--- title: 'Best Time to Post on YouTube: Videos and Shorts (2026)' description: 'The best time to post on YouTube for long-form videos and Shorts, compared across five 2026 studies, plus a four-week test in YouTube Analytics.' category: 'Social media scheduling' author: 'Aleksandr Samokhin' published_at: '2026-10-15' updated_at: '2026-10-15' related: [ best-time-to-post-on-tiktok, best-time-to-post-on-social-media, build-a-consistent-social-media-posting-schedule, ] image: 'infographics/best-time-to-post-on-youtube/featured-thumbnail.webp' image_alt: 'Best time to post on YouTube headline beside a video card with a play button, a bar chart with two peaks, and a clock' thumbnail: 'infographics/best-time-to-post-on-youtube/featured-thumbnail.webp' thumbnail_alt: 'Best time to post on YouTube headline beside a video card with a play button, a bar chart with two peaks, and a clock' --- The best time to post on YouTube depends on the format. For long-form videos, start with Sunday around 9–11 a.m. in your audience's local time, or 12–4 p.m. on weekdays. For Shorts, start with Friday from 4 to 7 p.m., then test other evenings and midday. Sunday morning and Friday afternoon to evening come from the largest dataset (Buffer); 12–4 p.m. on weekdays is where SocialPilot and RecurPost overlap. The five studies disagree on most other slots. Timing also works differently on YouTube. Search and suggested videos keep sending views long after upload day, so the hour mostly shapes the first day. Shorts are the exception to watch: PostFast's mostly-Shorts sample showed a wider hourly spread (0.80x to 1.25x of normal) than its Instagram or TikTok data, though from 6,175 posts, a smaller sample than either. This guide compares what Buffer, vidIQ, SocialPilot, RecurPost, and PostFast found, explains why they disagree, and shows how to find your own channel's best time with YouTube Analytics. ## What is the best time to post on YouTube? The best time to post on YouTube is Sunday morning for long-form videos and Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. for Shorts, if you follow the largest datasets. [Buffer](https://buffer.com/resources/best-time-to-post-on-youtube/)'s analysis of 1.8 million videos ranks Sunday at 10 a.m. as the top long-form slot and Friday at 4 p.m., 6 p.m., and 7 p.m. as the top three Shorts slots. [vidIQ](https://vidiq.com/blog/post/best-time-publish-video-youtube/)'s analysis of 40.2 million U.S. uploads also finds Sunday the strongest day, about 3.5% above a channel's average day. The weekday picture is less settled. [SocialPilot](https://www.socialpilot.co/insights/best-time-to-post-on-youtube) recommends 2–4 p.m. on weekdays for long-form videos, and [RecurPost](https://recurpost.com/schedule-youtube-videos/best-time-to-post-on-youtube/) recommends 12–3 p.m. Both rank Wednesday and Thursday among the best days, while Buffer and vidIQ rank Wednesday among the weakest. vidIQ also found that the gap between the best and worst upload hours shrinks to a few percent by day 30. So treat any single hour as a starting slot. The heatmap in your own YouTube Analytics is a better guide than any published average. ## What five studies say about the best time to post on YouTube Each study measured a different population with a different metric. The table summarizes what each one had published as of October 5, 2026. | Study | Sample and period | Time zone basis | Best windows | Best days | Weakest days or times | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | | [Buffer](https://buffer.com/resources/best-time-to-post-on-youtube/) | 1.8M videos, published July 24, 2026; median engagement | Normalized to local time | Long-form: 8–11 a.m., Sunday 10 a.m. first. Shorts: 6–11 p.m., Friday 4 p.m. first | Long-form: Sun, Tue, Mon. Shorts: Fri, Sat, Thu | Long-form: Thu, Wed. Shorts: Tue, Mon | | [vidIQ](https://vidiq.com/blog/post/best-time-publish-video-youtube/) | 40.2M U.S. uploads, updated June 23, 2026; views vs. each channel's average day | U.S. uploads; upload chart in Eastern | No reliable hour; recommends your Studio heatmap | Sun (+3.5%), Sat (+2.2%) | Wed (−2.2%) | | [SocialPilot](https://www.socialpilot.co/insights/best-time-to-post-on-youtube) | 301K videos from 27K+ channels, published May 1, 2026; engagement per view | Audience's local time | Long-form: 2–4 p.m. weekdays. Shorts: 12–2 p.m. or 6–7 p.m. | Long-form: Wed, Thu, Fri. Shorts: Fri, Sat, Thu | Before 9 a.m. on weekdays, after 10 p.m. | | [RecurPost](https://recurpost.com/schedule-youtube-videos/best-time-to-post-on-youtube/) | 2M+ videos, 2024–2026; early views | Not stated | 12–3 p.m. on weekdays, 2–3x the early views of uploads before 9 a.m. | Wed, Thu | Before 9 a.m. | | [PostFast](https://postfa.st/blog/best-time-to-post-social-media-data-report) | 6,175 posts (5,928 Shorts), June 6 – Sept. 4, 2026; views vs. account median | Audience's local time | 1 p.m. (1.25x), 9 p.m. (1.19x), 10 a.m. (1.18x), 8 p.m. (1.12x) | Sat (1.13x), Sun (1.12x) | 6 p.m. (0.80x), Wed (0.89x) | ![PostQuest field guide comparing recommended YouTube upload windows. For long-form videos, Buffer favors 8 to 11 a.m., RecurPost 12 to 3 p.m., and SocialPilot 2 to 4 p.m., while vidIQ finds no reliable hour. For Shorts, Buffer favors 6 to 11 p.m., SocialPilot 12 to 2 p.m. and 6 to 7 p.m., and PostFast 10 a.m., 1 p.m., and 8 to 9 p.m.](/infographics/best-time-to-post-on-youtube/posting-windows.webp) To build the chart, I counted an hour as recommended when a study's published window included uploads starting in that hour. PostFast's bars show the hours that beat its account median by 10% or more. Every source here sells a scheduling or creator tool, and each study is self-published from that tool's own users. PostFast is a competing scheduler, so treat its figures as one dataset, not a consensus. ### Where the studies agree - **Long-form and Shorts need separate schedules.** Buffer, SocialPilot, and vidIQ all report different peaks for the two formats. Buffer calls the two patterns "almost opposite." - **Shorts lean toward the evening.** Buffer's Shorts peak runs from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., SocialPilot names 6–7 p.m. as one of two windows, and PostFast's 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. both beat its account median, although its 6 p.m. slot was the weakest hour at 0.80x. - **Early weekday mornings are weak.** SocialPilot lists weekday uploads before 9 a.m. among the times to avoid, and RecurPost found they earned a third to half the early views of 12–3 p.m. uploads. - **Sunday is a safe day for long-form videos.** No study names Sunday among its weakest days for long-form, and Buffer and vidIQ rank it first. ### Where the studies disagree The biggest split is midweek. SocialPilot and RecurPost name Wednesday and Thursday among the best days for long-form videos. Buffer ranks Thursday and Wednesday as its two weakest days, and vidIQ ranks Wednesday last. PostFast's mostly-Shorts sample agrees with Buffer and vidIQ, with Wednesday at 0.89x of normal. The hour is also disputed. Buffer's long-form peak is in the morning, SocialPilot's is mid-afternoon, and vidIQ finds no hour that matters much once a video is a month old. ## What is the best day to upload on YouTube? The best day to upload long-form videos on YouTube is Sunday. [Buffer](https://buffer.com/resources/best-time-to-post-on-youtube/) and [vidIQ](https://vidiq.com/blog/post/best-time-publish-video-youtube/) both rank it first, and none of the four long-form studies ranks it among the weakest. Saturday is a solid second choice: vidIQ puts it about 2.2% above a channel's average day, and [PostFast](https://postfa.st/blog/best-time-to-post-social-media-data-report) finds Saturday strongest (1.13x) for its mostly-Shorts sample. Wednesday is the day the studies split on. [SocialPilot](https://www.socialpilot.co/insights/best-time-to-post-on-youtube) and [RecurPost](https://recurpost.com/schedule-youtube-videos/best-time-to-post-on-youtube/) rank it among the best, while Buffer, vidIQ, and PostFast rank it among the weakest. For Shorts, Friday leads in both Buffer's and SocialPilot's data, followed by Saturday and Thursday. If you upload one long-form video a week, put it on Sunday and use your heatmap to choose the hour. ![PostQuest field guide showing how many of four studies name each weekday as a best or weakest day for long-form YouTube uploads. Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday are each named best by two studies, but Wednesday is also named weakest by two studies and Thursday by one. Sunday is never named weakest.](/infographics/best-time-to-post-on-youtube/best-days.webp) | Day | Long-form: what the studies say | Shorts: what the studies say | | --------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | | Monday | Buffer ranks it third; vidIQ finds it about average | Buffer ranks it among the weakest | | Tuesday | Buffer ranks it second; vidIQ about 1.4% below average | Buffer ranks it weakest; vidIQ suggests evenings | | Wednesday | Split: best for SocialPilot and RecurPost, weakest for Buffer and vidIQ | vidIQ suggests evenings as a second tier | | Thursday | Split: best for SocialPilot and RecurPost, weakest for Buffer | Third best for Buffer and SocialPilot | | Friday | Buffer's 12 p.m. slot is strong; SocialPilot ranks Friday highly | Best day for Buffer and SocialPilot | | Saturday | Above average for vidIQ; moderate for Buffer | Second best for Buffer and SocialPilot; best for PostFast | | Sunday | Best day for Buffer and vidIQ | SocialPilot sees a dip after 8 p.m. | The day effects are small. vidIQ's spread from best to worst day is less than six percentage points. That is enough to break a tie between two days, but not enough to rescue a weak video. ## What is the best time to post YouTube Shorts? The best time to post YouTube Shorts is late afternoon to evening, with Friday as the strongest day. Buffer's analysis found the top three Shorts slots all on Friday: 4 p.m., 6 p.m., and 7 p.m. Its broader Shorts peak runs from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. SocialPilot also ranks Friday, Saturday, and Thursday as the best Shorts days, and vidIQ recommends Friday evening, with Tuesday and Wednesday evenings as a second tier. Midday and early evening are contested. SocialPilot recommends 12–2 p.m. as a second Shorts window, and PostFast's strongest hour was 1 p.m. at 1.25x of each account's normal. Buffer reports the opposite: outside Friday, its weakest Shorts times fall between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. PostFast also scored 6 p.m. as its weakest hour (0.80x), even though Buffer ranks Friday 6 p.m. second. That makes midday and 6 p.m. test slots rather than defaults. Two YouTube facts matter when you schedule Shorts. According to [YouTube Help](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/10059070), Shorts can be up to three minutes long. The same [YouTube Help page on Shorts](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/10059070) states that since March 31, 2025, a Short's views count every start or replay with no minimum watch time, and the older measure is now called "Engaged views" in YouTube Analytics. Use engaged views or "Stayed to watch" when you compare Shorts slots, because raw views now include quick swipes. Timing also matters less for Shorts in one respect. Buffer notes that Shorts are resurfaced by the recommendation system "over days or even weeks," so a Short published at an average hour can still find its audience later. ## Why the best-time studies disagree Each study is internally consistent; the gaps come from method. On YouTube, four choices matter most. 1. **They measure different outcomes.** Buffer uses median engagement, SocialPilot uses engagement per view, RecurPost uses early views, and vidIQ and PostFast compare views with each channel's own normal. 2. **They sample different creators.** Each dataset comes from the tool's users. SocialPilot's 301K videos were published through SocialPilot, and PostFast's YouTube sample is 96% Shorts. vidIQ's sample is U.S. uploads only. 3. **They measure at different ages.** RecurPost looks at early views, PostFast at 48 hours, and vidIQ at 30 days. A slot can win the first day and tie by the end of the month. 4. **They control for channel size differently.** Pooled data makes an hour look strong when large channels upload then. vidIQ and PostFast score each upload against its own channel, which is why their effects look smaller. The third point is specific to YouTube. [vidIQ](https://vidiq.com/blog/post/best-time-publish-video-youtube/) reports that the gap between upload hours "had shrunk to within a few percent by day 30." The hour shapes the first day more than the total. ## Does posting time matter on YouTube? Posting time matters on YouTube mainly for the first hours after upload, and less for a video's lifetime views. YouTube's recommendation system learns from signals such as clicks, watch time, survey responses, shares, likes, and dislikes, as YouTube explained in a [September 2021 post on its official blog](https://blog.youtube/inside-youtube/on-youtubes-recommendation-system/). When your regular viewers are online at upload, those signals arrive sooner. After that, other traffic sources take over. YouTube Analytics separates views from [YouTube search, suggested videos, browse features, Shorts, and notifications](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9314355). Search results are ranked by relevance, engagement, and quality, according to [How YouTube Works](https://www.youtube.com/howyoutubeworks/recommendations/), and none of those is the upload hour. [vidIQ's category data](https://vidiq.com/blog/post/best-time-publish-video-youtube/) shows the effect. Comparing each channel's strong and weak windows at 30 days, News and Politics gained about 32% and Sports about 29%. Search-driven Howto and Style gained about 15%. **The more time-sensitive your content, the more the upload hour matters.** For an evergreen tutorial, the title and topic matter more than the clock. ### Publish before the peak, not at it A common recommendation is to publish shortly before your audience's peak. Buffer suggests one to two hours and vidIQ two to four hours. SocialPilot gives both one to two hours and two to three hours in different sections of its guide. These are vendor recommendations, not YouTube rules. The reasoning is practical: [YouTube Help](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/57407) notes that HD and 4K uploads can take longer to process, and early viewers need time to arrive. Premieres work differently. A [YouTube Premiere](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9080341) creates a public watch page before the video starts. Viewers who set a reminder get a notification about 30 minutes before and another at the start. vidIQ advises scheduling a Premiere for your audience's peak itself, even if you uploaded the file earlier. Shorts cannot be premiered. ## How to find your own best time to post on YouTube YouTube shows creators when their own viewers are online, so you rarely need to guess from averages. ### Read the "When your viewers are on YouTube" report To open the report, sign in to YouTube Studio, select **Analytics** in the left menu, and then select **Audience** at the top. According to [YouTube Help](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9314416), "When your viewers are on YouTube" shows when your viewers were online across YouTube in the last 28 days. YouTube suggests using it to plan Premieres and live streams. The report shows when your viewers use YouTube, not when they watch your videos. vidIQ notes that small channels, under about 1,000 subscribers, may find the heatmap too sparse to use. In that case, start from the study overlaps in this guide. ### Run a four-week test ![PostQuest field guide showing a four-week YouTube timing test: read your heatmap, pick fair slots, score views at a fixed age against your median, and check thumbnail CTR and average view duration as controls. An illustrative example shows a Friday 4 p.m. Shorts slot scoring 1.22 against 1.06 for Thursday 8 p.m. and 0.91 for Saturday 1 p.m.](/infographics/best-time-to-post-on-youtube/four-week-test.webp) 1. **Pick slots from your heatmap.** Choose one slot one to two hours before your darkest block, and one slot at a time the studies favor. For Shorts, add a third slot. 2. **Rotate fairly.** For weekly long-form uploads, alternate two slots week by week. For Shorts, aim for at least four per slot. Keep topics and formats mixed across slots. 3. **Score views at a fixed age.** Record each video's views at the same age, such as seven days for long-form videos and 48 hours for Shorts. Divide by your channel's median views for that format. An index of 1.00 is your normal. 4. **Check the controls.** Look at **Thumbnail impressions click-through rate** and **Average view duration** for each video. YouTube Help says these key metrics are available within a few hours of publishing. If a slot wins but its CTR also jumped, the thumbnail is the likely cause, not the clock. | Metric in YouTube Analytics | What it tells you in a timing test | | ---------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Views | Your main score; count starts the moment a video plays | | Engaged views and Stayed to watch | Better Shorts comparison than raw views, which include swipes | | Thumbnail impressions click-through rate | Packaging control; a big change means the thumbnail or title differed | | Average view duration | Content control; timing rarely changes it much | | Traffic source types | How much of each video's traffic depends on upload day | Four weeks gives you only four long-form uploads at one per week, so treat that result as a direction. Shorts produce enough uploads for a clearer read. Adopt a slot only when it leads by a clear margin, such as 20%, across several videos. The [X timing guide](/blog/best-time-to-post-on-twitter) walks through the same median method with a worked example. ## Time zones: upload for your audience Every recommendation above uses your audience's local time. Check **Top geographies** in the same Audience tab of YouTube Analytics to see where your watch time comes from. Buffer notes that the heatmap itself is shown in your local time, so convert it if you live far from your viewers. | Audience | Long-form starting slot | Shorts starting slot | | ------------------------ | -------------------------------------- | -------------------------------- | | Mostly US East Coast | Sunday 9–10 a.m. ET | Friday 5–7 p.m. ET | | Across the United States | Weekdays 3–5 p.m. ET (12–2 p.m. PT) | 7–9 p.m. ET (4–6 p.m. PT) | | United Kingdom | Weekends 9–11 a.m. UK local time | Friday early evening, local time | | India | Weekends 9–11 a.m. IST | Weekday evenings, 6–10 p.m. IST | | Global | Test two slots about eight hours apart | Spread Shorts across regions | The "across the United States" and regional rows come from SocialPilot's time zone tables; the others apply Buffer's local-time peaks. Check your own heatmap before relying on any of them. ## A starter YouTube posting schedule If you want a schedule to use this week, start with one long-form video and three Shorts. Then run the test before you change anything. | Day | Time (audience local) | Format | Why this slot | | -------- | --------------------- | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Thursday | 8 p.m. | Short | Third-best Shorts day for Buffer and SocialPilot; 8 p.m. is in Buffer's Thursday top three | | Friday | 4 p.m. | Short | Buffer's top Shorts slot of the week | | Saturday | 1 p.m. | Short | Test slot: PostFast favors 1 p.m. and Saturday; Buffer does not favor afternoons | | Sunday | 9 a.m. | Long-form | Buffer's second-best slot, an hour before its top slot | The schedule skips Friday 6 p.m. and Tuesday evenings on purpose: PostFast scored 6 p.m. as its weakest hour, and Buffer ranks Tuesday among its weakest Shorts days. Swap one in as a test slot only if your heatmap points there. vidIQ also advises against posting a long-form video and a Short in the same four-hour window, and this schedule keeps them apart. You can cut the Shorts from the long-form video itself; see [how to turn one content idea into five posts](/blog/turn-one-content-idea-into-five-posts). For a fuller weekly system, read [how to build a consistent social media posting schedule](/blog/build-a-consistent-social-media-posting-schedule). If you also post vertical video elsewhere, the timing differs by network. Compare this plan with the [best time to post on TikTok](/blog/best-time-to-post-on-tiktok) and the [best time to post on Instagram](/blog/best-time-to-post-on-instagram), or see every network in one place in the [best time to post on social media](/blog/best-time-to-post-on-social-media) guide. ## Common timing mistakes on YouTube - **Publishing a 4K video at the peak.** Processing can take longer for HD and 4K uploads. Upload early and schedule the publish time. - **Comparing raw Shorts views.** Since March 2025, [according to YouTube](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/10059070), views include replays and quick starts. Compare engaged views instead. - **Judging a long-form video after one day.** vidIQ found hour effects largely even out by day 30. Score every video at the same age. - **Changing the thumbnail and the time together.** You will not know which change caused the result. - **Copying a study's time zone.** A 2 p.m. Eastern slot is 7 p.m. in London. - **Chasing the hour for evergreen tutorials.** If most views come from YouTube search, spend the effort on the title and topic. ## Schedule YouTube videos and Shorts with PostQuest Once you have chosen your slots, a scheduler publishes at the same times every week so your test stays fair. PostQuest is a social media scheduler for founders, creators, and small teams. It supports YouTube along with Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Threads, TikTok, Pinterest, Bluesky, and Mastodon. For YouTube, the useful parts are: - **Separate video and Short types.** PostQuest checks Shorts against a 180-second limit and a 9:16 or 1:1 frame, and checks file type and size for both formats before scheduling. The full limits are on the [YouTube specs page](/specs/youtube). - **YouTube settings per post.** Set a title of up to 100 characters, visibility, category, license, embedding, the made-for-kids flag, and a custom thumbnail. The caption becomes the video description. - **Calendar and per-post analytics.** PostQuest syncs views, likes, comments, shares, and subscribers gained for each video, with its publish time. - **AI assistant access.** Through the [PostQuest MCP server for Claude](/mcp/claude), you can ask your assistant to list recent videos with their metrics and group them by upload hour. AI-created posts stay drafts until you approve them. The limitations are real. PostQuest does not suggest best times from your history, does not create Premieres, and does not sync thumbnail CTR or average view duration, so use YouTube Studio for those. If you want automatic suggestions, [vidIQ's Best Time to Post feature](https://vidiq.com/blog/post/best-time-publish-video-youtube/) reads your audience data, and [RecurPost offers auto-scheduling for the best time](https://recurpost.com/schedule-youtube-videos/best-time-to-post-on-youtube/). You can review the current [PostQuest plans](/#pricing); the seven-day trial includes 20 scheduled or published posts. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is it better to upload on YouTube in the morning or the evening? It depends on the format. Long-form videos lean toward the morning or early afternoon: Buffer's peak is 8–11 a.m., while SocialPilot and RecurPost favor 12–4 p.m. on weekdays. Shorts lean toward the evening, with Buffer's peak at 6–11 p.m. Check the "When your viewers are on YouTube" report, then test one morning and one evening slot on your own channel. ### What is the worst day to post on YouTube? Wednesday is the most common answer for long-form videos. vidIQ found it about 2.2% below a channel's average day, Buffer ranks it second-worst after Thursday, and PostFast puts it at 0.89x of normal. SocialPilot and RecurPost disagree and rank Wednesday among the best days. For Shorts, Buffer names Tuesday and Monday the weakest. ### Should I schedule a YouTube video or use a Premiere? Schedule a regular upload when you want the video to start collecting views quietly before your audience's peak. Use a Premiere when you want an event: YouTube creates a public watch page early, lets viewers set reminders, and notifies them about 30 minutes before and at the start. vidIQ suggests setting a Premiere for the peak itself. Shorts cannot be premiered. ### Does upload time matter for a small YouTube channel? Less than consistency does. vidIQ notes that channels under about 1,000 subscribers often have too little data for a useful viewer heatmap. With a small audience, few viewers see a new video in its first hours anyway. Pick one slot from the study overlaps, publish on a steady schedule, and start testing slots once your heatmap shows clear patterns.