Guide

When is everyone free? How to find out without 50 messages

You want to get the group together, and the only real question is: when is everyone free? It sounds like it should take five minutes. In a group chat it takes five days. Here are the three ways people try to answer it, when each one works, and the fastest way to see the overlap.

whenfor.us · Updated October 26, 2026

Three ways to find out when everyone is free

1. Ask in the group chat

The default. Someone writes "when is everyone free next week?", and the answers come in as free text over a day or two: "Tues or Thurs", "anything but Wednesday", "depends on work", and silence from three people. Somebody now has to read all of it, line up the answers in their head and propose a time, which starts the next round.

Works when: there are three or four of you and you all reply within the hour.

2. Share calendars

If everyone keeps a calendar and shares it with everyone else, you can look for the gaps. At work this is often how it's done, because everyone is in the same calendar system anyway.

Works when: everyone uses the same calendar, keeps it up to date and is happy to share it. Among friends, family or a club, that's rare. Calendars also don't know that someone is "free" on Friday but would rather not go out after a long week.

3. An availability grid

You send one link. Everyone opens it, types their name and marks the times they're free on a grid of days and hours. The grid adds everyone up, and the darkest cells are the times most people can make. Nobody proposes anything, nobody has to share a calendar, and the answer appears on its own.

Works when: you don't know the options yet, the group is bigger than four, or anyone lives in another time zone. In other words, most of the time.

App or website?

Many people search for an "app to see when everyone is free". You don't need one, and an app is actually a worse fit: every person in the group would have to download it and probably sign up before answering, and every extra step loses someone. A website that opens straight from the group chat link works on every phone, including the friend with an old Android and the aunt who never installs anything.

whenfor.us is a website like that: free, no ads, no account for anyone, no app. It runs in any phone or computer browser.

How to see when everyone is free, step by step

1. Choose the window. On the whenfor.us home page, name the plan and pick the days: "Next 7 days", "This weekend", "Next week" or your own dates (up to 31 days). Then pick the hours, for example "Evenings".
2. Mark your own times first. After you tap "Next: add my times", you drag over the times you're free. That way the group starts from a grid that already works for the organizer.
3. Send the link to the group chat. The link shows a preview picture in WhatsApp, iMessage and the rest, so people see what it is before they tap.
4. Everyone adds their times. Each person types a name and drags over the times they're free. It takes about a minute, and the grid updates live for everyone who has it open.
5. Read the answer. The heatmap shows where people overlap, and one sentence spells out the best time, like "Thu 7–9 pm works for 7 of 8".
6. Pick the final time. As the organizer, tap "Pick the final time". Everyone sees "It's on!" with who can make it, can add it to their calendar, and you get a picture and a ready message to post back in the chat.

Reading the overlap

Darker means more people

Every cell gets darker as more people mark it. Tap a cell to see exactly who is free then and who isn't. If the darkest cell is missing someone, you'll see their name right there.

"Everyone" is often "almost everyone"

With eight or more people, a time when literally everyone is free may not exist in a week. Decide before you look what's good enough: is 7 of 8 fine, or is there one person the plan can't happen without? The best-time sentence says who's missing, so the decision is quick and fair.

Slots should match the plan

If the plan is a three-hour dinner, a single free hour doesn't help. Under "More options", set the slot length to match (30 minutes up to 4 hours), and the grid only offers blocks long enough to actually meet.

What if nobody is free at the same time?

• Widen the window. A week is often too short for a busy group. Try two or three weeks with "Pick dates".
• Widen the hours. If evenings are full, a weekend lunch or a weekday breakfast may work. As the organizer you can edit the event and change the hours; times people already marked stay put.
• Check who hasn't answered. Often the "no overlap" problem is two people who haven't looked yet. A short nudge in the chat ("4 of 6 are in, just need Sam and Priya") works better than a general reminder.
• Split the plan. If one person is never free with the rest, a second, smaller get-together may be kinder than a date that excludes them every time.

Friends in other time zones

This is where asking in the chat falls apart: "free at 8?" means a different 8 for the friend in London. On whenfor.us everyone sees the grid in their own time zone automatically, so each person marks their real evening and the overlap still lines up. More in scheduling across time zones.

Three habits that make it faster

• Add a deadline to the message: "Mark your times by Wednesday night." Open-ended questions get open-ended answers.
• Keep the window small enough to fill in one go. Seven evenings is easy, 31 days of all-day slots is a chore.
• Close the loop. The plan isn't real until it's announced. Post the final time where everyone sees it. For more on getting a group to commit, see how to get everyone to agree on a time.