:
| Check | What it can explain |
|---|---|
| End date or occurrence count | The series has already finished |
| An individually deleted date | The rule continues, but excludes that occurrence |
| A rescheduled exception | The event is present on another date |
| A following-events edit | Later dates belong to a new series segment |
| Category selection and time zone | The occurrence exists but is outside your current view |
| Month-end or leap-year rule | The requested date does not exist in that period |
Search for the title and inspect dates around the expected occurrence. Creating a replacement before checking the series can leave a duplicate when the original becomes visible again.