This article was last reviewed November 30, 2023.

To schedule a recurring shift, you'll click the Create shift button or a blank spot on the calendar.

Next, enable the recurrence field and select how often the shift should recur under the Repeat option.

You can choose the days of the week on which the shift will occur and when it should stop repeating. The end date for the recurrence can be set up to one year into the future. If your schedule repeats beyond one year, you'll need to schedule a new shift to begin the day after the current one ends.

Then, just fill in the rest of the shift details. You can choose to leave the employee field blank to create a recurring unassigned shift, or you can assign an employee if their schedule rarely changes.

From the Shifts tab, click the options button.

Select Create shift.

Enter the shift details and be sure to tap the repeat field to choose an option. You can leave the employee field blank to create an unassigned recurring shift.

Tap the bar at the top to bring up the repeat options, then choose the frequency.

Next, choose the days of the week on which the shift will occur.

Scroll down on the same screen so you can be sure to set an end date, or choose to repeat the shift for one year. Tap Add when done.

Finally, review the details and be sure to Save the shift.

You will now see that there are identical shifts created that repeat on your shift calendar.

What happens if you've already assigned a recurring shift to an employee, but you need to copy it or assign it to others, as well?

Don't worry, you can edit the existing shifts to assign them to others, too.
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​Please note: You can also use the copy function in this case, but recurrences can't be copied, meaning those shifts will be applied as single shifts, so you cannot edit the entire series from a single shift later.

Click the shift that occurs on the date you'd like the recurrence to begin.

Next, click the Edit shift button.

From the edit screen, you can add more employees to the shift by clicking in the employee field and selecting them from the drop-down menu. You can also type a name in to get to a specific person faster.

When you're done adding additional employees, make sure the desired Publish option is selected and then click Save.

When asked to apply the change to only one shift or all future shifts, choose All future shifts. Note that Sling will not apply changes made to shifts that have already occurred, only to future shifts if that option is selected.

This will create separate, identical recurring shifts for each person you've added.

If shifts are part of a recurrence series, you will see this icon in the top right corner of the shift block:

If the icon is present, click on the first shift in the series you want to remove to open the shift details window. Whichever shift you choose will delete that particular shift and any future shifts in the recurrence, but not past shifts. In the popup window, click the trashcan icon.

Note that if a shift is unpublished, you will need to use the option dots to select Delete.

Next, you will get a prompt asking if the change applies to only this shift or all future shifts. Choose all future shifts, and all shifts in the recurrence series will be removed.

If you're not seeing the recurrence icon, then you will need to delete your shifts manually (this can happen if an employee has been deleted or deactivated and their shifts were made unassigned or available).

Switch to the Month view and filter just unassigned or available shifts into view. Then, click Select All (checkbox at top left), which will make a trash can icon appear. Click it and all the unassigned shifts will be removed. If you have any shifts you want to keep, you can deselect some or use locations or positions to isolate the ones you want to remove.

You'll have to repeat those steps for each future month (use the arrows next to the month name to switch views) in which the unassigned shifts appear. Premium and Business accounts can also apply the custom range to remove up to 16 weeks at once.

To avoid this in the future, we recommend deleting shifts any time a user is deleted or deactivated and re-creating the recurrence instead.

Not sure if recurring shifts is the right method for you? Check out details about schedule templates that allow you to save a week's worth of shifts!

Perhaps you only need to copy and paste some shifts from one week to another. Go here for details about how to copy shifts.

Not seeing the details you need? Contact us for more help!