What To Know About November’s Mercury Retrograde

If your November consists of Thanksgiving travel, holiday shopping, festive social events, or end-of-year work projects, you’ll want to take extra care to manage the ins and outs of your plans. That’s because everyone’s favorite logistical trickster, Mercury, will be retrograding from Nov. 9 all the way through Nov. 29, bringing high potential for all sorts of communication clashes, scheduling slip-ups, and mental misfires. The timing of this particular backspin is inconvenient, given the generally busy nature of this period of the year — but knowing what to expect from November’s Mercury retrograde ahead of time can help you avoid any major pitfalls.

Before diving into the details of this particular Mercury retrograde period, you’ll want to make sure you understand these cosmic events on a general level. Mercury in astrology is the planet that governs all things logistical. This includes timing, planning, communicating, and even getting from place to place. Like clockwork, this fleet-footed planet stations retrograde a few times per year — meaning it travels backward in the zodiac for approximately three weeks, slowly backtracking over its recent steps through the zodiac and subsequently causing delays or reassessments in all the areas it rules astrologically.

That’s exactly why Mercury retrograde periods are known to stir up communication issues, traveling snags, typos and tech troubles, and other headache-inducing inconveniences. All the mundane logistical workings of your day-to-day life are subject to this backspin’s influence, which is what makes this particular retrograde so notorious. During these periods, it’s always going to be helpful to slow down, double-check details on things, and express yourself more conscientiously to avoid falling victim to Mercury’s antics.

This can definitely be a stressy and messy time, but there are silver linings to Mercury retrograde, too. Retrogrades are a regular occurrence in astrology, and they’re not inherently bad. Mercury retrograde can often be a useful reminder to check in on your current plans, review your recent decisions and ideas, and take things a bit slower — a refreshing change of pace from the go-go-go mentality that usually runs everyone’s lives. Right now, reflection and revision feels more powerful than action. Additionally, these backspins can bring exciting opportunities to revisit situations, conversations, or ideas that may have lingered in the past. Tie up loose ends, look at previous plans with fresh eyes, and circle back on logistical matters that never hit their full potential.

Mercury retrograde periods will always share some similar themes, but no two of these cosmic moonwalks have the same flavor. Read on for the full scoop on the Mercury retrograde happening in November 2025 so you can get out ahead of its cosmic chaos.

How Long Is This Mercury Retrograde?

This month’s Mercury retrograde begins on Nov. 9 at 2:02 p.m. ET and comes to an end on Nov. 29 at 12:38 p.m. ET, bringing nearly three weeks of its usual mental mayhem. This is the final Mercury retrograde period of the year, so once it’s over, you won’t have to deal with another until the end of February 2026.

As usual, there are pre- and post-retrograde shadow periods bookending this backspin, and these subtle spells are still significant when it comes to how the retrograde story unfolds. The pre-retrograde shadow kicked off back on Oct. 21, so take note of the ideas, themes, and interactions that have come up since then — as you’ll likely be revisiting a lot of these matters during the retrograde. The post-retrograde shadow period starts once Mercury stations direct, and this will go on through Dec. 16. Use these couple of weeks to process the lessons you’ve learned during this backspin and smooth out any snags that strained work, plans, or relationships.

A Retrograde In Sagittarius & Scorpio

This time around, Mercury will be retrograding through two different zodiac signs — free-spirited Sagittarius and secretive Scorpio — meaning it’s activating energy in multiple houses of everyone’s birth charts.

The first stretch of the retrograde takes place in rainbow-chasing Sagittarius from Nov. 9 until Nov. 18, where Mercury will travel from 6º of the sign all the way back to 0º. In traditional astrology, Sagittarius is one of Mercury’s signs of “detriment,” as this meticulous and detail-oriented planet struggles to do its thing amidst this fire sign’s spontaneity and broad-strokes style of thinking. During this first half of the backspin, you might find it easy to get distracted by the big picture, subsequently overlooking small but significant specifics — or you may struggle to slow down long enough to consider matters thoroughly. However, you can also use this time to review your personal philosophies and reconnect with higher-minded ideas that could change the course of your long-term trajectory. Let yourself outgrow limiting beliefs.

Take care to dot your I’s and cross your T’s when it comes to executing your travel itineraries or organizing social plans.

From Nov. 18 until the end of the retrograde on Nov. 29, Mercury will work its way back through strategic and tight-lipped Scorpio, moonwalking all the way back to 20º of the sign. During the latter half of the retrograde, some clandestine information could come to light, allowing you to process something from your past in a new way or revisit a situation with fresh eyes — especially between Nov. 19 and 20, during which the sun and moon in Scorpio will join forces with Mercury retrograde. Keep your antennae perked. Scorpio zodiac energy loves investigating things deeply, so you may find yourself digging beneath the surface of a situation that you thought was over, discovering new answers to old mysteries.

Thanksgiving arrives during the last week of the retrograde, while Mercury is backspinning through Scorpio, so take care to dot your I’s and cross your T’s when it comes to executing your travel itineraries or organizing social plans. Beware of reacting emotionally when communicating with others or letting old baggage taint conversations, as misunderstandings are more likely than usual now, too. Black Friday also falls in the retrograde’s purview, so be extra cautious if you’re making any big purchases. Deals could be deceiving now, and not everyone will be thinking rationally, so make sure you’re clear on the fine print and return policy of whatever you choose to splurge on.