When Is Black Friday This Year? Date, Start and End

Summary: When is Black Friday this year? Friday 27 November 2026, the day after Thanksgiving. The sales start well before it: Target opened early deals on 5 November, Walmart's main Black Friday event runs 23 to 29 November, and most deals finish with Cyber Monday on 30 November. Most prices are matched at other points in the year, so an item's price history matters more than the date.

• Black Friday 2026 is Friday 27 November, and Cyber Monday is Monday 30 November.
• Walmart's main Black Friday sale runs 23 to 29 November, after an early round from 12 to 15 November.
• The date moves every year because it follows Thanksgiving, the fourth Thursday in November.
• Which? found none of 175 tracked products at their lowest price on Black Friday 2024.

If you searched "what day is black friday" expecting a fixed date, there isn't one. Black Friday is always the day after US Thanksgiving, and this year Thanksgiving falls on Thursday 26 November, so Black Friday is Friday 27 November.

When Is Black Friday This Year?

Black Friday 2026 falls on Friday 27 November. Nothing about the Black Friday date is official: it is not a public holiday and no organisation sets it, which is why retailers start their sales whenever they choose. Here is when is Black Friday for the next three years.

Why the Black Friday Date Moves Every Year

Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, and Black Friday is the Friday after it. Because November does not begin on the same weekday each year, the Black Friday date drifts between the 23rd and the 29th. Any page still quoting last year's date is no use to you.

When Does Black Friday Start?

The Friday stopped being the real start years ago. When does Black Friday start in practice? For most big retailers it is the week before, and some run early rounds from the beginning of November, which is why "when does black friday sales start" gets a different answer at every store. These are the schedules announced so far.

Amazon is the one most people wait for, and we track its timing in our guide to Amazon Black Friday dates and deals.

When Does Walmart Black Friday Start?

When does Walmart Black Friday start? Walmart split the season into three events this year. Early Black Friday deals run 12 to 15 November, going live online at 12:01 a.m. ET and in stores at 6 a.m. The main Black Friday Deals event runs 23 to 29 November, and Walmart+ members get early access to selected deals in both. Cyber Monday deals follow online from 30 November to 2 December.

When Does Black Friday End?

When does Black Friday end? The day itself ends at midnight on Friday 27 November, but the pricing usually runs through the weekend into Cyber Monday on 30 November, with Small Business Saturday on 28 November in between. Ask when does Black Friday start and end in practice, and the honest answer for most shoppers is roughly mid-November to 30 November.

How Many Black Fridays Are There in a Year?

One. The question comes up because retailers borrow the name for other sales: Home Depot runs a Spring Black Friday, and Black Friday in July has become a standard label for summer promotions. Those are ordinary seasonal sales. The Black Friday tied to Thanksgiving is in November.

Is Black Friday Really Cheaper?

Often it is not. The consumer group Which? tracked prices on 175 products across eight major retailers for a full year around the 2024 sale. On Black Friday itself, not one sat at its lowest price of that year, and 83 percent were cheaper or the same at some point outside the sales window.

The mechanism is price anchoring. A product's reference price rises shortly before the sale, so the percentage looks larger than the saving actually is.

Is It Worth Waiting for Black Friday?

It depends on what you are buying. Real lows do happen, especially on a retailer's own hardware and on stock it wants cleared before Christmas, and big chains such as Best Buy put genuine cuts on large electronics. What does not hold up is the idea that waiting until 27 November is the cheapest route for everything on your list.

• Check the item's price history rather than the crossed-out reference price next to it.
• Note what it costs in early November, so you can tell whether the price moved before the sale did.
• Ignore countdown timers and stock counters. Those are pressure, not information.

It Is Not Only Electronics

Travel discounts in the same week and gets far less attention than televisions. Flights, hotels and packages are commonly cut over the Black Friday weekend, and booking sites such as Expedia run campaigns alongside the retailers. Cruise lines are the other reliable category, often posting some of their deepest reductions of the year in that window.

The Date Is Fixed, the Discount Is Not

So, when is Black Friday this year? Friday 27 November, with sales from mid-November and a finish on Cyber Monday. The hard part is telling a genuine cut from a repackaged one, and the only dependable way is knowing what an item cost before the sale. If you are buying gifts rather than hardware, a fixed amount is easier to budget than a moving discount, so browse discounted gift cards for the brands already on your list.

Black Friday FAQ

What day is Black Friday?

Always a Friday: the day after US Thanksgiving. In 2026 that is Friday 27 November, and in 2027 it is Friday 26 November.

Is Black Friday a public holiday?

No. Some US states give state employees the day off, but it is not a federal holiday and most businesses stay open.

When do Black Friday sales start online?

Searches like "when does black friday sales start" usually mean online deals, and those go first. Target's early sale opened on 5 November, and Walmart's early event goes live online at 12:01 a.m. ET on 12 November.

When does Black Friday start and end for most stores?

For the big US chains, the main sale runs from around 19 to 23 November until Cyber Monday on 30 November.

When is Cyber Monday?

Monday 30 November 2026, the Monday after Thanksgiving. Our guide to Cyber Monday gift card deals covers what is worth buying that day.