Texting quiet hours: what time businesses can send texts

US federal rules bar sales texts before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in the recipient's local time. Florida, Oklahoma and Maryland end at 8 p.m. and allow three attempts in 24 hours on one subject; Connecticut allows 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time fit every rule we checked.

This guide quotes each rule, marks the states we haven't read, covers Canada, and shows how to set sending hours when your list spans time zones. It is one part of our business texting rules for the US and Canada. It summarizes public rules as checked on 2026-10-14. It is not legal advice; ask a lawyer about your own program.

What time can businesses legally send texts in the US?

Between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, for sales texts. The FCC's rule says: "No person or entity shall initiate any telephone solicitation to: (1) Any residential telephone subscriber before the hour of 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. (local time at the called party's location)" (47 CFR 64.1200(c)).

Two other parts of the rule bring texts in:

• Texts to mobiles are covered. Paragraph (e) applies the hours rule to "telephone solicitations or telemarketing calls or text messages to wireless telephone numbers".
• "Telephone solicitation" means a sales message. It is "the initiation of a telephone call or message for the purpose of encouraging the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods, or services" (64.1200(f)(15)).

The same paragraph (c) also bars telephone solicitations to numbers on the national Do Not Call registry.

Do quiet hours apply to every business text?

The federal hours rule is written for telephone solicitations, so its reach depends on the text:

Text	Covered by the federal 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. rule?
A sales text to someone with no relationship to you	Yes
A sales text to someone who gave "prior express invitation or permission"	Excluded from the definition (64.1200(f)(15)(i))
A sales text to an existing customer within 18 months of a purchase, or a lead within three months of an inquiry	Excluded as an "established business relationship" (64.1200(f)(5))
An appointment reminder or account update with no sales purpose	Outside the definition
A reply to a text the person just sent you	A conversation the person started; reply at a sensible hour

The exclusions are narrower than they look. A permission or relationship has to be shown, state laws use their own definitions, and many texts mix a reminder with an offer. Applying daytime hours to every automated text is simpler than sorting each one.

Which states set stricter texting hours?

These are the state rules we read on the statute itself:

State	Hours (recipient's local time)	Attempt limit	Source
Florida	8 a.m. to 8 p.m.	Three in 24 hours on the same subject	Fla. Stat. 501.616(6)
Oklahoma	8 a.m. to 8 p.m.	Three in 24 hours on the same subject	15 O.S. 775C.4, from HB 3168 (2022)
Maryland	8 a.m. to 8 p.m.	Three in 24 hours on the same subject	Md. Code, Com. Law 14-4502(c)
Connecticut	9 a.m. to 8 p.m.	None in the hours section	Conn. Gen. Stat. 42-288a(c)
Washington	8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for telephone solicitation calls	None	RCW 80.36.390(8)

What each statute says:

• Florida: a seller "may not make [...] (a) A commercial telephone solicitation phone call before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. local time in the called person's time zone. (b) More than three commercial telephone solicitation phone calls from any number to a person over a 24-hour period on the same subject matter or issue, regardless of the phone number used to make the call." Florida's separate sales-call law defines a "telephonic sales call" as "a telephone call, text message, or voicemail transmission to a consumer" (Fla. Stat. 501.059).
• Oklahoma: the same two limits, in nearly the same words as Florida's, in the Telephone Solicitation Act of 2022, in force since 2022-11-01. The Act's consent rule covers sales calls "by telephone call, text message, or voicemail transmission".
• Maryland: "A person may not make or cause to be made a telephone solicitation [...] (1) To a called party during the hours between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. in the called party's time zone; (2) More than three times to the same called party during a 24-hour period on the same subject matter or issue". In force since 2024-01-01 under the Stop the Spam Calls Act of 2023 (Chapter 413).
• Connecticut: a telephonic sales call to a "residential, mobile or telephonic paging device telephone number [...] shall be limited to being conducted between the hours of nine o'clock a.m. and eight o'clock p.m. local time". The definition of a telephonic sales call includes "text or media messaging" (42-284(18)) and reaches resident consumers and numbers "with a Connecticut area code".
• Washington: a telephone solicitor "shall not place calls to any person which will be received before 8:00 a.m. or after 8:00 p.m. at the call recipient's local time" (RCW 80.36.390(8)). That section excludes "Business-to-business contacts", and whether a "telephone call" there covers texts is unclear. Washington's texting law takes a different route: no commercial text to a resident's mobile unless the person "clearly and affirmatively consented in advance" (RCW 19.190.060 and 19.190.070).

Florida's and Oklahoma's hours sections speak of "phone calls", and Florida's applies to consumer goods or services. Whether these limits reach texts and business-to-business sales is a question for a lawyer. Following them for every text costs little.

Which states haven't we checked?

Every state not in the table above. Lists online name others, such as Texas, Utah and New Jersey, and they disagree with each other on hours and on whether texts are covered. We haven't read those statutes, so we don't repeat their hours here. If you text residents of those states often, ask a lawyer to check them, or keep to the window below, which sits inside every limit we have read.

What does "three in 24 hours on the same subject" mean for a sequence?

Florida, Oklahoma and Maryland count attempts: no more than three sales messages to one person in 24 hours on the same subject, "regardless of the phone number used". A follow-up sequence sends far fewer than that if each step is a day or more apart.

In practice:

1. Space automated texts at least a day apart. One text, then a wait of a day or more, then the next.
2. Count every channel your team uses. The statutes speak of calls; if a rep calls and texts the same lead on the same day, the count can add up.
3. Stop on reply. Once the person answers, it is a conversation, and the next message comes from a person reading the thread.

Related: how many follow-up texts to send.

What are the hours for texting Canadians?

CASL sets no hours for commercial texts. Its rules are about consent, identification and unsubscribing (CASL); our CASL guide covers them.

The CRTC's Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules do set hours for telemarketing: "9:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on weekdays (Monday to Friday); and 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekends (Saturday and Sunday)", in the recipient's time, and tighter provincial hours apply where a provincial law sets them (CRTC, Internet Archive capture of 2026-10-01). Those rules were written for telemarketing calls, and in 2008 the CRTC declined to widen a review of its do-not-call rules to text messages (CRTC letter, 2008). Keeping Canadian texts inside those hours is still a sensible default.

Whose time zone counts?

The recipient's. The federal rule says "local time at the called party's location", Florida and Oklahoma say "the called person's time zone", and Maryland says "the called party's time zone". Your office's time zone doesn't matter.

Mobile numbers move with people, so the area code is a guess. Use the best information you have, in this order:

1. A time zone or state the person gave you, such as a mailing address.
2. The city or state on the lead form.
3. The area code, as a last resort.

When you can't tell, choose hours that are legal in every time zone the person could plausibly be in.

How do sending hours fix this in practice?

Set a sending window per campaign and keep each campaign's recipients in time zones the window suits. A window is legal for everyone only if it is legal at both ends of the time zones on your list.

Worked example for a list spread from New York to California, with a campaign set to Eastern time. The aim is 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time for everyone:

Campaign window (Eastern)	Eastern	Central	Mountain	Pacific
9 a.m. to 6 p.m.	9 a.m. to 6 p.m.	8 a.m. to 5 p.m.	7 a.m. to 4 p.m.	6 a.m. to 3 p.m.
12 p.m. to 6 p.m.	12 p.m. to 6 p.m.	11 a.m. to 5 p.m.	10 a.m. to 4 p.m.	9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The first window would reach Pacific numbers at 6 a.m., which breaks the federal rule. The second fits everyone. Arizona and Hawaii don't move their clocks for daylight saving time, so their offsets change during the year, and Alaska and Hawaii sit outside this table. If those numbers matter to you, give them their own campaign.

Three habits help:

• Split large lists by time zone. One campaign per region lets each window run a full business day.
• Use business days for waits, so follow-ups skip weekends.
• Avoid holidays for sales texts, even where no rule names them.

Recipients	Window that fits every rule we checked
US, one time zone	Weekdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time
US, coast to coast in one campaign	Weekdays, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern
Canada	Weekdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time; Saturdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. if needed

These windows are our arithmetic from the rules above, chosen to leave a margin on both sides.

Where does Textually fit?

Textually sets sending days and hours per campaign, in the campaign's time zone, so pick a window that suits your recipients' time zones, or split them across campaigns. Wait steps count days, with an option for business days only, and a reply ends that person's sequence and lands in one shared inbox. A text step sends only when the lead has a consent record (source and date) or the campaign has a campaign-wide consent confirmation, and STOP and ARRET stop texts before the next send; our STOP and opt-out rules guide covers the rest. See how the rules are built in and pricing, or apply for access.

Questions

What time can businesses send text messages?

Between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's local time under federal rules for telephone solicitations. Florida, Oklahoma and Maryland end at 8 p.m., and Connecticut allows 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time fit all of them.

Do quiet hours apply to appointment reminders?

The federal rule covers telephone solicitations, meaning messages that encourage a purchase, so a reminder with no sales purpose falls outside it. Add an offer and it may not. Sending reminders during the day avoids the question.

What are Florida's texting hours?

Florida bars commercial telephone solicitation calls "before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. local time in the called person's time zone", and more than three on the same subject in 24 hours (Fla. Stat. 501.616(6)). Whether this reaches texts is unsettled, so follow it for texts too.

Can businesses text on weekends?

Federal and state rules we checked set hours without banning weekends. Canada's telemarketing rules use 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. For B2B texts, weekdays fit the way people work, and business-day waits keep follow-ups off weekends.

Whose time zone do texting quiet hours use?

The recipient's: "local time at the called party's location" under federal rules, and the called person's time zone under Florida, Oklahoma and Maryland law. The sender's time zone doesn't matter.

Does CASL limit what time you can text Canadians?

No. CASL sets consent, identification and unsubscribe rules, with no hours. The CRTC's telemarketing rules use 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends, and keeping texts inside them is a sensible default.