Google Business Profile

How to mark your business permanently closed on Google

Go to Edit profile, then Hours, select Edit next to Hours, choose Permanently closed and Save. Your profile then shows as Permanently closed. Use it only when the business is gone, not when it's moving or renaming.

5 steps

  1. Step 1: Be sure the business is closing for good at this location. For a pause, use Temporarily closed instead.
    1 min
  2. Step 2: Go to your Business Profile at business.google.com and select Edit profile, then Hours.
    1 min
  3. Step 3: In Business hours, next to Hours, select Edit, then Permanently closed, then Save.
    1 min
  4. Step 4: Closing several locations? In Business Profile Manager select them, choose Actions, then Mark as permanently closed, and confirm.
    2 min
  5. Step 5: Search for your business name afterward and check the profile now reads Permanently closed.
    1 min
  6. Arrived: Your profile reads Permanently closed on Search and Maps. People who search for you by name can still find it, with the closure clearly shown.

Checked 13 Nov 2026 · source: support.google.com

Closing honestly helps everyone

When a business shuts its doors, the Google profile keeps working unless someone tells it otherwise. People keep finding it, keep driving over, and keep leaving reviews about a locked door. Marking it permanently closed is the last useful thing the profile does: it tells anyone still searching that the business is gone.

Google doesn’t wipe the listing when you do this. A permanently closed profile can still show up when someone searches for it by name, labeled as closed. That’s by design. An old customer looking up your number finds the answer instead of a dead line.

Closed is not the same as moved or renamed

This is where owners get caught. Google’s reopening guidance has a specific warning: if the business was marked permanently closed because of a location change or a name change, don’t reopen that profile. Add a new business and verify it. If you want the old reviews to follow, Google’s page says to contact it for help, without promising the outcome.

So before you mark anything closed, be clear which situation you’re in:

  • Shutting down for good. Mark it permanently closed.
  • Moving across town. Look at the moving guidance rather than closing.
  • Selling to someone who’ll keep running it. Transfer the profile to them. Nothing is closing.
  • Pausing for renovations or a season. Use Temporarily closed.

Closed versus deleted

Marking closed and deleting are separate. Closing changes the label customers see. Removing a profile from your account is a different process with its own page, and Google’s closure page doesn’t cover it. For most shutdowns, closed is what you want: it gives searchers the right answer.

If Google closed you by mistake

Customers, data updates and edits from other people can flip a listing to closed. If your open business suddenly shows Permanently closed, the fix is in the same place. Go to Edit profile, then Hours, choose Open with main hours, tick your days and set the times. Google’s closure page mentions an email when it receives an update that a location is temporarily closed, but doesn’t say the same for permanent closures, so search your own name now and then.

Several locations closing

Chains closing some branches can do it in bulk. In Business Profile Manager, select those locations, choose Actions, then Mark as permanently closed, and confirm the same choice in the dialog. Check each one afterward so you didn’t catch an open branch by accident.

If it doesn't work

  • Google shows you as permanently closed but you're open: follow the reopening steps under Hours and choose Open with main hours.
  • You're moving, not closing: Google says if a profile was closed because of a location or name change, don't reopen it. Add and verify a new profile.
  • You want the listing gone entirely: marking closed doesn't delete it. Removing a profile from your account is a separate process.
  • Your new location needs the old reviews: Google's reopening page says to contact Google for help moving reviews.

Questions owners ask

Will my business disappear from Google after I mark it closed?

Not completely. Google says a permanently closed profile may still appear for people who search for it, and it clearly shows the business is closed. That stops old customers from showing up at an empty storefront.

Someone else marked my open business permanently closed. How do I fix it?

Google's reopening page says you can reopen a business mistakenly marked permanently closed. Open Edit profile, then Hours, choose Open with main hours, tick your open days, set the times and save.

I sold the business and the new owner is keeping it open. Should I mark it closed?

No. The business isn't closing, it's changing hands. Hand the profile to the new owner by making them primary owner, so the listing and its reviews carry on under them.

Can I undo a permanent closure later?

Yes, through the same reopening steps. But if you're reopening somewhere new or under a new name, Google's guidance is to create and verify a new profile rather than revive the old one.

Sources

Checked 13 Nov 2026. When the platform changes its process we update this page and log it in What changed.

Related fixes

Written by Ellis Marr (a pen name) · Checked 13 Nov 2026 · How we check