# The best time to post on YouTube, day by day

> The best times to post on YouTube in 2026 for every day, from 5 studies of about 43 million videos. Afternoons 12 to 6 PM local time; Saturday leads.

Page: https://omnisocials.com/best-time-to-post-on-youtube
Checked: October 17, 2026

Afternoons, about 12 to 6 PM in your audience's local time, and weekend late mornings. That is where 5 studies from 2026 agree most. Saturday is the strongest day, Wednesday the weakest.

## The short answer: Post between 12 and 6 PM local time. Saturday is the strongest day.

Five studies published between June and October 2026 name different hours, from 4 AM (Dash Social) to 9 PM (Buffer, for Shorts). The widest agreement is the afternoon, roughly 12 to 6 PM in your audience's local time, plus weekend late mornings. Overnight, about 12 to 6 AM, scores lowest, and Wednesday is the weakest day.

YouTube says the hour matters less than you might think: "Publish time is not known to impact a video's long-term performance." Posting when your audience is most active can help early views, so check the When your viewers are on YouTube report in YouTube Analytics. Live streams and Premieres are the exception, where the time does matter.

- **Best days**: Saturday, Sunday (Weekends lead in vidIQ's 40M videos)
- **Best time**: 12 to 6 PM (Your audience's local time)
- **Worst time**: 12 to 6 AM (Wednesday is the weakest day)

## Where 5 studies agree, by day and time of day

### Where 5 studies agree

Strongest slot: Saturday, 9 AM-12 PM. Best day: Saturday. Weakest day: Wednesday. Your audience's local time, as Buffer, SocialPilot and Dash Social use it. A higher score means more studies name that slot. Scores run from 0 to 100.

| Day | 12-3 AM | 3-6 AM | 6-9 AM | 9 AM-12 PM | 12-3 PM | 3-6 PM | 6-9 PM | 9 PM-12 AM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 14 | 29 | 57 | 57 | 57 | 86 | 57 | 57 |
| Tuesday | 14 | 14 | 86 | 86 | 57 | 57 | 71 | 57 |
| Wednesday | 0 | 14 | 14 | 29 | 43 | 71 | 43 | 29 |
| Thursday | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 57 | 86 | 71 | 71 |
| Friday | 29 | 43 | 43 | 86 | 86 | 71 | 57 | 29 |
| Saturday | 57 | 43 | 57 | 100 | 86 | 100 | 71 | 43 |
| Sunday | 43 | 29 | 57 | 71 | 100 | 86 | 43 | 29 |

## The best time to post on YouTube, every day of the week. In your audience's local time.

| Day | Best window | Runner-up | How much the studies agree |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 3-6 PM | Morning or evening, tied | 3 of 5: Buffer, SocialPilot, Metricool |
| Tuesday | 6 AM-12 PM | 6-9 PM | 3 of 5: Buffer, SocialPilot, Dash Social |
| Wednesday | 3-6 PM | 12-3 PM | Weakly: the weakest day for vidIQ and for Buffer's long videos |
| Thursday | 3-6 PM | 6 PM-12 AM | 3 of 5: Buffer, SocialPilot, Metricool |
| Friday | 9 AM-3 PM | 3-6 PM | 3 of 5: Buffer, SocialPilot, Dash Social |
| Saturday | 9 AM-12 PM, 3-6 PM | 12-3 PM | 4 of 5. The best day |
| Sunday | 12-3 PM | 3-6 PM | 4 of 5, but Dash Social calls Sunday a weaker day |

Windows compiled from Buffer, SocialPilot, Dash Social, vidIQ and Metricool, published June to October 2026. See the sources below.

## What each 2026 study found. They agree on the afternoon, not on the hour.

| Study | Sample | Best times | Best days | Avoid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffer, Jul 2026 | 1.8M videos | Long videos: Sun 10 AM, weekday mornings. Shorts: evenings, Fri 4-7 PM | Long: Sun, Tue, Mon. Shorts: Fri, Sat, Thu | Long: Wed, Thu. Shorts: 12-5 PM |
| SocialPilot, Jul 2026 | 301K videos, 27K+ channels | Long videos: weekdays 2-5 PM, weekends 8-10 AM. Shorts: mornings and midday | Wed, Thu, Fri | Before 9 AM on weekdays, after 10 PM |
| Dash Social, Oct 2026 | 235K+ brand posts | Thu 4 AM; 9 AM on most days | No ranking | 6-7 AM; Sunday |
| vidIQ, Jun 2026 | 40.2M US long videos | The hour barely mattered by day 30 | Sun (+3.5%), Sat (+2.2%) | Wednesday (-2.2%) |
| Metricool, Jul 2026 | 799,718 videos | Shorts: 2-6 PM | No day ranking | Not stated |

vidIQ compared each video's 30-day views with its own channel's average, so its day effects are small: under 6% between the best and the worst day.

## Do Shorts need a different time? Maybe, but the studies disagree on which.

| Format | What the studies say |
|---|---|
| Long videos | Buffer: Sunday 10 AM and weekday mornings. SocialPilot: 2-4 PM on weekdays, 8-10 AM on weekends. vidIQ: weekends do slightly better, and the hour barely matters. |
| Shorts | Buffer: evenings, Friday 4 PM best. SocialPilot: mornings and midday. Metricool: 2-6 PM. Dash Social: 4 AM and 9 AM. No two agree. |
| Live and Premieres | YouTube: "publish time is important for formats such as Live and Premiere videos". Use the When your viewers are on YouTube report. |

## What changed for timing. Views now count from the first second.

- **Aug 2026: Views count the moment a video starts** YouTube: "Beginning August 24, 2026, views are counted the moment a video starts to play across all formats." Studies with earlier data used the old count. (https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2991785)
- **Mar 2025: Shorts views count every play** From March 31, 2025, a Short's views count every start or replay, with no minimum watch time. The old count became "engaged views". (https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/333869549)

## Find your own best time. The map is a start, your Analytics decide.

1. **Open When your viewers are on YouTube** In YouTube Analytics, this report shows when your viewers were online across YouTube in the last 28 days.
2. **Plan in your audience's time zone** The studies use local time. If most viewers live in New York, plan in Eastern Time, wherever you are.
3. **Time live streams and Premieres** YouTube says publish time matters for Live and Premieres. Start them when most of your viewers are online.
4. **Do not chase the minute** vidIQ found exact upload times "had little effect on 30-day views". A strong video at a fair time wins.
5. **Judge a slot after 10 days** Metricool found 83% of interactions came in a video's first 10 days. Compare slots on those numbers.
6. **Schedule the weekend uploads** Saturday and Sunday score well. Schedule them ahead so a Saturday morning video goes out without you.

## Schedule it with OmniSocials

OmniSocials learns your own best time to post on YouTube, and suggests it when you schedule. OmniSocials schedules posts to YouTube and 11 more networks from one calendar, and AI agents (Claude, ChatGPT and others) can plan and schedule through its MCP server. $10 per seat a month billed yearly, $12 monthly; 14-day free trial, a card is needed to start it. https://omnisocials.com/pricing

## Sources and method

We read the 2026 YouTube timing studies from Buffer, SocialPilot, Dash Social, vidIQ and Metricool, about 43 million videos together. Each study gets one vote per day and three-hour block: plus one when it names the block as a best time for long videos or Shorts, minus one when it says to avoid the block or the day. vidIQ ranks days only, so its votes cover whole days; Metricool gives one Shorts window, counted on every day. The votes are scaled from 0 to 100, so the map shows where the studies agree, not an engagement rate. Later, Sprout Social and Hootsuite publish no YouTube study of their own for 2025 or 2026, so they are not in it.

- Buffer, [The best time to post on YouTube](https://buffer.com/resources/best-time-to-post-on-youtube/), Jul 2026. 1.8 million Shorts and long videos, median engagement by hour and day.
- SocialPilot, [Best time to post on YouTube in 2026](https://www.socialpilot.co/insights/best-time-to-post-on-youtube), Jul 2026. 301,000 videos from 27,000+ channels, engagement per view.
- Dash Social, [Best time to post on YouTube in 2026](https://www.dashsocial.com/blog/best-time-to-post-on-youtube), Oct 2026. 235,000+ posts from 600+ brands, June 2025 to May 2026.
- vidIQ, [Best time to post on YouTube: what 40 million videos show](https://vidiq.com/blog/post/best-time-publish-video-youtube/), Jun 2026. 40.2 million US long videos, 30-day views against each channel's average.
- Metricool, [When is the best time to post on YouTube?](https://metricool.com/best-time-to-post-on-youtube/), Jul 2026. 799,718 videos from 71,177 channels.
- YouTube Help, [YouTube frequently asked questions](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/141805), Read Oct 2026. "Publish time is not known to impact a video's long-term performance."
- YouTube Help, [When your viewers are on YouTube report](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9314416), Read Oct 2026
- YouTube Help, [How video views are counted](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2991785), Read Oct 2026
- TeamYouTube, [An update to how Shorts views are counted](https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/333869549), Mar 26, 2025

## Related guides

- [How often to post on YouTube](https://omnisocials.com/how-often-to-post-on-youtube)
- [YouTube image sizes](https://omnisocials.com/youtube-image-sizes)
- [YouTube character limits](https://omnisocials.com/youtube-character-limits)
- [YouTube video lengths](https://omnisocials.com/youtube-video-lengths)
- [YouTube hashtag limits](https://omnisocials.com/youtube-hashtag-limits)
- [Schedule YouTube posts](https://omnisocials.com/youtube)
- [Connect YouTube](https://omnisocials.com/help-center/integrations/youtube)
- [Create a post](https://omnisocials.com/help-center/creating-content/create-post)
- [MCP server](https://omnisocials.com/mcp)
- [REST API](https://omnisocials.com/api)
- [API reference](https://docs.omnisocials.com)

## FAQ

### What is the best time to post on YouTube?

The afternoon, about 12 to 6 PM in your audience's local time, plus weekend late mornings. Five studies from 2026 agree on that more than on any hour. They disagree on the exact time, from 4 AM (Dash Social) to evenings (Buffer, for Shorts), so check your own Analytics too.

### What is the best time to post YouTube Shorts?

The studies do not agree. Buffer says evenings, with Friday 4 PM best; SocialPilot says mornings and midday; Metricool says 2 to 6 PM. Start in the afternoon and test against your own numbers.

### What is the best day to post on YouTube?

Saturday, then Sunday. vidIQ's 40 million videos did best on weekends, and Buffer's best long-video slot is Sunday at 10 AM. The gaps are small: under 6% between the best and worst day in vidIQ's data.

### What is the worst time to post on YouTube?

Overnight, about 12 to 6 AM local time, scores lowest across the studies, and Wednesday is the weakest day. Dash Social is the exception: it found early mornings strong for brand accounts.

### What is the best time to upload on YouTube today?

Monday 3 to 6 PM, Tuesday 6 AM to 12 PM, Wednesday and Thursday 3 to 6 PM, Friday 9 AM to 3 PM, Saturday 9 AM to 12 PM or 3 to 6 PM, and Sunday 12 to 3 PM, all in your audience's local time. The heatmap on this page marks today's row.

### Does upload time matter on YouTube?

Less than on most networks. YouTube says "Publish time is not known to impact a video's long-term performance", though posting when your audience is active can help early views. It matters most for live streams and Premieres.

### Should I post long videos and Shorts at different times?

Buffer and SocialPilot both found the formats peak at different times, but they disagree on which. Test each format on its own and compare.

### Which time zone should I use?

Your audience's. The studies with hourly data use local time. If your viewers are spread out, use the time zone where most of them live; YouTube Analytics shows their top countries.

### How long before my audience's peak should I upload?

YouTube publishes no number. Some tools suggest 2 to 4 hours ahead to allow for processing, but that is advice, not data. Scheduling a video ahead removes the guesswork.

### How does OmniSocials suggest a time to post on YouTube?

It looks at your workspace's own YouTube posts, weighted toward recent ones, and shows the suggestion when you schedule. Analytics shows a day-by-hour heatmap. Until 15 posts are analyzed, it shows labeled industry defaults.