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Google holiday hours: don't let Google guess when you're open.

Between Thanksgiving and New Year's, a lot of people check Google before they call or drive over. If your profile shows the wrong hours, they either skip you or show up to a locked door. Here's how to set it up once and stop worrying about it.

I set up and fix Google Business Profiles for local businesses around Chicago, and every year the same thing happens in late November. A customer checks Google, sees "Open," drives over on Thanksgiving morning, and finds the lights off. Or the opposite: the shop is open the Friday after Thanksgiving, but Google shows a holiday warning, so nobody calls.

Both problems come from the same place. Your regular hours are set, but your holiday hours aren't. Fixing it takes about ten minutes, and the best time to do it is now, before the rush.

The dates to set this season

Here's the 2026 holiday stretch, with the days of the week, so you can decide each one ahead of time:

• Thanksgiving: Thursday, November 26
• Day after Thanksgiving: Friday, November 27
• Christmas Eve: Thursday, December 24
• Christmas Day: Friday, December 25
• New Year's Eve: Thursday, December 31
• New Year's Day: Friday, January 1, 2027

Notice the pattern. Each holiday lands on a Thursday or Friday, which means a lot of owners will take long weekends. If you close Thursday through Sunday, your regular hours on Google will say you're open Friday and Saturday unless you tell it otherwise.

How to set holiday hours on Google, step by step

Google calls these special hours. They sit on top of your regular hours for specific dates, so your normal schedule stays the same. Here's the process from Google's own help page:

1. Search your business name on Google while signed in to the account that manages the profile, or open it in the Google Maps app.
2. Choose Edit profile, then Hours.
3. Next to Special hours, choose Edit.
4. Google often suggests upcoming holidays. Choose Review on a suggested date, or Add a date for one it didn't suggest.
5. Leave Closed checked if you're closed that day. If you're open, uncheck it and enter your hours.
6. Choose Save, then repeat for the next date.

Two details trip people up. First, special hours only show if your profile is set to open with regular hours, so if you never entered main hours, do that first. Second, Google says to confirm holiday hours even when they match your normal schedule. If you're open regular hours on New Year's Eve, add that date anyway with your normal hours. That tells customers your hours were checked, not just left alone.

Special hours vs. "Temporarily closed"

This one matters for anyone taking a longer break. Google's guidance is to use special hours for closures of up to six days in a row, and to mark the business Temporarily closed for seven days or more, or when you don't know when you'll reopen.

My advice: if you're closing for a few days around Christmas, use special hours for each day. Don't flip the whole profile to temporarily closed for a short break. It's an easy setting to forget to turn back off, and a profile that says "Temporarily closed" in January looks like a business that might not be coming back.

Picture a Chicagoland example

Picture a two-truck plumbing company in Berwyn. The office closes for Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, but the owner still takes emergency calls for burst pipes, because that's exactly when pipes burst. If the Google profile just says "Closed" on Thanksgiving, the homeowner with water on the basement floor scrolls right past to the next listing.

The fix is to be clear about what "closed" means for you:

• If you truly answer the phone 24 hours for emergencies, set your hours to reflect that and say "24/7 emergency service" in your business description and on your website.
• If the office is closed but you take emergency calls, say that in your description and in a Google post that week: "Office closed Thanksgiving Day. Emergency line open: call the number on this profile."
• Only show hours you'll actually answer. Someone who calls during your listed hours and gets voicemail may not try again.

Restaurants, bakeries and shops can also use Google's More hours setting for things like takeout, delivery or pickup, which helps if your pickup window for holiday pie orders is different from your dining room hours.

Plan for snow days too

This is Chicago. Sometime this winter, a storm will close your shop or slow down your crew. Special hours work for that too. Add the date, mark it closed or enter shorter hours, and save. Edits aren't always instant, so do it as soon as you make the call, not an hour before opening. If you also post a quick Google update and a line on your website, customers who check either one get the same answer.

Make your website match

Your hours live in more places than Google: your website, your Facebook page, Yelp, your voicemail greeting. When they disagree, customers don't know which one to trust. Here's my short holiday checklist:

• Set special hours on Google for every date listed above.
• Add a short holiday hours note near the top of your website's homepage and contact page.
• Update Facebook, Yelp and any other listing you actively use.
• Record a holiday voicemail greeting that says when you'll be back and how to reach you for emergencies.
• Put a reminder on your calendar for January 2 to remove the website note.

If updating your own website means logging into something you haven't touched in two years, that's a sign it's too hard to change. On my monthly plans, a holiday hours note is a quick text to me, and it's done. You can see what each plan includes on the packages section.

While you're in there

Setting holiday hours is a good excuse to look at the rest of your profile. Check that your phone number is right, your service area covers the towns you actually serve, and your categories match what you do. If your profile gets views but not many calls, my post on why your Google Business Profile isn't getting calls walks through the usual causes.

If you'd rather have someone look at your Google profile and website together before the holidays, book a free call and I'll tell you what I'd fix first.

Common questions

Do holiday hours on Google replace my regular hours?

No. Special hours only apply to the dates you pick. Your regular weekly hours stay the same and come back automatically after each date passes.

How far ahead can I set holiday hours on Google?

You can add specific future dates any time, so you can set the whole Thanksgiving through New Year's stretch in one sitting. Doing it a few weeks early is safer than waiting for the week of.

Should I mark my business temporarily closed for a holiday break?

Only for longer closures. Google suggests special hours for up to six days in a row and Temporarily closed for seven days or more. For a short break, set each day as closed with special hours so you don't forget to switch the profile back.

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