HOLIDAY HOURS SIGN
Free holiday hours sign template — for the door, the website and Google
A printable holiday hours sign with the 2026 dates already on it, a closed-for-the-holidays notice, and where to post the same hours so nobody drives over to a locked door. Free in Word and PDF.
Word and PDF · Free · No email, no sign-up
The short answer
A holiday hours sign lists every date your hours differ from normal — the early closes, the days you're shut, the day regular hours resume — and how to reach you in between. One line per date, in order, big enough to read from the sidewalk.
The sign on the door reaches the people who walk past. Everyone else checks Google or your website first, so the same hours go in six places: the door, your website, your Google Business Profile, your social profiles, your voicemail and your booking page or online store. The checklist below walks through all six.
In the US, the season runs from the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (Nov 25, 2026) to New Year's Day (Fri, Jan 1, 2027) — Small Business Saturday is Nov 28. The sign has those dates on it; you add the hours.
FREE TEMPLATE · WORD AND PDF
The holiday hours sign, ready to print
The 2026–27 holiday dates are filled in; replace the [bracketed] hours with yours, delete the dates that don't change, and print. Letter size, portrait. Free, no email address, no sign-up.
Template · replace the [brackets]
| [Your business name] | |
| Holiday Hours | |
| Thank you for a wonderful year — here's when you'll find us over the holidays | |
| Date | Hours |
|---|---|
| Wed, Nov 25 | [9 am – 3 pm] |
| Thanksgiving, Thu Nov 26 | Closed |
| Black Friday, Fri Nov 27 | [9 am – 6 pm] |
| Small Business Saturday, Sat Nov 28 | [9 am – 6 pm] |
| Christmas Eve, Thu Dec 24 | [9 am – 2 pm] |
| Christmas Day, Fri Dec 25 | Closed |
| Sat, Dec 26 | [Closed] |
| New Year's Eve, Thu Dec 31 | [9 am – 3 pm] |
| New Year's Day, Fri Jan 1 | Closed |
| Regular hours resume | Mon, Jan 4 |
| [Anything else that changes — e.g. last orders for Christmas delivery are Fri, Dec 18.] | |
| Order, book or reach us any time at [your website] · [your phone] | |
The Word file is a standard .docx you can edit in Word or any app that opens Word documents; the PDF prints as-is. Print at “Actual size”; for a window, print it twice and tape them back to back.
CLOSURE NOTICE
The closed for the holidays sign
For a business that shuts for a stretch: the dates you're closed, the day you reopen, how to reach you if it's urgent, and where to order or book meanwhile.
Template · replace the [brackets]
| [Your business name] | |
| Closed for the Holidays | |
| We're taking a short break | |
| Closed [Thu, Dec 24] – [Sun, Jan 3] | |
| We reopen | [Mon, Jan 4] at [9 am] |
| Urgent? | [Phone or email] |
| Online | [your website] — open around the clock |
| Thank you for shopping small this year. Happy holidays from all of us at [your business name]. | |
Put the reopening date on it in bigger letters than the closing date — it's the one people need.
THE SIX PLACES
Where to post your holiday hours
The sign is one of six. Do all six in one sitting, two weeks before the first changed day.
- The door or window. The printed sign, at eye height, facing out. Add the reopening date in the biggest letters on the page.
- Your website. A line at the top of the home page and the same dates on your contact page — it's where people check before they drive over, and where they order or book while you're closed.
- Your Google Business Profile. Special hours for each holiday date, so the listing on Google Search and Maps shows that day's hours — or Closed — instead of your regular ones. Steps below.
- Your social profiles. One post with the hours, pinned, and the same line in the bio or “about” field where there's room.
- Your voicemail and email. A greeting that says the dates and the reopening day, and an auto-reply that does the same with a link to your website.
- Your booking page or online store, if you have one. Block the closed days so nobody books a slot you can't keep, and set the last order date for anything that ships before Christmas.
How to set holiday hours on your Google Business Profile
Special hours change the listing for one date without touching your regular hours. From Google's own help page, read October 2026.
Open your Business Profile
Signed in to the Google account that manages the business, search for your business name on Google, or open it in the Google Maps app, and select Edit profile, then Hours.
Find Special hours
In the Business hours section, next to Special hours, select Edit. Google suggests the upcoming public holidays; confirm each suggested date, or select Add a date for one it doesn't list.
Set the hours for each date
Enter the opening and closing times for that date, or check the Closed box for a day you're shut. Add every date on your sign, including the early closes. Special hours cover a closure of up to six days in a row; closed for seven or more, Google says to mark the business Temporarily closed instead, and switch it back the day you reopen.
Save
Select Save. Special hours only show if your profile's status is “Open with main hours”, so check that first if a date doesn't appear.
Check the listing
Search your business name in a private browser window and open the hours. The dates you set should show their special hours, or Closed, rather than your regular hours.
Put the same hours on your website
Google and your website are checked by different people, and special hours don't carry over from one to the other. Copy the same dates to the home page and the contact page.
Put the same hours on your website
The website is the place people check on their phone in the car, so it needs the hours in two spots: a line at the top of the home page (“Holiday hours: closed Dec 24 – Jan 3, back Mon Jan 4”) and the full list on the contact page. Change them the day the season ends, or the January customer reads December's hours. (A closure that long is seven-plus days, so on Google it's “Temporarily closed”, not special hours.)
If your website is on Zarla, you change the hours in chat — type the new line and it's on the page. Holiday hours live on Google's side as special hours, so set them there too (the steps above); nothing copies special hours from one to the other, on any platform, so do both.
Closed for a stretch? The site keeps working: a booking form takes January's appointments, and a gift certificate gives the people who missed you something to buy while the door is shut.
The sign, the website and Google, in step
Put your holiday hours on a website that's always open
Add what you do, your town and your business name to the sentence, and Zarla builds your website from that one line. Change your hours in chat whenever they change, and set the same dates as special hours on your Google Business Profile.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.
THE DATES
The 2026–27 holiday dates for your sign
US dates first; Boxing Day for Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
| Day | Date | What most businesses do |
|---|---|---|
| Thanksgiving | Thu, Nov 26, 2026 | Closed. The Wednesday before is a short day for many. |
| Black Friday | Fri, Nov 27, 2026 | Open, often longer hours for shops. |
| Small Business Saturday | Sat, Nov 28, 2026 | Open — the day shoppers go looking for businesses like yours on purpose. |
| Christmas Eve | Thu, Dec 24, 2026 | Early close, commonly early afternoon. |
| Christmas Day | Fri, Dec 25, 2026 | Closed. |
| Boxing Day | Sat, Dec 26, 2026 | A public holiday in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, and in parts of Canada — on a Saturday this year, so the UK, Australia and New Zealand observe it on Mon, Dec 28. A normal Saturday in the US. |
| New Year's Eve | Thu, Dec 31, 2026 | Early close. |
| New Year's Day | Fri, Jan 1, 2027 | Closed. Regular hours commonly resume Mon, Jan 4. |
Holiday hours signs: common questions
Every date your hours differ from normal, one per line in date order — the early closes, the days you're closed, and the day regular hours resume — plus how to reach you meanwhile (phone, email, website). Keep the dates that don't change off the sign; a shorter sign gets read.
Two weeks before the first changed day, and the Google Business Profile special hours at the same time — people plan Thanksgiving-week and Christmas-week errands early. Take the sign down the day regular hours resume, or the January customer reads December's hours.
Open your Business Profile (search your business name on Google while signed in), select Edit profile, then Hours, then Edit next to Special hours. Confirm Google's suggested holiday dates or add your own, enter the hours for each date or check Closed, and save. Special hours only show when the profile's status is “Open with main hours”, and they're for closures of up to six days in a row — closed for seven or more, mark the business Temporarily closed and switch it back when you reopen.
Yes — Google and your website are checked by different people, and your website is where someone orders or books while you're closed. A line at the top of the home page and the full list on the contact page is enough.
Say so on the sign (“Open Thanksgiving, 8 am – 1 pm”) and set it as special hours on Google with the actual times — Google suggests confirming your hours for official holidays, and a listing that says nothing leaves customers guessing.
The template prints at US Letter size (8.5 × 11 inches), portrait, which reads from a few feet away on a door. For a window seen from the street, print it at “Fit to page” on tabloid (11 × 17) paper, or take the PDF to a print shop.
Yes. The sign and the closed-for-the-holidays notice download free as a Word document and a PDF — no email address, no sign-up. Edit the Word file in Word or any app that opens Word documents, or print the PDF and write the hours in by hand.
Sources
Read October 23, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help — Set special hours — the Edit profile → Hours → Special hours steps, the suggested dates and the “Open with main hours” condition
- US Small Business Administration — Small Business Saturday — Saturday, November 28, 2026
Be open online while the door is closed
Add what you do, your town and your business name, and Zarla builds the site from that one line — with your hours, a booking form and gift cards on it.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.