---
title: "Menu Hours | Dashboard | SpotOn Express"
canonical: "https://help.spoton.com/space/SK/5696356669/Menu%20Hours%20%7C%20Dashboard%20%7C%20SpotOn%20Express"
format: markdown
---
# Overview

With menu hours, merchants can set when items are sold to automatically enforce availability across their sales channels (e.g. breakfast 8-11am M-F, brunch 10am-2pm Sat-Sun). Once configured, items can only be ordered outside their set menu hours via manager override on POS devices.

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**Quick Links**

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# Things to Know

- Menu category hours are set to **Always available **by default, meaning that items in that category can be ordered from POS devices whenever they are in use. For online ordering, the business hours configured from **Account & Settings > Business hours **still apply by default.
- Menu hours settings apply across POS devices, SpotOn Order, and most order integrations.
  - Hours cannot be customized per sales channel.
  - See [Limitations](https://spotonteam.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/SK/pages/edit-v2/5696356669#Limitations) below for partners that do not support menu hours configured in SpotOn.
- Menu hours settings are not supported for SpotOn Kiosk.

# Set Up Menu Hours

## Menu Category Hours

Menu hours are configurable per category and apply to all items in that category by default. To set a category’s menu hours:

1. In SpotOn Dashboard, go to **Menu & Tables > Items**
2. From the category list, hover over the category you want to update and click the **Edit **icon
3. Under **Availability**, select **Set hours**
  1. **Always Available **will be selected by default
4. Toggle on the days of the week the category should be available
5. For each day of the week toggled on, select a start and end time
  1. To add multiple time slots to the same day, click the **+ **icon next to the end time
6. Click **Save**

## Menu Item Hours

By default, menu items inherit their parent category’s configured hours. An item’s hours can be customized from the item form but must fall inside its parent category’s set hours.

To modify an item’s hours:

1. From **Menu & Tables > Items**, find the item you want to update. To open the edit item form:
  1. From the List view, click the **three-dot menu (⋮) **and select **Edit item**
  2. From the Grid view, click the menu item tile
2. Scroll to the **Availability** section at the bottom
3. Choose **Set custom hours for this item**
  1. **Follow category hours **will be selected by default
4. Modify the days of the week and their start/end times as needed
5. Click **Save**

# How It Works

Item availability is automatically enforced across all sales channels according to their set menu hours, meaning that items cannot be ordered outside their scheduled hours except via manager overrides on POS devices.

Ex: For a **Breakfast **category with menu hours set to Monday-Friday 8am-11am, items in that category are automatically displayed as available to order starting at 8am every weekday. After 11am, a manager override is required to unlock those items on POS devices.

## Business Hours for Online Ordering

For SpotOn Order and 3P ordering integrations, business hours set from **Account & Settings > Business hours **take priority over menu hours settings. This means that menu items will only be available on online ordering channels within configured business hours, even when menu hours fall outside of them.

# What Staff Will See

## Menu Hours

When viewing **All **items, menu hours are clearly displayed next to the menu category name for any category that has hours set. When a category’s hours are scheduled to end in 15 minutes or less, a countdown is displayed next to the category name.

![image](media://5d3f73bb-0db1-48f8-a54d-c3a751e53ee9)

## Manager Overrides on POS Devices

Menu items can be ordered outside their set hours via manager override.

**To order items from an off-schedule category:**

- Scroll to the bottom of the category list and select any category in the **Off schedule** section
- Tap **Unlock category**
- After entering a valid manager PIN, all items in that category will be available to add to cart until the order is sent

![CleanShot 2026-10-06 at 20.47.10-20261007-004911.gif](media://46eb2b0a-4a24-4e2f-8701-9c8c50b95d03)

**To order an off-schedule item from an available category**:

- Find the item you want to order by navigating to the category it belongs in or searching by item name, then tap the menu item
- After entering a valid manager PIN, that item will be available to add to cart until the order is sent

![CleanShot 2026-10-06 at 21.00.05-20261007-010110.gif](media://5365bd26-7325-43d3-b9b4-87c34ebd1611)

# Limitations

- Menu hours are not supported for SpotOn Kiosk.
- Menu hours configured in SpotOn are not supported by the following partners. For these integrations, schedules must be managed from partner dashboards:
  - Reddie (Kiosks & Menu Boards)
  - Incentivio
  - Deliverect

# Common Questions

**Q: Can menu hours be customized per sales channel?**

No. Menu hours apply across all sales channels. 

While menu hours can’t be customized per sales channel, it is important to note that business hours configured via **Account & Settings > Business hours** take priority over menu hours settings for online ordering channels.

This means that items are only available to order from these sales channels within configured business hours (even when menu hour settings fall outside that range). 

**Q: How can I order an item on a POS device outside its set hours?**

Use a manager override — unlock the off-schedule category or item with a manager PIN. It becomes available to add to the order until the check is sent, then reverts to off-schedule.

# Related Articles

[Create and Edit Menu Categories | Dashboard | SpotOn Express](https://help.spoton.com/space/SK/4487970823/Create+and+Edit+Menu+Categories+%7C+Dashboard+%7C+SpotOn+Express)

[Create and Edit Menu Items | SpotOn Express](https://help.spoton.com/space/SK/4487053330/Create+and+Edit+Menu+Items+%7C+SpotOn+Express)