Set your hours, holiday hours and closures
Set your regular customer-facing hours under Edit profile, then Hours. Use Special hours for holidays and closures of 7 days or less, so your weekly schedule stays intact. For closures of more than 7 days, mark the business Temporarily closed, and reopen it the day you're back. Never edit regular hours for a one-off day.
The short version
- Regular hours: when customers can visit or call, not when staff arrive.
- Holidays and short changes: Special hours, so there’s nothing to change back later.
- Confirm official holidays even when your hours don’t change.
- Closed more than 7 days: Temporarily closed. Closed for good: Permanently closed.
- Change your hours everywhere on the same day: website, Facebook and other listings.
Which hours setting should I use?
| Situation | Use this |
|---|---|
| Your normal weekly schedule | Regular hours |
| A holiday, or a change or closure of 7 days or less | Special hours |
| Different times for one service, like delivery | More hours |
| Closed for more than 7 days, or for a season | Temporarily closed |
| Closed for good | Permanently closed |
How do I set my hours?
Regular hours
Go to your Business Profile, select Edit profile, then Hours, and save your changes. Google’s editing page says you can set main hours or mark the business closed there.
Google’s guidelines ask for your regular, customer-facing hours. Some businesses shouldn’t list hours at all; Google names appointment-only businesses, hotels and schools among them. Banks list lobby hours, and restaurants list dine-in hours.
Special hours for holidays
These steps come from Google’s special hours page:
- Go to your Business Profile.
- Select Edit profile, then Hours.
- In the “Business hours” section, next to “Special hours,” select the edit (pencil) icon.
- Choose a date. Select Review to confirm a date Google suggests, or Add a date for your own.
- Set the hours:
- Open? Uncheck Closed and enter your hours.
- Closed all day? Leave Closed checked.
- Split day? Select More, then Add hours +.
- Select Save.
To delete a date, use the trash icon if it’s a closed day, or More, then Remove day if it’s an open day.
More hours
More hours show times for a specific service, like senior hours, pickup, delivery or a drive-through. Google says to use these instead of special hours for anything that’s a standing part of your week. Which types you see depends on your category.
Temporary and permanent closures
These steps come from Google’s closure page:
- Go to your Business Profile.
- Select Edit profile, then Hours.
- In the “Business hours” section, next to “Hours,” select Edit, then Temporarily closed or Permanently closed.
- Select Save.
Why do accurate hours matter?
Wrong hours cost you twice. The customer who drives to a locked door is annoyed, and they may say so in a review. Hours are also a detail anyone can suggest edits for, so stale hours invite outside changes.
Google adds that temporarily closed businesses can rank below open ones for broad searches. That’s another reason to reopen the profile as soon as you’re back.
What are the common mistakes and edge cases?
- Editing regular hours for one day, then forgetting to change them back. Use special hours.
- Skipping holidays that don’t change your hours. Google recommends confirming hours for official holidays anyway, so customers know they’re accurate.
- Using Temporarily closed for a long weekend. Google says short closures belong in special hours.
- Closing the old profile when you move. Edit the address on your existing profile instead. For merging locations, see duplicate and unwanted listings.
- Seasonal hours that never change. Update them at each season change and set a calendar reminder.
Google’s closure page sets the rule: closed 7 days or less, use Special hours; closed more than 7 days, for a season or indefinitely, use Temporarily closed. The special hours page describes closures of up to 6 days in a row, but for a 7-day closure follow the closure page and use Special hours.
What if my hours aren’t showing correctly?
- Special hours don’t appear. Google says they only show if your business is set to “Open with main hours.” Check that first.
- Your profile suddenly says closed. Google may email you when it hears a location is temporarily closed. If that’s wrong, set your hours back to open and read our guide to Google updates.
- A permanently closed profile still shows. Google says it may still appear for people searching your name, with a clear closed label.
How much does it cost, and how long does it take?
Setting hours is free. A whole holiday season takes one short sitting: in early November, set special hours for Thanksgiving through New Year’s. Do the same each spring for Easter, Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. Then post a short update so people see the change.
How does E-3 handle this?
Holiday and seasonal hours are one of the routine profile updates in our SEO and AI search service. We draft the changes, a person checks the dates, and you approve them before they’re saved. Our answer on name, address and phone consistency explains why your website should show the same hours.
Related questions
Next step
- Next: Service-area business or storefront: set it up rightThe next guide in Google Business Profile.
- Google Business Profile checklistA free printable checklist (PDF).
Still stuck? Ask E-3 for an answer from our help guides.
Rather we handled google business profile for you?
It’s part of what we do every week for small businesses, as part of seo and ai search. Start with a free check of your site and profile, or call and ask.