How to set holiday hours on Google Business Profile, for one location or a hundred

To set holiday hours on Google, open your Business Profile, choose Edit profile, then Hours, and select the pencil next to Special hours. Pick the holiday from Google’s suggestions or add your own date, set the hours or leave it marked Closed, and save. Do it for every holiday this season, even the ones where your hours do not change, because Google suggests confirming those too. For many locations at once, put the dates in the Special hours column of Google’s bulk spreadsheet and import it. Here are the steps, the 2026 dates, and the things that stop holiday hours from showing.

The dates to set this season

Add your local ones as well: a state holiday, a town festival that closes your street, a staff training day, or the week you close for inventory. Special hours work for any date, not just official holidays.

How to set holiday hours on a computer

1. Sign in to the Google account that manages the profile and open it. Searching your business name on Google, or going to business.google.com, both work.
2. Select Edit profile, then Hours.
3. Next to Special hours, select the edit pencil.
4. Google lists upcoming holidays it suggests. Select Review on one to confirm it, or select Add a date for a day that is not listed.
5. For a day you are closed, leave Closed checked. For a day you are open, uncheck Closed and enter the opening and closing times. To add a second block of hours on the same day, such as a lunch break, choose More, then Add hours.
6. Select Save. Repeat for each date.

These are the steps in Google’s help page on how to set special hours. If you do not see Special hours, check your regular hours first. Google only shows special hours when the profile is set to Open with main hours.

If you manage several profiles, check the business name at the top before you save. It is easy to set Christmas hours on the wrong location from a phone.

Special hours, regular hours, and temporarily closed

1. Start from a download of your existing profiles, so every row already has its business code. Google requires the Business code column for every location you update.
2. Delete every column you are not changing except Business code and Special hours. Google warns that a column with a heading but empty cells deletes the existing information for that field.
3. In the Special hours column, list each date and its hours in the format YYYY-MM-DD: HH:MM-HH:MM, separated by commas. Use x for a day you are closed. For example: 2026-11-26: x, 2026-12-24: 09:00-14:00, 2026-12-25: x.
4. Give different locations different hours by changing that row only. A mall location and a street location rarely close at the same time on Black Friday.
5. Save the file and import it from Business Profile Manager. Then spot-check a few locations to make sure the dates landed.

Software connected to Google’s Business Profile API can also set special hours across locations. Whichever way you do it, check the result on a few real profiles, because a single wrong date format can leave a location without its holiday hours.

Thanksgiving Day, no special hours

cafe near me

Little Bramble Café

4.6 (184)

Café · North York, ON

Open · Closes 4 PM

DirectionsCall

What happens if you do not set them

Google shows your regular hours. On Thanksgiving, a café that is closed will appear open, and the first customer who drives there finds a locked door and a reason to leave a review.

How to respond to negative Google reviews

As a holiday gets close, Google may also show searchers a note that the holiday might affect your hours when the profile has no special hours for it. A note like that gives a searcher a reason to call someone else, even when you are open. Confirming the date, even with your normal hours, is how you replace it with hours you stand behind.

Google also asks owners to confirm details. The profile may show a prompt to review upcoming holidays, and since March 2026 Google has been telling owners it may confirm details with automated calls, texts, or WhatsApp messages to the verified phone number. Answer them accurately, or set the hours yourself first so there is nothing to confirm.

Why your holiday hours are not showing

• It is too early. Special hours appear on Google only for the dates you set, and they tend to show up for customers in the days before the date, not the moment you save.
• The profile is not set to Open with main hours. Without regular hours, special hours do not appear.
• You are looking at a cached or signed-in view. Check from a phone that is signed out of your account.
• The edit is still being processed or was not accepted. Open Special hours again and see whether the date is still listed.
• You set them on the wrong profile. It happens more than anyone admits on multi-location accounts.
• You marked the business Temporarily closed. That overrides everything else.

Holiday post

Scheduled

Northside Plumbing & Drain

Nov 19, 9:00 AM

We are closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Emergency call-out cover runs all season, and the office reopens on Monday, December 28.

Learn more

Post about it too

Special hours answer the question of when you are open. A post can say why, and add what customers need: last order times, a holiday menu, emergency call-out cover, a gift card offer, or the day you reopen. Publish it a week or so ahead.

Start for freeScheduling a post for each location in GMB Helper.ai

Google’s own editor can schedule a post and offers to share it to the other profiles you manage, and our guide on how to schedule Google Business Profile posts covers the clicks. For different wording per location, see how to schedule posts for multiple locations.

Keep phone numbers out of the post text, keep the wording calm, and put the dates in an event or offer post’s date fields rather than only in the text. For how often to post and what to write, see how to schedule Google Business Profile posts.

Questions people ask

How far ahead can I set holiday hours on Google?

You can add dates well in advance, and setting the whole season in one sitting in early November is the easiest way to avoid forgetting one. They will only show to customers for the dates you set.

Do I need to set holiday hours if I am open as normal?

It is worth it. Google suggests confirming your hours for official holidays even when they match your regular hours, so customers can see the hours are accurate for that day.

Will special hours change back on their own?

Yes. Special hours apply only to the dates you list. The next day, the profile shows your regular hours again with nothing for you to undo.

Can I set different holiday hours for each location?

Yes. Each profile has its own special hours. In the bulk spreadsheet, each location’s row carries its own dates and hours, so one file can give every location a different schedule.