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Shipping: Blockout Dates

Updated June 5, 2026

Block specific dates (or date ranges) from the shipping calendar. Prevent customers from selecting holidays, closed days, or unavailable dates for shipping.

Table of Contents

What Blockout Dates Do

What this feature does:

  • Prevents selection of specific calendar dates
  • Allows you to block holidays (e.g., Christmas, New Year)
  • Allows blocking of temporary closures
  • Sets maximum advance booking window (how far ahead customers can book)
  • Supports blocking entire days or specific time ranges

What this feature does NOT do:

  • Does not set preparation time or lead time (configured separately in Preparation Times)
  • Does not control operating hours or time slots (configured separately in Configure Availability)
  • Does not automatically reschedule orders — customers simply cannot select blocked dates

Step-by-Step Configuration

Step 1: Access Blockout Date Settings

  1. Go to Bird Settings > Shipping
  2. Scroll to the Blockout dates section

Shows the Blockout Dates section in Shipping settings

Step 2: Open the Date Picker

  1. Click the date input field (the field with the calendar icon that says “Select a date or date range”)
  2. A date picker popover will open

Shows the date input field and open date picker popover

Step 3: Choose Blocking Method

Inside the date picker, select how you want to block dates using the two buttons at the top:

Option A: Single dates

  • Click Single dates
  • Use this to block one or more individual non-consecutive dates (e.g., a holiday)
  • Multi-select supported — pick several dates before confirming

Option B: Date range

  • Click Date range
  • Use this to block a continuous span of dates (e.g., vacation closure from July 1 to July 15)

Shows Single dates and Date range segmented buttons inside the date picker

Step 4: Select Date(s)

For Single dates mode:

  1. Click any date in the calendar to select it — it will appear as a tag below the calendar
  2. Click additional dates to select multiple at once
  3. To deselect a date, click it again in the calendar or click the × on its tag
  4. Use the left/right arrows to navigate between months

Shows 2 dates selected as removable tags below the calendar in Single dates mode

For Date range mode:

  1. Click the start date in the calendar
  2. Click the end date — all dates between start and end will be highlighted
  3. Use the left/right arrows to navigate between months

Shows a date range highlighted on the calendar in Date range mode

Step 5: Set Time Restrictions (Optional)

Below the calendar, you will see a Time Range (Optional) section.

Block Entire Day (default):

  • Leave Start and End times empty
  • The entire day will be blocked

Block a Specific Time Period:

  1. Set a Start time (e.g., 12:00 PM)
  2. Set an End time (e.g., 11:59 PM)
  3. Only that time window will be blocked — other time slots on that date remain available

Example: Block only afternoon hours (12:00 PM - 11:59 PM) on an early-closure day.

Shows the Time Range (Optional) section inside the date picker with times filled in

Step 6: Add Blocked Date(s)

  1. Review your selected date(s) and any time restrictions you set
  2. Click the Add selected dates button at the bottom of the date picker
  3. The popover closes and the blocked date(s) appear in the table below the date field
  4. Repeat from Step 2 to block additional dates

Shows blocked dates listed in the table below the date field

Step 7: Set Maximum Available Days

Limit how far in advance customers can book shipping orders:

  1. In the Blockout dates section, find Max Available Days
  2. Enter the number of days customers can book in advance
    • Example: 30 = customers can book from the current date up to 30 days ahead (current date counts as day 1)
    • Example: 14 = customers can book for the next 2 weeks
    • Leave blank for unlimited (default)
  3. Click Save

Shows the Max Available Days field in the Blockout Dates section

Step 8: Save and Preview

  1. Review all your blocked dates in the table
  2. Click Save to apply changes
  3. Go to Bird Settings > Widget Design > Widget Preview to see how blocked dates appear to customers
  4. Test selecting dates to verify blocks work correctly

Shows widget preview with blocked dates grayed out

Managing Blocked Dates

Removing individual dates

  1. In the blocked dates table, check the box next to the date(s) you want to remove
  2. Click Delete selected in the bulk action bar that appears
  3. Click Save to apply the change

Removing multiple dates at once

  1. Check the boxes for all dates you want to remove, or use the header checkbox to select all visible rows
  2. Click Delete selected
  3. Click Save

Filtering the blocked dates table

When you have blockout dates across multiple months or years, filter dropdowns appear above the table:

  • Use the month dropdown to show only dates from a specific month
  • Use the year dropdown to show only dates from a specific year
  • The table shows 10 dates per page — use the pagination arrows to navigate

Common Use Cases

Holiday Closures

Scenario: Business closed for Christmas and New Year

Configuration:

  • Use Date range to block December 24-26 for Christmas
  • Use Date range to block December 31 - January 1 for New Year
  • Result: Customers cannot select these dates for shipping

Seasonal Breaks

Scenario: Warehouse closed for two-week summer maintenance

Configuration:

  • Use Date range to block July 15 - July 29
  • Result: No shipping available during maintenance period

Partial Day Closures

Scenario: Early closure on a Friday (close at noon)

Configuration:

  • Use Single dates to select the specific Friday
  • Set Start Time: 12:00 PM, End Time: 11:59 PM
  • Result: Customers can only book Friday morning slots; afternoon is blocked

Limited Booking Window

Scenario: Only accept shipping orders up to 2 weeks in advance

Configuration:

  • Set Max Available Days to 14
  • Result: Customers see only the next 14 days in the calendar

Troubleshooting

Issue: Blocked dates still appear available

Problem: Blockout dates may not be saved or configured correctly.

Solution:

  1. Verify you clicked Add selected dates inside the date picker before the popover closed
  2. Check that the date appears in the blocked dates table
  3. Ensure you clicked Save to apply changes
  4. Clear browser cache and test again

Issue: Can’t select dates far in advance

Problem: Maximum Available Days may be set too low.

Solution:

  1. Check Max Available Days setting
  2. Increase the number if you want a longer booking window
  3. Save and test again

Quick Reference

Blocking Methods:

  • Single dates: Block one or more individual dates (multi-select supported)
  • Date range: Block a continuous span of dates

Time Restrictions:

  • Add Start/End times to block only part of a day
  • Leave blank to block the entire day

Max Available Days:

  • Limits how far ahead customers can book
  • Leave blank for unlimited advance booking

Navigation: Bird Settings > Shipping > Blockout dates

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