How the Schengen 90/180 rule works
What the rule says
If you visit the Schengen Area on a short stay, you can spend no more than 90 days in any 180-day period. The 90 days are shared across all 29 Schengen countries, not counted per country.
That wording matters. Ninety days is the maximum you may use inside the window. “Any 180-day period” means the window moves. It is not a fixed calendar half-year, and it is not “90 days in, then 90 days out.”
What does a rolling 180-day period mean?
A rolling 180-day period is the 180 days that end on the day being checked — today, or any day of a trip you plan. It is not a fixed half-year and it never resets. Every day the window moves forward by one: the newest day joins it and the day 180 days back drops out. On each day you are in Schengen, the days of presence inside that day's window must add up to 90 or fewer.
Example: on 1 October, the window runs from 5 April to 1 October. On 2 October it runs from 6 April to 2 October, so a day you spent in Schengen on 5 April has just stopped counting.
Why “any” means rolling
On every day you are inside Schengen — or planning to be — you look back 180 days from that day and count how many days you already used. That running total must stay at or under 90.
The 180-day period rolls. Each day of a stay has its own look-back. A trip that is fine on day 1 can become non-compliant later if older stays are still inside the window.
Today's window starts the day after the date 180 days ago: days on or before that date have dropped out, and every day since still counts.
Check every day of the trip you are about to book
Planning from “today” alone is not enough. You need to check every day of the stay you want to take, because each of those days is tested against its own rolling 180-day window.
That is the gap Stay180 is built to close: days used in the last 180, a leave-by date if you entered today, and how the picture changes when you move the entry date.
Four traps people hit
Both border days count
the day you enter and the day you leave each use one day.
Days left today is not trip length
having room this morning does not mean a long trip is safe.
Old stays age out
when a past day falls outside the last 180, those days come back.
Leave-by date
the last day you can still be inside for a given entry date.
How Stay180 helps
Add your past stays. See days used in the last 180 and a leave-by date if you entered today. Pick a different entry date to plan around days that free up when old stays fall off.
Confirmed stays can stay on this device until you sign in. Stay180 Pro adds sync, calendar import, reminders, and a border briefing. Stay180 never asks to read Gmail.
Verify before you travel
Stay180 is a planning tool. Before you travel, run the same dates through the European Commission's short-stay calculator.
Common questions
- What does a rolling 180-day period mean?
- It means the 180 days are always the 180 days ending on the day being checked, not a fixed half-year. Each new day, the window moves forward by one: the newest day joins it and the oldest drops out.
- When does the 180-day period start?
- It does not start on a fixed date, such as your first entry or 1 January. For any day you want to check, count back 180 days including that day. That window is the one that must hold 90 days or fewer.
- Can I stay 90 days, leave for 90 days, then come back for 90 more?
- Yes, that pattern works if the 90 days are back to back: after 90 days out, all of the earlier stay has left the window. But splitting the time into shorter trips changes the dates, so check every day of the next trip.
- Do the 90 days reset when I leave Schengen?
- No. Leaving stops new days being added, but days already used keep counting until each one is more than 180 days old. Days come back one at a time, not all at once.