Change Your Google Business Hours: Steps for Desktop, Maps and Holidays

Here’s how to change business hours on Google: sign in to the Google Account that manages your Business Profile, search your business name and city, select Edit profile, then Hours, set each day’s opening and closing times, and select Save. Google reviews the edit before it appears publicly, and most edits clear within about 10 minutes.

Any local business whose hours shifted for a season, a holiday, a staffing gap, or a move to appointments needs this done before customers find out the hard way. A landscaping company winding down for winter, a dental office trimming Friday hours, and an HVAC contractor adding weekend emergency coverage all face the same task.

This guide covers desktop and the Maps app step by step, then explains holiday, special, secondary, and by-appointment hours, closures, bulk edits, and what to do when Google changes your hours without asking.

Accurate hours are one of the simplest ways to get more customers from local search, because they decide whether a searcher calls, visits, or moves on to the next listing. The steps below take a few minutes, and the sections on Google’s own edits explain how to keep the hours you set from being overwritten later.

TL;DR

• Edit Profile, then Hours controls everything: Main hours, special hours, More hours, and closure status all sit under Edit profile, then Hours, on Google Search.
• Prepare holiday hours, and review suggested edits: Special hours apply only to the dates you pick; leave your weekly schedule alone and cover up to six days in a row before Temporarily closed becomes the better fit. Answer Google’s suggested edits within four days; otherwise, Google may publish them when other public information, such as your website, supports the change.

What You Need Before You Start

• Access: Sign in to the Google Account linked to your Google Business Profile, where you hold the Owner or Manager role. In its role documentation, Google says both roles can edit main business information such as hours and can accept Google updates. Only owners can add or remove users or remove the profile.
• Individual accounts: Each person needs a personal Google Account, because Google’s owners and managers help article says Google Groups can’t be added as owners or managers. New owners and managers wait seven days before they can delete the profile or remove other users; the same wait applies to transferring primary ownership.
• Verification: Google gives conflicting verification advice in its help pages. One page says unverified profiles can still edit name, category, address, hours, phone, and website; another says some businesses may need to verify before making any changes. Content from unverified profiles might not appear, and verification reviews take up to five business days, so finish verifying before a holiday rush.
• Management tools: Single-location owners no longer have a separate dashboard. When Google renamed Google My Business to Google Business Profile in 2021, it recommended that small businesses manage profiles directly on Search or Maps and renamed the web dashboard Business Profile Manager, mainly for businesses with multiple locations. Google also retired the standalone Google My Business app in 2022.
• Current access: Google’s help center says you can edit your Business Profile directly on Search or Maps, and businesses with 10 or more locations can manage them in bulk. If the admin panel doesn’t appear when you search, Search Engine Roundtable reported in November 2025 that a Gold Google Business Profile Product Expert said Google was aware of the issue, with business.google.com and Google Maps as workarounds.

How to Change Your Business Hours on Google (Quick Steps)

The short version works on any device where you’re signed in to the Google Account that manages your profile. Google’s Find your business help article says to search your business name and city, or “my business,” on Google Search to open your profile.

1. Search your business name and city, or type “my business.”
2. Select Edit profile, then Hours.
3. Set opening and closing times for each day you’re open.
4. Select Save.

The Hours screen is the control center for every schedule setting covered in this guide. Main hours, special hours, More hours, and closure status all live there, so once you know the path, every later change follows the same route.

The desktop and app paths differ slightly before you reach the Hours screen, so use the walkthrough below that matches the device in your hand.

Edit Hours From Google Search on Desktop

Google’s Edit your business hours help article gives this sequence for desktop:

1. Go to your Business Profile. While signed in, you can search your business name and city, or “my business,” to open your management panel.
2. Select Edit profile, then Hours.
3. In “Business hours,” next to “Hours,” select Edit, then “Open with main hours.”
4. Check the box next to each day you open.
5. Set the times with the dropdowns.
6. Click Save.

A message on your profile confirms the update once you save. To hide hours entirely, choose “Open with no main hours” in step 3 and save.

Google then reviews the change before it goes live. Its help article on profile edits says reviews usually take up to 10 minutes but can take up to 30 days.

Edit Hours in the Google Maps App on iPhone and Android

Start with the mobile entry steps in Google’s Edit your Business Profile help page, which gives one set of steps for mobile devices, then open Hours to edit your schedule:

1. Open the Google Maps app.
2. Tap Business at the bottom right.
3. Tap Edit profile, then Hours.
4. Make your changes and tap Save.

Your app may not match those steps. Google Maps Help now lists the bottom tabs as Explore, You, and Contribute, with “Your Business Profile” in the profile menu. If you see no Business tab, tap your profile picture and choose Your Business Profile.

That’s the route Search Engine Land’s Business Profile guide describes for the Maps app.

On mobile, the Updates tab of your profile shows a post confirming the hours change, and deleting that post removes the message. Google says some management features differ between Search and Maps and across operating systems, and it names hotel information as desktop-only, but no hours-specific differences between desktop and the app appear in Google’s documentation.

Set Your Main Hours, Including Split Shifts and Lunch Breaks

Main hours are the weekly schedule customers see on Search and Maps every day of the year. They support more than one time slot per day and a 24-hour setting, and the same Hours screen holds a no-hours option for appointment-based businesses.

Getting this schedule right matters more than any other hours setting, because other features build on it. Google’s special hours help article says special hours show up only when your profile is set to “Open with main hours,” and More hours don’t display until you first set regular hours.

Pick the setup that matches how customers actually reach you: split entries for a midday break, 24 hours only when someone can serve customers around the clock, or no main hours when every visit is booked in advance.

Add a Lunch Break or Split Shift

Google handles breaks by letting you create two entries for the same day. Google’s own example uses Saturday:

1. Check “Saturday” and set “Opens at” to 9:00 AM and “Closes at” to 2:00 PM.
2. Click “Add hours.”
3. Set the second slot, 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM.
4. Click Save.

A law office that closes from noon to 1:00 PM would enter 9:00 AM–12:00 PM and 1:00 PM–5:00 PM. Customers searching at 12:30 then see the office as closed instead of driving over to an empty reception desk.

Set Your Business to Open 24 Hours

For each day you never close, select “Opens at,” choose “24 hours,” then Save. Google’s Business Profile guidelines expect a business to be able to receive customers during its stated hours. An emergency plumbing or heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) company should claim 24 hours only if someone can respond at 3 a.m.

Handle a By-Appointment-Only Business

Google offers no by-appointment toggle. Its Business Profile guidelines say businesses that operate only by appointment shouldn’t provide hours.

Choose “Open with no main hours” instead. That keeps the listing live with no hours displayed, which differs from open 24/7.

If you choose this setting, you give up two other features. Special hours display only when main hours are set to “Open with main hours,” and More hours don’t display until regular hours exist. A service business that takes appointments inside a predictable window may get more from listing that window than from hiding hours.

Set Holiday and Special Hours for Specific Dates

Special hours change your schedule on chosen dates while your regular hours stay untouched. Google’s special hours help article lays out these steps:

1. Go to your Business Profile and select Edit profile, then Hours.
2. Next to “Special hours,” select Edit.
3. Pick a suggested date and choose “Review,” choose “Add a date” for a custom date, or select a date you already added.
4. If you’re open, uncheck “Closed” and enter hours. If you’re closed, check “Closed.”
5. For more than one set of hours on a date, select More, then “Add hours +.”
6. Select Save.

These rules apply to every special-hours entry:

• Six-day limit: Special hours cover adjustments or closures for up to six days in a row; longer or open-ended closures belong under Temporarily closed.
• 24-hour cap: A single set of special hours can’t exceed 24 hours.
• Past-midnight hours: Split a late night into two sets, one per date. Google ignores regular hours on the second date, so re-enter them there if needed.
• Main hours required: Special hours show only when the profile is set to “Open with main hours.”

Special hours appear to customers only on the dates you designate. You no longer change hours on the holiday and switch them back the next morning.

Set Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year hours as soon as your schedule is final, and review the suggested dates Google lists in the special hours editor. Google also recommends confirming hours for official holidays even when they match your regular hours, because it makes clear to customers that your hours are accurate.

Add More Hours Such as Delivery, Pickup and Online Service Hours

More hours let you publish separate schedules for specific services alongside your main hours. Google’s More hours help article gives this desktop path:

1. Go to your Business Profile and select Edit profile, then Hours.
2. Under “Add more hours,” choose a type, such as “Drive-through.”
3. Select the days and set hours for that type.
4. Click Save.

Google’s help article names delivery, takeout, drive-through, and pickup as examples. Search Engine Roundtable reported a longer list after Google added types for religious institutions and restaurants:

• Access, Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner and Kitchen
• Delivery, Takeout and Drive-through
• Happy hours and Senior hours
• Online service hours
• Prayer, Mass, Adoration, Confession, Jummah, Sabbath and Worship service

A restaurant might list kitchen hours; it might also list takeout and delivery windows. A law firm offering video consultations might use online service hours if that option appears in its editor.

Two rules govern how More hours display. They stay hidden until regular hours are set, and Google says they should generally be a subset of your main hours. For main hours themselves, Google’s guidelines tell restaurants to list dine-in hours first, then takeout, then drive-through, with delivery as a last resort. Google’s documentation doesn’t confirm the exact More hours step inside the Maps app.

Mark a Business as Temporarily or Permanently Closed

Use a closure status when an hours edit can’t describe the situation. Here is how the three options compare, based on Google’s closure help article:

Option	Use it when	What customers see
Special hours	Closed or changed for a few days	Adjusted hours on the chosen dates
Temporarily closed	Closed more than about a week, off-season, or closed indefinitely	“Temporarily closed” on Google Maps and Search
Permanently closed	The business has shut down for good	“Permanently closed”; the profile may still appear when searched

Google’s own threshold varies by article. The closure article says to use Temporarily closed for closures of more than seven days, while the special hours article sets the special hours limit at six days in a row. A full seven-day shutdown sits in the gray zone, and Temporarily closed is the cleaner choice.

Temporary closure affects visibility. Google says temporarily closed businesses can rank after open businesses for broad queries, depending on business category, query type, and how many matching businesses are also temporarily closed.

To change status, go to Edit profile, then Hours. In “Business hours,” next to “Hours,” select Edit, choose Temporarily closed or Permanently closed, and Save. Multi-location owners can select businesses in Business Profile Manager and use Actions, then Mark as temporarily closed or Mark as permanently closed.

To reopen, Google’s reopening help article says to follow the same path, choose “Open with main hours,” set days and times, and Save. A profile marked permanently closed by mistake can be reopened. If the closure came from a move or name change, Google says to add a new business instead of reopening the old profile.

Change Hours for Multiple Locations at Once

Franchisors and multi-location owners can update hours in bulk through a spreadsheet in Business Profile Manager. For a corporate marketing team running dozens of locations, this keeps holiday and seasonal changes consistent across the network.

Google’s bulk import help article describes the process. Download and edit your spreadsheet, then upload it:

1. Download and edit: select Actions, click Businesses under “Download,” choose a file type, and download. Keep the same store codes and include only the store-code column plus the columns you changed.
2. Upload: select Add business, then Import businesses, choose your .xls, .xlsx, .ods, or .csv file, then Preview changes and Apply.

A column heading with no data under it erases existing information for those locations. Google’s help articles also label the import path differently (“Add business” and “Import businesses” in one, “Add profile” and “Import profiles” in another), so follow the labels you see on screen and edit the file Google exports instead of building one from scratch.

Google’s bulk upload spreadsheet article and its special hours article accept these cell entries:

Schedule	Cell entry
Standard day	09:00-17:00 or 09:00 AM-05:00 PM
Close at midnight	09:00-00:00
Open 24 hours	00:00-00:00, 00:00-24:00 or 12:00AM-12:00AM
Closed all day	X or an empty cell
Two sets in one day	11:30-14:00, 17:00-22:00
Special hours column	YYYY-MM-DD: HH:MM-HH:MM, or YYYY-MM-DD: x for a closed day

Hours that run past midnight go in the column for the day the set begins. Separate multiple special-hours entries with commas.

Search Engine Roundtable reported a “Copy Hours” tool for bulk special hours in accounts managing 100 locations or fewer. It fully overwrites existing special hours at the selected locations, so check what each location already has before you copy.

Google also caps how many locations you can upload in a single day, and its bulk upload errors article says locations with errors won’t appear on Maps until they’re fixed.

How Long Hour Changes Take to Go Live, and Why Yours May Be Pending

In its edit status help page, Google says most edits clear review within 10 minutes, though some take up to 30 days. Google publishes no separate timing for Search versus Maps or for hours specifically.

Your edit status tells you whether the change is live or needs further review:

• Accepted: The change is approved and shows on Google.
• Pending or Not approved: Pending means Google is still checking, and nothing changes publicly until approval. Not approved means Google couldn’t confirm the edit is accurate, and you may be able to appeal.

Google lists several reasons an edit stalls or fails. It may not approve changes it can’t confirm, edits must follow its guidelines, content from unverified profiles might not appear, and suspended or disabled profiles need reinstatement before you can appeal any content decision.

Some rejections aren’t your fault. In March 2025, search engine optimization (SEO) specialists reported “Your edit was not approved” messages on simple edits, which one local SEO called a likely bug; Google hasn’t confirmed it.

Google added a way to check edit status in July 2025. Before resubmitting a rejected edit, update the hours on your website, because Google checks suggested updates against publicly available information such as your business website.

Owners in the UK and European Economic Area (EEA) can appeal a rejected edit through Google’s appeals tool with evidence such as a business license or utility bill, but appeals can only be submitted once.

Why Google Keeps Changing Your Hours and How to Fix It

Google changes hours without asking because it treats your profile as one input among several and updates it when other sources disagree. You can review many of those changes and edit your hours directly.

Google gathers business information from user reports, licensed content, and its own automated checks, then compares suggested updates against public information such as your website. When those sources disagree with your profile, Google may publish an update even if you never touched your hours.

The fix has two parts: answer Google’s suggested edits quickly, and remove the mismatches that trigger them. The sections below cover where changes come from, how to review them, what to do if you don’t control the listing yet, and how to keep every source consistent.

Where Google’s Changes Come From

In its Google updates help article and related pages, Google identifies these sources:

• User reports: Customers suggest edits through Maps and Search, including hours changes.
• Licensed content and your website: Google uses licensed data and checks updates against publicly available information, as covered in this look at how Google collects local listings information.
• Automated calls and texts: Google may contact your business with automated calls and texts to confirm details such as your hours.
• Machine learning: Google’s blog describes a model that identifies when business hours are likely wrong and updates them.

Search Engine Land reports, based on its author’s own tracking tool, that opening hours and other fields change more often in November, December, and before Easter. Those are the weeks when hours matter most.

How to Review, Approve or Reject Google’s Edits

Google shows a notification at the top of your profile when updates exist, and blue text in the editor marks information Google changed. For suggested edits Google notifies you about, you have four days to accept or reject. After that, Google may publish the edit if public information such as your website supports it.

Watch your inbox too. Since April 2026, Google has emailed verified, active owners to review important edits before they go live.

A Search Engine Roundtable report from September 2026 says some of these arrive as “Does this look right to you?” emails about user-suggested updates, with yes and no options and the same four-day window.

Updates from automated calls appear as Pending and can be edited or removed. To manage those calls, open Advanced settings under More Business Profile settings. Then select “Google automated calls and text messages.” In some regions and categories, a “Collected info” tab under Edit profile lets you confirm or delete gathered details.

Google’s documentation names no specific buttons for accepting or rejecting edits and gives no undo button, so the reliable fix for a bad change is to open Edit profile, then Hours. Enter the correct times there.

Fix Wrong Hours on a Listing You Don’t Control Yet

If nobody has claimed your listing, search it in Maps, select “Claim this business,” then “Manage now,” and complete verification, as Google’s claim your Business Profile help article describes.

If someone else manages it, go to business.google.com/add, find the business, and select “Request Access.” Google’s request ownership help article gives the current owner three days to respond, and you can suggest an edit to the hours in the meantime.

Keep Hours Consistent Across Your Website and Directories

Mismatched hours elsewhere give Google a reason to overwrite yours. Update your website the same day you change Google, then update Yelp and the other local business listing websites where your business appears.

Vendasta Local SEO keeps core profiles such as Google and Facebook in sync from one source record, so you can manage your local listings without retyping hours site by site.

For wider reach, Citation Builder submits business data to the Data Axle, Neustar/Localeze, and Foursquare aggregator networks, which reach 300+ platforms.

What Wrong Hours Cost Your Business

Customers who drive over and find a locked door may leave a bad review instead of returning. A Search Engine Land analysis of review content names customers inconvenienced by arriving at closed locations because of incorrectly listed hours as a common theme in negative reviews.

Consumers describe similar experiences in surveys. In a Data Axle consumer survey of 1,000 US consumers, commissioned by the data vendor and fielded in February 2026, 66% had visited or tried to visit a business only to find its online information was wrong. 85% said incorrect or outdated information affects whether they visit a business again.

You can lose customers the other way too. Searchers who see “Closed” during hours you’re staffed may move to the next listing before they ever dial, which undercuts any work you’ve put into Google Maps visibility.

Agencies managing client listings carry this risk across the whole portfolio. Because Google lets Managers edit hours and accept Google updates, the business can stay the owner while the agency works at Manager level. Run an hours check across every client before November, and see these listing management strategies for keeping profiles accurate at scale.

Plan for the Calls That Come In After Hours

Customers may still call after you close, even when you list accurate hours. ServiceTitan’s call trends data, drawn from a sample of its own customer accounts, shows that trades businesses receive 10.7% to 12.1% of calls outside normal business hours. Each of those callers wants an answer or a booked slot, and you can’t provide either through a voicemail greeting alone.

Vendasta AI Receptionist, one of the AI Employees in Vendasta’s AI Workforce, answers calls and handles web chats and texts 24/7 using your business information. It captures and qualifies the lead, then books the appointment.

For Choice Signature Luxury Car Rental, Elite Web Professionals used it to handle 1,017 calls and capture 778 qualified leads, with a 76% conversion rate over four months.

Agencies can deploy the AI Receptionist across client accounts from Partner Center under their own brand, adding after-hours lead capture to the listing work they already deliver without adding headcount.

To see how Vendasta AI Receptionist can handle after-hours calls for your business or your clients, book a Vendasta demo.

How to Change Business Hours on Google FAQs

1. What’s the difference between holiday hours and regular hours on Google?

Regular hours are your standard weekly schedule and stay in place year-round. Holiday hours, which Google calls special hours, apply only to the dates you choose and leave the rest of your calendar alone. Once a date passes, customers see your regular hours again without you editing anything.

2. How long does it take for updated hours to appear on Google?

Google reviews every hours edit before publishing it. Most edits clear within 10 minutes, though some take up to 30 days, and Google publishes no separate timeline for Search versus Maps. The edit shows as Pending until review finishes, and your public profile keeps the old hours until approval.

3. Why does my hours edit say pending or not approved?

Pending means Google is still checking the change. Not approved means Google couldn’t confirm the new hours or the edit broke a guideline. Unverified, suspended or disabled profiles can also block edits. Matching hours on your website helps, since Google checks updates against public information. UK and EEA owners can appeal once.

4. Can I update hours for several locations at the same time?

Yes. In Business Profile Manager, download your locations, edit the hours columns using the same store codes, and import the file again. Include only the store-code column plus columns you changed, because an empty column heading erases existing data. Separate two time sets in one day with a comma.

5. Should I use temporarily closed or permanently closed?

Use Temporarily closed for closures longer than about a week, seasonal shutdowns, or reopenings with no set date. Use Permanently closed only when the business has shut for good. If you moved or renamed, Google says to add a new profile instead of reopening the old one. Short closures belong in special hours.

6. What are More hours on a Google Business Profile?

More hours are secondary schedules for specific services, such as delivery, pickup, takeout, drive through, happy hours or online service hours. Google has added more types over time, including options for restaurants and religious institutions. They stay hidden until your regular hours are set and should generally fall within your main hours.

7. Do I need to be verified and signed in to change my hours?

You must sign in to the Google Account linked to the profile, with an Owner or Manager role. Google’s help pages conflict on verification: one says unverified profiles can still edit hours, another says some businesses must verify first. Content from unverified profiles might not appear, so verifying first is safer.

8. How do I fix hours that someone else changed on my listing?

Open Edit profile, then Hours, and enter the correct times, since owners and managers can edit directly. Google marks its own changes in blue text in the editor. For a suggested edit you’re notified about, accept or reject it within four days, or Google may publish it when public information supports it.

9. How should a by-appointment-only business show its hours?

Google’s guidelines say businesses that operate only by appointment shouldn’t list hours, and Google offers no by-appointment toggle. Choose Open with no main hours to keep the profile live with hours hidden. That setting also stops special hours and More hours from displaying, because both depend on main hours.

10. Can I change my business hours from my phone?

Yes. In the Google Maps app, tap Business at the bottom right, then Edit profile, then Hours, and tap Save. If your app shows only Explore, You and Contribute tabs, tap your profile picture and choose Your Business Profile. Google gives one set of mobile steps for both iPhone and Android.