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# 🚀 Location How to Set Prep Time and Availability

Your team needs time to prepare an order — and customers shouldn't see slots you can't possibly fulfill ⏳

The **Prep time & availability** tab controls two things: how much preparation time you need before a slot becomes available, and how many days ahead customers can see.

In this guide, you'll learn how to:

* ⚙️ Choose between **Simple** and **Advanced** availability conditions  
* ⏰ Set a cut off time for same-day orders  
* 📅 Define preparation days and working hours  
* 🔢 Control how many days of slots customers can see

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# **📋 Before You Begin**

* You've created a location and set up its time slots (see *Location: How to Set Time Slots and Order Limits*)  
* You know how much notice your team needs to prepare an order

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# **⚙️ Step 1 — Open the Prep Time & Availability Tab**

→ Go to **Settings → Delivery & Pickup** → Click **Edit** on your location → Open the **Prep time & availability** tab

You'll see a **Local Delivery** section and/or a **Store Pickup** section — one per enabled fulfillment method.

💡 If both methods share the same prep rules, tick **Same as Local Delivery** in the Store Pickup section to reuse the Local Delivery configuration.

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# **🔘 Step 2 — Choose Simple or Advanced**

In the **Slot Availability Conditions** card, select one of the radio options:

* **Simple** → one cut off time covers everything — quick and easy ⚡  
* **Advanced** → define preparation days and working hours for finer control 🛠️

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# **⚡ Step 3A — Simple Mode: Cut Off Time**

With **Simple** selected, a single dropdown appears:

* **Cut off time for orders** → the latest time of day a customer can order and still get the earliest available slots (in 15-minute steps).

### **Example**

Cut off time `6:00 PM` → orders placed after 6 PM roll over to the next available day, giving your team the notice they need.

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# **🛠️ Step 3B — Advanced Mode: Prep Days & Working Hours**

With **Advanced** selected, three extra settings appear:

* **Select order preparation days** → tick the days of the week your team actually prepares orders (Monday–Sunday, multi-select)  
* **Work Starts At** → when preparation begins, e.g. `9:00 AM`  
* **Work Ends At** → when preparation stops, e.g. `6:00 PM`

### **Example**

Prep days: Mon–Fri, Work Starts At `9:00 AM`, Work Ends At `6:00 PM` → weekend orders are prepared from Monday morning, so Monday slots are the earliest ones shown.

💡 Use Advanced if your kitchen or warehouse doesn't operate every day — customers will only ever see slots your team can realistically prepare.

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# **🔢 Step 4 — Set How Many Days of Slots Are Shown**

→ Fill in **Number of days slots are shown to customer**.

### **Example**

* `5` → customers can book up to 5 days ahead  
* `30` → customers can plan a full month in advance

ℹ️ New locations start with **5 days** — a good balance between flexibility and predictability.

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# **💾 Final Step — Save**

→ Click **Save** in the save bar at the top of the page.

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# **🎉 Final Result**

Once saved:

✅ Customers never see slots your team can't prepare in time ✅ Cut off times or prep schedules match how your location actually works ✅ The booking window (number of days shown) fits your planning horizon ✅ Need to close specific dates entirely? See *Location: How to Block Specific Dates and Times*