How do you set Christmas and New Year hours on Google?
The end-of-year holidays are when opening hours change the most, and when customers check the most before going out: a last-minute present, an order to collect, a table for New Year’s Eve. If Google says “Open” while your shutters are down, you lose that customer on the day, and often the next time too.
Google has a tool built for this: special hours. They replace your regular hours on a given date without touching the rest of the week, and once the date has passed your profile goes back to normal on its own. This guide follows the steps in Google’s official help page, applied to the holidays. For everything else on your listing, see our Google Business Profile guide.
Which dates should you set for the 2026-2027 holidays?
Go through these days one by one. Public holidays differ by country: below are the UK dates published on GOV.UK for England and Wales, and the French ones from Service-public.fr if you run a business in France.
| Date | Day | England and Wales | France |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 December 2026 | Thursday | Christmas Eve, working day | Working day |
| 25 December 2026 | Friday | Christmas Day, bank holiday | Public holiday |
| 26 December 2026 | Saturday | Boxing Day (falls on a Saturday) | Public holiday in Alsace-Moselle only |
| 28 December 2026 | Monday | Boxing Day substitute bank holiday | Working day |
| 31 December 2026 | Thursday | New Year’s Eve, working day | Working day |
| 1 January 2027 | Friday | New Year’s Day, bank holiday | Public holiday |
In the US, Christmas Day (Friday 25 December 2026) and New Year’s Day (Friday 1 January 2027) are federal holidays; check your state and local rules for anything else. In England and Wales, shops larger than 280 square metres must close on Christmas Day (GOV.UK, trading hours for retailers).
Free tool, no sign-up
Check your Google profile before the holidays
Hours, photos, description, reviews: the free check shows what your profile is missing before the busiest time of the year.
How do you add special hours, step by step?
- Open your profile. Signed in with the Google account that manages the business, search for your business name on Google: the profile management panel appears at the top.
- Go to hours. Select “Edit profile”, then “Hours”.
- Open special hours. Next to “Special hours”, click the edit icon.
- Pick the date. Google often suggests public holidays to confirm; you can also add a custom date such as 24 or 31 December.
- Enter your hours. For a closed day, keep “Closed” ticked. For an open day, untick it and enter your times. For a lunch break, add a second time block.
- Save, then repeat for each date.
One condition is easy to miss: special hours only show if your business hours are set to “Open with main hours”. If you chose not to display hours, your holiday hours won’t appear.
Managing several locations? Google also lets you upload special hours with a spreadsheet, in the format “YYYY-MM-DD: HH:MM-HH:MM”, with an “x” for closed all day.
Closing for more than a week over the holidays: what should you do?
This is the key limit. According to Google’s help page, special hours are for short changes when your business stays closed for up to 6 days in a row. If you close for 7 days or more, for example from 24 December to 3 January, mark the business as temporarily closed instead.
Marking the profile “Temporarily closed”
- “Edit profile”, then “Hours”.
- Next to “Hours”, select edit and choose “Temporarily closed”.
- Save.
Your profile then shows “Temporarily closed” on Google Maps and Search, so customers know before they travel. Google notes that during this time your business may appear after open businesses in broad searches.
Six days or fewer: stick with special hours
For a closure from 24 to 27 December, simply set “Closed” on each of those days. The profile stays open and returns to normal on its own on the 28th.
How do you enter a New Year’s Eve service that ends after midnight?
Restaurants, bars and caterers often stay open late on the 24th or the 31st. Google has two rules: one set of hours can’t exceed 24 hours, and hours that run past midnight must be split in two.
Example: you’re open on 31 December from 7pm to 2am.
- 31 December: 19:00 – 00:00;
- 1 January: 00:00 – 02:00.
Careful: that second block replaces your regular hours on 1 January. If you also open on the evening of the 1st, add a second block that day, otherwise Google will show you closing at 2am for the whole day.
| Situation | Entry on the day | Entry on the next day |
|---|---|---|
| Party night 7pm – 1am, closed next day | 19:00 – 00:00 | 00:00 – 01:00 (nothing else) |
| Party night 7pm – 1am, open next day 12pm – 3pm | 19:00 – 00:00 | 00:00 – 01:00 + 12:00 – 15:00 |
| Closing at 6pm instead of 8pm | Regular opening time to 18:00 | Nothing to change |
Order collection, delivery, click and collect: which hours should you use?
Over the holidays, many businesses have separate times for collecting orders (cakes, platters, reserved gifts) or for delivery. Google has a separate section for that: “More hours”, which shows hours per service (pickup, delivery, takeout…) next to your opening hours. Special hours are for when the business itself is open.
In practice, for a bakery or a caterer:
- Special hours: shop opening on the 24th and 31st (for example 7am – 5pm).
- “More hours”, pickup: the collection slots, if that option exists for your category.
- Google post and website: the order deadline and the collection slots, written out in full.
Where else should you announce your holiday hours?
Your Google profile is only one of the places where customers read your hours. Conflicting hours are worse than missing ones: customers no longer know which to believe.
| Where | What to put | When |
|---|---|---|
| Google profile | Special hours day by day + a “Holiday hours” post | Late November |
| Website | A banner or “Holidays” section with the same hours; closed days blocked in online booking | Late November |
| Door and window | A notice readable from the pavement | Early December |
| Instagram, Facebook | Pinned post + a story the day before each change | Mid-December, then the day before |
| Email or newsletter | Hours + order deadline | Two to three weeks before |
| Voicemail | Closure message with the reopening date | Last day before closing |
Also check other directories that list your business (Apple Maps, Yelp, TripAdvisor, booking platforms): they don’t always pick up your Google hours.
What should you post? Templates to copy
Google post: “Our holiday hours”
Our holiday hours
Thursday 24 December: 8am – 5pm
Friday 25 December: closed
Thursday 31 December: 8am – 5pm
Friday 1 January: closed
Back to our usual hours on Saturday 2 January.Holiday orders until [date], in store or by phone on [number]. Thank you and happy holidays!
Door notice (holiday closure)
Closed for the holidays
[Business name] will be closed from [day date] to [day date] inclusive.
We reopen on [day date] at [time].The whole team wishes you a wonderful holiday season.
Email to customers
Subject: our holiday hours (and the order deadline)
Hello,
The holidays are coming: here are our hours so you never find the door closed.
[hours day by day]
Please place your holiday orders before [date]. Collection on [date] between [time] and [time].
See you soon,
[First name], [business name]
Voicemail message
Hello, you’ve reached [business name]. We’re closed for the holidays until [date] and reopen on [day date] at [time]. Happy holidays, and see you soon!
Which holiday-hours mistakes should you avoid?
- Waiting until 23 December. Customers plan their shopping and evenings well ahead. Enter your hours as soon as you know them, ideally in late November.
- Using special hours for a two-week break. Beyond 6 days in a row, Google asks you to mark the business as temporarily closed.
- Forgetting to reopen the profile after a temporary closure.
- Changing your regular hours for the holidays instead of using special hours: you may forget to switch them back in January.
- Showing different hours on Google, your website and your door.
- Not confirming holidays when you open as usual: Google may then warn customers that hours “might differ”.
- Forgetting the after-midnight block: without it, Google shows you closing at midnight.
What changes depending on your trade?
- Restaurant: party-night hours past midnight, closed days blocked in online booking, festive menu published early. See our guide to Christmas marketing for shops and restaurants.
- Bakery, caterer, chocolatier: early opening on the 24th and 31st, collection slots, order deadline.
- Shop: late-night openings, Sunday trading rules for larger stores, Boxing Day and its substitute bank holiday.
- Hair or beauty salon: long days before the holidays, often closed between Christmas and New Year: check the 6-day rule.
- Tradesperson: year-end closure, an emergency number on your website and profile.
The steps at a glance
The steps to show the right Christmas and New Year hours on Google.
- List the dates. Write down your hours from 24 December to 2 January, day by day.
- Open special hours. In your profile: Edit profile, Hours, then the edit icon next to “Special hours”.
- Enter each date. Pick the date, keep “Closed” or enter times, add a second block if needed, save.
- Handle special cases. Split hours that run past midnight; beyond 6 days of closure, choose “Temporarily closed”.
- Repeat everywhere. Publish a Google post and update your website, booking, window and social media with the same hours.
- Reopen. After a temporary closure, switch back to “Open with main hours” the day before you return.
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Sources
The rules quoted in this guide come from these official pages, checked on October 18, 2026.