The hours on Google are wrong, or the phone number changed, or you finally have a new photo of the shop, and the dashboard you used to open is nowhere to be found. You search for it, click around, and end up on pages that describe buttons you cannot see. The good news is that there is no hidden dashboard to find. To edit your Google Business Profile, you sign in to the right Google Account and make the change from Google Search on a computer or from the Google Maps app on a phone. The whole job usually takes a couple of minutes. What slows you down is rarely the button itself. It is signing in with the wrong account, not having owner or manager access, or not knowing what the status after saving means. This page walks through each of those in the order you will meet them.
Key Takeaways
Sign in, search your business name and city or "my business", select Edit profile, change the field, and select Save.
In the Google Maps app, tap Business at the bottom right, tap Edit profile, change the field, and tap Save.
Check the Google Account first, then whether the profile is claimed, then whether you are listed under People and access.
Google says edits usually take up to 10 minutes to review, some take up to 30 days, and photos can take 24 to 48 hours.
Edit your hours, phone number or photos in a few minutes
Google's own help page for editing a profile gives one route for a computer and one for a phone, and both start the same way: you must be signed in to the Google Account linked to the profile. Once you are, the steps are short. Pick the device in front of you below. Both routes reach the same profile and the same fields, such as hours, address, contact details and photos.
On a computer
Search Google for your business name and city, or search for `my business`. Your Business Profile appears with management controls above or beside it when you are signed in to the right account. Select `Edit profile`, change what you need, and select `Save`. Google describes these steps on its Edit your Business Profile page, and its Find your business on Google page explains the search.
Change one thing at a time when you can. If you are updating hours and the phone number together, save after each, so that you can see which change, if any, sits in review.
On a phone
Open the Google Maps app and make sure the account shown at the top is the one that manages the profile. At the bottom right, tap `Business`. Tap `Edit profile`, make the change, and tap `Save`. The phone route is handy for something small, such as moving a closing time on a holiday evening or adding a photo you just took in the shop.
Get the Edit profile button back when you cannot see it
If you search for your business and no `Edit profile` button appears, the cause is almost always about who you are signed in as, not about where the button went. Google lists the likely reasons: the account is different from the one connected to the profile, the business has not been claimed, or you have not been added as an owner or manager. Work through them in that order, because each check takes under a minute and each one rules out the next.
Run this ten-minute check from top to bottom:
- Sign out of every Google Account in the browser, then sign in only to the account you believe manages the profile.
- Search Google for `my business` or for your business name and city.
- Look for `Edit profile` on the profile. On a phone, open Google Maps and tap `Business`.
- If the controls are missing, switch to any other Google Account you have used for the business and repeat the search.
- If no account shows controls, ask the person who set the profile up to open `More`, then `Business Profile settings`, then `People and access`, and look for your email address.
- If nobody has ever claimed the profile, claim it and complete Google's verification.
Stopping at step 4 or 5 usually finds the answer. A common pattern is a profile that a web designer, a former employee or a spouse set up under a personal email, and nobody remembers which one. The fix is to get that person to add you, or to confirm the account they used and sign in as it.
Give an employee or agency access without sharing a password
Never share your Google password with anyone who helps with your profile. Google's owners and managers page describes a better way: each person uses their own Google Account, and an owner assigns a role. Owners can invite people through `More`, then `Business Profile settings`, then `People and access`.
The two roles differ in a way that matters for planning. A manager can edit profile information, including hours and other details, but cannot add or remove users. An owner can do both. So, the person who answers the phones can be a manager, while you or a business partner stay as owner. When a staff member leaves or a vendor contract ends, the owner removes their access from the same screen.
| Task | Owner | Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Edit hours, contact details and other profile information | Yes | Yes |
| Invite new people | Yes | No |
| Remove people | Yes | No |
| Keep a personal Google password private | Yes | Yes |
If you work with an outside company, ask them to request access under their own account and keep yourself listed as an owner. That way the profile stays yours if you ever part ways.
Know whether your change went live
After you save, Google reviews edits to verified profiles before it shows them. In its guide to what happens to your edits, Google says edits usually take up to 10 minutes to review, though some pending edits can take up to 30 days. Each edit shows one of three statuses.
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Accepted | The updated information displays | Check the listing on a phone and a computer |
| Pending | Google is still reviewing the edit | Wait through the review window and recheck |
| Not approved | Google did not accept it, often because it could not confirm accuracy | Compare the entry with Google's guidelines, correct it and submit again |
Photos follow separate rules. Google's photos and videos page says photos can take 24 to 48 hours to appear, and a photo can stay pending or be rejected if it breaks the content policy. Choosing a cover photo does not guarantee it will show first, so do not hold a launch for it.
Pending does not mean broken. Give the edit its time, check back, and note the date you saved. If a change you saved long ago still has not appeared, our post on Google Business Profile edits not showing goes through the usual causes and the free fix for each.
Use Business Profile Manager only when you run many locations
Business Profile Manager is still around, but it has a narrower job than the old dashboard people remember. Google says an individual profile can be managed directly through Search and Maps, and that multiple profiles can be managed together through Business Profile Manager. Its bulk import and update page covers spreadsheet uploads, location lists, store codes and bulk verification, and its page on agency business groups covers groups of profiles managed together.
For one shop, one office or one service business, you do not need any of it. You will edit your hours on Search or Maps and move on. If you are opening a second site, read how to add a second location to Google Business Profile before you add an address to your existing profile, because a new place usually needs its own profile. Once you have several, Business Profile Manager and bulk updates start to earn their place.
Keep what you type accurate so Google accepts it
A saved edit that Google cannot confirm often ends as `Not approved`. Google's representation guidelines say a profile should describe the real business: regular customer-facing hours, a phone number under the business's direct control, and no redirecting phone numbers or web addresses. A service-area business should have one profile for its central office or location with a designated service area, and a virtual office that is not staffed during business hours is not permitted.
A few habits keep edits clean:
- Write hours the way customers will meet them, including the days you are closed.
- Use the number that rings at your business, not a forwarding line that sends callers elsewhere.
- Match the address you give to the one on your website and your door.
- If your pin sits in the wrong spot, fix that with the steps in our post on a wrong Google Maps pin.
- If you moved, follow the steps in changing your business address on Google instead of overwriting the old one.
Google also warns owners to protect their profile from unwanted changes, which is another reason to keep access limited to people with their own accounts. If a profile is ever suspended, our post on a suspended Google Business Profile lays out the recovery steps.
Decide whether to do this yourself or hire help
Changing hours, a phone number or a photo is a job you can do yourself in a few minutes, so start there. Then look at the rest of the profile with fresh eyes. Our post on writing a Google Business Profile description and the guide to Google Business Profile questions and answers cover two places where a little time pays off.
Help becomes worth a conversation when the work is bigger than one edit. That means recovering access to a profile nobody can sign in to, getting through verification, handling repeated rejected edits, keeping several locations consistent, or tying the profile to your website and the rest of your local search work. If you want to know what that costs before you decide, read Google Business Profile management cost. If you want someone else to carry the upkeep, our Google Business Profile management service keeps your account access in your name.
Can you find your Google Business Profile editor?
Pick an answer to begin.
1. You are on a phone and want to change your closing time. Where do you start?
2. You search for your business and there is no Edit profile button. What do you check first?
3. Your edit shows Pending. What does that mean?
Frequently Asked Questions About how to edit google business profile
Where do I edit my Google Business Profile on a computer?
Sign in to the Google Account that manages the profile, search Google for your business name and city or `my business`, select `Edit profile`, make the change, and select `Save`.
Where do I edit it on an iPhone or Android phone?
Open the Google Maps app, tap `Business` at the bottom right, tap `Edit profile`, make the change, and tap `Save`.
Do I need Business Profile Manager for one business?
No. Google supports direct editing through Search and Maps for an individual profile. Business Profile Manager is for managing multiple profiles in bulk.
Why can I not see the Edit profile button?
You may be signed in to a different Google Account, the profile may not be claimed, or you may not be listed as an owner or manager. Check the account first, then `People and access`.
How long does a Google Business Profile edit take?
Google says edits usually take up to 10 minutes to review, and some pending edits can take up to 30 days. Photos can take 24 to 48 hours to appear.
Can a manager change business hours?
Yes. Google says managers can edit profile information, including hours. Only owners can add or remove users.
Moving Forward
The route is simple once you know it. On a computer, search for your business while signed in to the right account and select `Edit profile`; on a phone, open Google Maps, tap `Business`, and tap `Edit profile`. If the button is missing, check the account, the claim and `People and access`, in that order. After you save, watch for Accepted, Pending or Not approved, and give photos a day or two.
Doing this yourself keeps your hours, number and photos right on the day they change, and it keeps your profile in the hands of people who have their own accounts. That is worth far more than a profile that is correct once and out of date by the next holiday.
If you want a second pair of hands, Web Leveling can take over the upkeep, from access and verification to keeping every location consistent, through our Google Business Profile management service. You stay listed as an owner of your own profile the whole time. We work with small and medium businesses across the country and overseas. Tell us what your profile needs, and we will help you sort out what to do yourself and what to hand off.
Terms
Google Business Profile words in this post
Tap a term to see what it means.
Business Profile. A business's free listing on Google Search and Maps, formerly called Google My Business.
Edit profile. The button on your profile in Search or in the Maps app that opens the fields you can change.
Owner. A person with full control of a profile, including adding and removing users.
Manager. A person who can edit profile information but cannot add or remove users.
People and access. The settings screen where owners invite, assign and remove people.
Business Profile Manager. Google's tool for managing multiple profiles together, including bulk updates.
Pending. The status that means Google is still reviewing an edit.
