To set holiday hours on your Google Business Profile, open your profile, choose Edit profile, then Hours, and add the date under Special hours with either your adjusted times or the Closed box checked. Special hours override your regular schedule only on the dates you pick, so your normal hours stay exactly as they are the rest of the year.
It takes about five minutes, and it is one of the easiest ways to avoid the worst kind of holiday review: the customer who drove over and found the door locked. Here is how I would handle it before Thanksgiving, the December stretch and New Year.
Why bother setting holiday hours if my regular hours are already listed?
Because on holidays, Google may tell searchers your posted hours might not be accurate. Setting special hours replaces that doubt with a clear answer.
Google keeps a list of official holidays by country, and its help page about holidays on Google notes that on those dates a warning may appear on your Business Profile telling people your hours might differ. That little warning is enough to send a customer to the shop down the road that looks more certain.
Google also says it is a good idea to confirm your hours for official holidays even when they are the same as your regular hours. So even if your bakery or barbershop keeps its normal Saturday schedule over a holiday weekend, confirming it is worth the click.
How do I add special hours step by step?
You add each date individually under Special hours, then save. Google walks through the process on its How to set Special hours help page, and it looks like this:
- Sign in to the Google account that manages your listing and go to your Business Profile.
- Select Edit profile, then Hours.
- In the Business hours section, select Edit next to Special hours.
- Pick a date. You can confirm a date Google suggests, such as an upcoming holiday, or add a custom date.
- Leave Closed checked if you are shut all day, or uncheck it and enter your open and close times. If you split the day, such as a morning shift and an evening shift, use More then Add hours.
- Select Save.
One detail that trips people up: special hours only show if your profile is set to open with main hours. If you never entered regular hours, do that first.
What if we are closed for a week or more?
Use special hours for short closures and Temporarily closed for longer ones. Google draws the line at about a week.
According to the same Google help page, special hours are meant for adjusted hours or closures of up to 6 days in a row. If you are closed for 7 or more days, or for an unknown stretch, Google recommends marking the business as Temporarily closed instead. That fits a contractor who shuts down between Christmas and New Year, or a seasonal studio that goes dark in January.
Google's guidelines for representing your business back this up for seasonal businesses: set regular hours during your season, mark the business temporarily closed in the off-season, and set your regular hours again when you reopen. Just remember to switch it back. A profile left on Temporarily closed into spring quietly costs you calls.
Are there any quirks I should know about?
Yes, a few. The big one is that a single set of special hours cannot run past midnight, so late-night hours need to be split in two.
- Late nights: Google says a set of special hours cannot exceed 24 hours, so a restaurant or bar staying open from 7 PM to 1 AM on New Year's Eve enters one set ending at midnight and a second set starting at midnight on January 1.
- Different service hours: If only part of your business changes, like takeout or pickup windows, Google points you to More hours rather than special hours.
- Delete old dates: Special hours appear only on the days you set, but it is still tidy to clear out last year's entries with the trash icon so you are not confused next season.
Do I need to update Apple Maps, Bing and my website too?
Yes. Customers check whatever is in front of them, so your holiday hours should match everywhere they look.
On Apple Maps, Apple Business Connect handles this with temporary hours. Apple's guide to configuring location attributes says to use temporary hours for holiday openings or closures, add a full-day closure as a closed day, and keep the hours on your place card matching the hours on your official website. If you have not claimed those listings yet, here is how to list your business on Apple Maps and Bing.
On your website, put a short holiday hours note near your regular hours or in the footer. If your site uses LocalBusiness structured data, Google's local business structured data documentation shows how to mark a seasonal closure with start and end dates. That one is a job for whoever manages your site, and not something you need to touch yourself.
Matching hours across Google, Apple, Bing, Facebook and your site is the same idea behind NAP consistency: when every listing agrees, customers and search engines trust what they see.
What should I do this week to get ahead of the holidays?
Block twenty minutes, decide your schedule for every holiday through New Year, and enter it all at once.
- Write down your plan for Thanksgiving, the day after, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
- Enter each date in Google special hours, including the ones where your hours do not change.
- Add the same dates as temporary hours in Apple Business Connect, and update Bing and Facebook.
- Update the hours note on your website.
- Change your voicemail or phone greeting for closed days so callers know when you are back. If phones are a pain point, an AI receptionist can answer holiday calls, share your hours and take messages.
- Consider a short Google Business Profile post announcing your holiday schedule, so regulars see it before they plan their visit.
Here in Charlottesville, a lot of owners also have football weekends, graduation and the occasional snow day to plan around. The same special hours tool works for all of them.
If keeping listings current across every platform feels like one more thing on a full plate, that is exactly the kind of upkeep we handle as part of local SEO in Charlottesville. You can also run our free local business growth scorecard to see where your listings stand.
Common questions
How far ahead can I set holiday hours on Google?
Google says you can set special hours in advance for upcoming holiday dates. Entering the whole season at once in October or early November is the simplest approach.
Will holiday hours replace my regular hours?
No. Special hours show to customers only on the dates you choose. Your regular schedule stays in place for every other day.
Should I mark my business closed if I am off for two weeks?
Google recommends Temporarily closed for closures of 7 or more days in a row, and special hours for anything shorter. Set a reminder to reopen the profile when you are back.
Want a second set of eyes on your Google profile before the busy season? Book a free 15-minute call and I will walk through your listings with you, no pressure and no jargon.