# ➕ Manual Booking from the Admin

> Create bookings yourself from the Cowlendar admin for phone, walk-in or email customers. Find the Manual booking button and see how these bookings are listed.

Not every customer books online. Some call you, some write to you and some show up at your door. With **Manual booking** you create the booking yourself in Cowlendar, so the slot is taken and the booking appears in your list like any other.

## Where to find the Manual booking button

You can start a manual booking from four places:

- **Bookings page:** the dark **Manual booking** button at the top right.
- **Services availabilities tab:** every slot card has its own **Manual booking** button, so you book that exact slot.
- **Customers page:** open a customer with **Details**, then click **Manual booking** in the header of the window. The customer is already selected.
- **Subscriptions tab:** every subscription row has a **Manual booking** link under the customer, to book a session for that subscriber.

![The Bookings page top right showing the dark Manual booking button, rows not visible](https://orka-chat.fra1.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/prod/help/671a5e245d077ea954b2cd4c/1792165316844-mcp-claude-in-chrome-blob-1792165147943-mk80aq.webp)

![A slot card in the Services availabilities tab showing the Manual booking button, with no customer data](https://orka-chat.fra1.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/prod/help/671a5e245d077ea954b2cd4c/1792165327003-mcp-claude-in-chrome-blob-1792165158597-evdvs0.webp)

## How to create a manual booking

1. Click **Manual booking**. A window called **Choose a service** opens, with a **Search for a service...** box and the list of your services. Each service shows its type (for example Regular booking) and an **Active** badge.
2. Search for the service you need, or pick it from the list.
3. Choose the date and time.
4. Enter the customer details.
5. Confirm the booking.

![The Choose a service window that opens when you click Manual booking](https://orka-chat.fra1.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/prod/help/671a5e245d077ea954b2cd4c/1792165336128-mcp-claude-in-chrome-blob-1792165136104-iqwnek.webp)

## How manual bookings appear in your list

- In the Bookings page, the line under the service name says **manual** (for example "Regular booking - manual"). The same applies to the other families: Multiday, Bundle and Fullday.
- To see only the bookings you created yourself, open the **All types** filter and tick the (manual) options.
- The booking takes the slot, so it counts toward your capacity and your booking limits.

> **ℹ️ Info**
>
> Manual bookings made by customers in person at your shop with Shopify POS are a different type, labeled POS.

## Related settings

- **Settings > General settings > General preferences > Disable autocomplete for customer information in manual booking:** when this switch is on, your browser does not suggest saved names and emails while you type a customer's details. It is on by default. See [General Settings: A Complete Tour](https://help.cowlendar.com/a/general-settings-a-complete-tour).
- **Team portal permissions:** you can let a teammate create manual bookings from the team portal. By default, manual bookings are limited to the services the teammate is assigned to; there is another option to allow manual bookings on any service. See [Team Portal and Permissions](https://help.cowlendar.com/a/team-portal-and-permissions).

## Common questions

### Does the customer receive an email?

Notifications follow your notification settings. Check Settings > Email settings and the Advanced tab of the service to see which emails are on.

### Can I create a manual booking for a slot that is already full?

Check the slot in Services availabilities first. It shows how many places are booked out of the total for each slot, so you can see whether there is room before you create the booking.