> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://app.docs.circuly.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Blackout Dates & Holidays

> Block dates when rentals can't be booked — public holidays auto-seed on install, plus manual blackout dates.

## Overview

Blackout dates are days when rentals are unavailable shop-wide — store closures, maintenance windows, or public holidays. When a date is blacked out, customers can't start or hold a rental on that day from your storefront.

There are two sources of blocked days:

* **Public holidays** — automatically blocked based on your shop's country.
* **Manual blackouts** — specific dates you add yourself for closures, maintenance, and anything else.

Both live under **Shopify Admin** → **Circuly Rental & Subscriptions** → **Rentals** → **Blackouts**.

***

## Public holidays load automatically

<Info>
  When you install the app, Circuly tries to load your country's public
  holidays automatically based on your Shopify billing country. These pre-seeded
  countries get holidays out of the box:

  * **Netherlands (NL)**
  * **Germany (DE)**
  * **Spain (ES)**
  * **United Kingdom (UK)**
  * **United States (US)**

  Auto-loading is best-effort and never blocks installation. If your country
  isn't pre-seeded, no holidays are added automatically — you add the dates you
  need as manual blackouts instead.
</Info>

On the **Blackouts** page, the **Holiday country** selector controls which holiday calendar is used. It defaults to your Shopify billing country, and you can change it at any time. The **Public holidays** panel lists the holidays for the month you're viewing.

Public holidays are auto-blocked for bookings. You can still add a blackout on top of a holiday, or add extra days, on the calendar.

***

## Add a manual blackout date

Use a manual blackout for closures, maintenance weeks, or any day you don't want rentals to start.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Blackouts page">
    Go to **Shopify Admin** → **Circuly Rental & Subscriptions** → **Rentals** → **Blackouts**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick a day on the calendar">
    On the **Calendar** tab, click a day to select it. To block a range, click a
    second day to set the start and end — past days are locked and can't be
    selected.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open the blackout dialog">
    Click **Add blackout**. For a range, the button shows the number of days,
    e.g. **Add blackout (5 days)**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add an optional reason">
    In the **Reason (optional)** field, note why the dates are blocked — for
    example, *store closure* or *maintenance week*. Any days already blacked out
    in the range are skipped.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm">
    Click **Add blackout** to save. The selected days turn red on the calendar
    and appear under the **List** tab.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Remove a blackout

To unblock dates, select a blacked-out day (or range) on the **Calendar** tab and click **Remove blackout**, or switch to the **List** tab, select the rows, and choose **Remove blackout**. Bookings will be allowed on those days again — unless they're still covered by a public holiday.

***

## What customers see

Blacked-out dates and public holidays are unavailable on the storefront rental calendar. Customers can't pick those days as a rental start or hold date — they appear greyed out and unselectable, so a booking can never land on a day you've blocked.

<Note>
  In a country that isn't pre-seeded (anything outside NL, DE, ES, UK, and US),
  no public holidays are added for you. Add your national and regional holidays
  as manual blackout dates so customers can't book on days you're closed.
</Note>

***

## Related

<Card title="Rental booking flow" icon="arrow-right" href="/docs/mintlify/rental-booking-flow">
  How customers choose dates and complete a rental booking on your storefront.
</Card>