How to set holiday hours on your Google Business Profile

The sign on your door can be right while Google is still telling people you're open.

That's an annoying way for a customer to start dealing with your business. They checked, made the trip, and arrived at a locked door. From their side, they did what they were supposed to do.

Holiday hours are worth handling before you're trying to leave for the holiday yourself. Decide what availability you're actually offering, add the date-specific hours, and check the public result.

Choose the setting for the change you actually need:

• A date-specific exception: use Special hours.
• A permanent change to your weekly schedule: update regular hours.
• A closure lasting seven consecutive days or an unknown period: use Temporarily closed.

Google also recommends confirming holiday hours when they stay the same. Google's special-hours guidance

Decide what “open” means that day

Before opening Google, make sure the people running the business agree on the schedule.

A shop might close at noon. A field-service business might have someone answering calls but no technicians available until the next morning. A booking form might accept requests all day, even while the office is closed.

Those are different things from the customer's point of view.

Write down when customers can actually receive the service represented by your listed hours. If you offer emergency work, make sure the person answering the phone can explain what is available and when.

An answering service alone doesn't mean you have a technician available around the clock. Keep the claim on the profile consistent with what you can deliver.

Pick the setting that fits the change

For a short exception, use special hours. Google's guidance covers temporary adjustments and closures of up to six consecutive days. It directs businesses closed for seven or more days, or for an unknown period, to the temporary-closure setting. Special hours require the profile to be set to Open with main hours. Choosing the correct setting

If you are changing your normal weekly schedule permanently, handle that as a regular-hours change. Avoid building a permanent schedule out of a string of exceptions you'll eventually forget to maintain.

Enter each affected date

Google documents this route: Edit profile, then Hours, then the edit control beside Special hours. Choose the date, enter the opening periods or mark the day closed, and save. For a second opening period on that date, select More, then Add hours +. This is a control within Special hours. Google's separate More hours feature covers specific services with different hours. Google's editing instructions

Double-check the date and year before saving. Then look at the morning and afternoon entries. A correct opening time paired with the wrong AM or PM can still create a completely wrong schedule.

Say a shop opens from 8 a.m. until noon, closes for a staff event, and reopens from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m.

Record the two opening periods. Entering 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. would tell a customer they can visit during the three-hour closure.

Put the dates in one small worksheet

You can print this or copy it into a shared note. The sample row is only an example.

I'd add the name of the person responsible for the final check below the table. Otherwise it's easy for everyone to assume someone else finished it.

Check more than the saved setting

Saving an edit is one part of the job. Looking at what the customer can see is the other.

Review the affected date in the profile. When the public view exposes that date's hours, compare them with your worksheet. If you're checking well in advance and the future exception isn't shown there yet, keep a reminder to verify it closer to the date.

Check your website's hours notice, booking availability, and voicemail while you're there. You don't want Google saying “closed” while a prominent website banner says “open today.”

For a home-service business, follow the inquiry path too. If a form accepts an urgent request during a closure, its acknowledgment should set an accurate expectation for a reply. Don't let an automated message promise a response nobody is available to provide.

Our customer-view guide walks through the wider check. Use it if the hours change exposes a mismatch somewhere else.

Leave yourself a record

Write down which dates you changed and when you checked them. If the public information still looks wrong, record what you see before making another edit. Follow the status information in the managing account or use Google's support route when you need help.

Pick the next date your hours change. Update Google, check your website and voicemail, and make sure someone checks the public result.