Locking Time Blocks

The lock feature in Align helps you protect important time blocks from accidental changes. Whether it's a crucial meeting, a class you can't miss, or any commitment that must stay exactly as scheduled, locking ensures these time blocks remain anchored in your schedule.

What Are Locked Time Blocks?

Locked time blocks are appointments that can't be moved, resized, or deleted. They act as fixed anchors in your schedule, giving you confidence that your most important commitments won't accidentally shift when you're reorganizing your day.

Think of them as the foundation of your schedule—everything else can flex around them, but they stay exactly where you need them.

Why Use Locked Time Blocks?

Prevent accidental changes: When you're quickly adjusting your schedule, it's easy to accidentally move or resize an important appointment. Locking prevents this from happening.

Create a stable schedule structure: Lock your recurring commitments like work hours, classes, or regular meetings to build a consistent framework for your week.

Protect critical appointments: Some events simply can't be rescheduled. Locking them ensures they stay exactly where they need to be.

Make resizing easier: When you're resizing other time blocks, locked blocks stay in place, making it easier to organize everything else around your fixed commitments. With overlap avoidance enabled, other blocks automatically shift around your locked appointments.

Two Types of Locked Time Blocks

Calendar-Based Locked Blocks

Some time blocks are automatically locked because they come from read-only calendars. Calendars that don't allow Align to make modifications. These might include:

• Company calendars
• Shared calendars where you don't have edit permissions
• Public holiday calendars
• Subscribed calendars (like sports schedules or school calendars)

These blocks are always locked and show a lock icon. You can't unlock them because the calendar itself prevents modifications. If you need to make changes to these events, you'll need to do so in the app or service that manages that calendar.

User-Locked Blocks

You can manually lock any time block that you create or have permission to edit. This is useful when you want to protect specific appointments from accidental changes, even though they're in a calendar you control.

These blocks can be locked and unlocked at any time, giving you complete control over which appointments stay fixed and which remain flexible.

How to Lock a Time Block

Locking a time block is simple:

1. Tap on the time block you want to lock
2. Select "Lock" from the menu
3. The time block will now show a lock icon and be protected from changes

Once locked, the time block:

• Can't be moved by dragging
• Won't shift when you resize other time blocks
• Can't be resized
• Can't be deleted

How to Unlock a Time Block

If you need to make changes to a locked time block that you have permission to edit:

1. Tap on the locked time block
2. Select "Unlock" from the menu
3. The lock icon will disappear and you can now edit the time block normally

Note: You can only unlock time blocks that you created or have edit permissions for. Calendar-based locked blocks can't be unlocked in Align.

Locked Blocks and Schedule Management

During Resizing

When you're resizing time blocks, locked blocks have special behavior:

Locked blocks never move: No matter how you resize other time blocks, locked blocks always stay exactly where they are. They act as immovable anchors in your timeline.

Other blocks stop at locked blocks: When overlap avoidance is enabled and a time block would need to shift but encounters a locked block, it stops there rather than moving the locked block.

Example: You have a locked "Client Meeting" at 2:00 PM and "Prep Work" at 1:00 PM. If you extend an earlier task that would push Prep Work later, it will stop at 2:00 PM and create an overlap rather than moving your locked client meeting.

During Drag and Drop

Locked time blocks can't be dragged to a new position. If you try to drag a locked block, you'll notice it doesn't move. You'll need to unlock it first if you want to reschedule it.

During Deletion

You can't delete a locked time block. This prevents accidental removal of important appointments. If you need to delete a locked time block, unlock it first.

Best Practices for Locking Time Blocks

Lock your non-negotiables: Identify the appointments in your schedule that absolutely can't change—meetings with clients, classes, doctor's appointments—and lock them to protect your commitments.

Create a stable framework: Lock recurring time blocks that form the structure of your week, like work hours or regular exercise sessions. This creates a consistent foundation you can plan around.

Review regularly: Your locked time blocks should represent your true priorities. Periodically review them to make sure they still deserve that protection.

Don't overuse it: If everything is locked, you lose flexibility. Reserve locking for genuinely important appointments that need protection.

Combine with color coding: Use colors and icons along with locking to make your most important time blocks stand out visually.

Common Questions

Can I lock recurring time blocks?
Yes! This is perfect for locking a regular meeting series.

What happens if I try to edit a locked time block?
Align will prevent the edit and remind you that the time block is locked. For user-locked blocks, you can unlock them and then make your changes. For calendar-based locked blocks, you'll need to edit them in their source calendar app.

Can I see which time blocks are locked?
Yes, locked time blocks display a lock icon, making them easy to identify at a glance in your timeline.

Will locked time blocks still send notifications?
Absolutely! Locking a time block doesn't affect its notifications. You'll still receive reminders as configured, ensuring you don't miss these important appointments.

Can I lock all-day events?
Yes, all-day events can be locked just like timed events. This is useful for protecting important dates like deadlines or travel days.

Need More Help?

If you have questions about locking time blocks or any other Align features, feel free to contact us. We're here to help you take control of your schedule.