How to Disable Specific Dates in the Shopify Checkout Calendar (Block Weekends & Holidays)
Learn exactly how to block weekends, holidays, and specific dates in your Shopify checkout calendar. Follow our step-by-step guide to stop failed deliveries today.
You run a tight fulfillment schedule. Your warehouse team works Monday through Friday. Your freight carrier does not drive on Sundays.
Yet, your customer reaches checkout and expects their custom order to arrive on a Saturday morning. If you allow them to select that date, you have broken a promise before the credit card is even charged.
Failed deliveries cost high-ticket merchants serious money in return freight and angry customer support tickets. To prevent this, you must control the exact dates your customers can select.
This guide will show you exactly how to disable specific dates, block entire weekends, and black out holiday ranges in your Shopify checkout calendar.
The Native Shopify Limitation
If you are looking for a hidden button inside your default Shopify admin to add a delivery calendar, you will not find one.
Native Shopify settings are highly limited when it comes to delivery scheduling. The platform is built to offer standard shipping rates, not specific calendar selections. To disable specific dates in the Shopify checkout calendar, you must use a third-party delivery date app like Flare, Zapiet, or Identixweb.
For this tutorial, we will use Flare's Delivery Date Picker. It provides a visual interface that lets you control your schedule without touching a single line of code.
Step-by-Step Guide: Blocking Dates in Shopify
The following instructions are based on a walkthrough by Alex, CTO and co-founder of Flare. By the end of these steps, you will have a fully customized calendar that strictly follows your operational reality.
Step 1: Install the App and Add to Theme
To start, make sure you have installed the Flare app from the Shopify App Store.
Once installed, open the app and begin the setup flow. Complete the first step, which is adding the delivery date picker to your active Shopify theme.
Step 2: Set Your Earliest and Latest Available Dates
You do not want a customer ordering a product at 11:00 PM and expecting it the next morning if you need time to pack it. You also do not want them booking a delivery for a date six months in the future.
Click "Next" to reach the calendar configuration page.
Earliest Available Date: Choose the earliest date a customer can select. For example, if you need two days of prep time, set the calendar to only allow selections at least two days into the future.
Latest Available Date: The default is often set to 180 days. If you only want people to order up to 14 days ahead, update the number to 14.
As you change these numbers, the calendar preview will update instantly to show you exactly what the customer will see on your storefront.
Step 3: Disable Weekends (Available Delivery Days)
If your courier does not operate on weekends, you must remove those days entirely.
Staying on the configuration page, locate the "Choose available delivery days" section. If you do not deliver on Saturdays or Sundays, simply cross out "Sunday" and cross out "Saturday" in the menu.
The live preview will immediately update to show that only Monday through Friday are available for delivery. Click "Next" and finish the basic setup.
Step 4: Block Specific Single Dates
What happens when a national holiday lands on a Wednesday? You need to block that single day.
Open your Flare app and click on the "Calendar Configuration" page located in the bottom left.
Scroll down to the "Blocked dates" section.
Click on "Add block dates" and choose to apply it to all dates.
Click on "Pick a date".
Hover over the specific date your warehouse is closed (for example, June 25th) and click "Add date".
You will see June 25th added to your blocked dates list, and the preview will instantly show that date greyed out and unclickable.
Step 5: Block a Date Range
Sometimes your fulfillment team takes an entire week off, or you shut down production for maintenance.
In the same "Blocked dates" section, select the option to add a range of dates.
Select your start date and your end date. For example, choose June 23rd through June 27th.
Click to add that range.
The entire block of days will appear in the list below, and the preview calendar will reflect the newly blocked week.
Once you are happy with these rules, click "Save" in the top right corner.
If you go to your live product page and refresh, you will see your new logic in action. If today is the 18th and you set a two-day minimum, the 20th is the first option. If you blocked out the 23rd to the 27th, those days are entirely unclickable, while the following Monday remains open.
Advanced Calendar Controls
Blocking weekends and holidays is the baseline. As you scale, your delivery logic will require even more precision. Apps like Flare allow you to build rules that dictate exactly when specific items can move.
Product Lead Times: You can set different availability rules based on the product. If a customer buys a custom-made item, the calendar can automatically block out the first six weeks to account for manufacturing.
Order Limits: You can configure the app to limit the number of orders per day. Once your team hits capacity, the app automatically disables that date for the next shopper.
Location-Specific Blocking: If you run multiple stores, you can set location-specific block dates for store pickups when a specific retail location is closed.
Quick Takeaways
Shopify cannot do this alone: You need a third-party app to add a calendar and restrict dates at checkout.
Set your window: Always define the earliest and latest possible delivery dates to manage customer expectations.
Turn off weekends globally: Deselect Saturday and Sunday from your available delivery days if your carrier only operates on weekdays.
Block holidays manually: Use the "Blocked Dates" feature to grey out specific holidays or multi-day warehouse closures.
The Final Word
An open calendar is a liability. When a customer picks a delivery date you cannot honor, you lose money on support hours and risk negative reviews.
By taking five minutes to configure your available days, block your weekends, and black out your holidays, you protect your operations team. You trade delivery uncertainty for total control.
Install a delivery date app, lock down your schedule, and stop fulfilling orders on your days off.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can I block dates using my own code instead of an app? Yes. Developers can use JavaScript commands like beforeShowDay to disable specific dates in a custom jQuery datepicker. However, maintaining this code for every upcoming holiday is highly inefficient compared to using an app interface.
2. Can I block dates for certain zip codes only? Yes. Advanced apps allow you to tailor delivery dates by the customer's location. You can show different lead times or block specific days of the week based on regional, local, or remote postcodes.
3. If I block a date on the calendar, does it change the Shopify "estimated delivery" text? While you control the selection calendar perfectly, the "Current delivery estimate" text generated by Shopify on the default thank-you page is automatic and cannot currently be overridden. It is highly recommended to display your own custom confirmation text.
4. Can I block a date automatically when we get too busy? Yes. You can cap how many orders or deliveries your team can handle per day. Once that daily order limit is reached, the date is automatically disabled to protect your team from overload.
5. How do I test if my blocked dates are working? Always use the visual calendar preview inside the app configuration dashboard. After saving, go to your live product page or cart, refresh the screen, and try to click the dates you just blocked. They should be greyed out and unselectable.