Guide

Best Time to Post on Social Media in 2026

On social media, the best time to post in 2026 depends on the platform, but three large studies agree on one thing: weekdays beat weekends on most platforms. After that they disagree, and the reason matters more than any single time.

Best time to post on social media: what the studies agree on

Weekdays do better than weekends on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and X in the largest study (nearly 2 billion engagements); midweek, Tuesday to Thursday, is the most common winner.

YouTube is the exception: one study found long videos did best on Sunday at 10 a.m. and Shorts on Friday at 4 p.m.

Each platform, in short

Instagram: Thursday at 9 a.m. in one study of about 10 million posts; Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday from noon in another.

Facebook: Thursday at 9 a.m., or Tuesday and Wednesday from noon to 8 p.m., depending on the study.

LinkedIn: working hours midweek, with late afternoon on Wednesday and Friday in one study.

X: Tuesday at 9 a.m. in one study, weekday evenings in another.

Threads: Thursday at 9 a.m., from the one study large enough to report it (2.5 million posts).

YouTube: Sunday morning for long videos, Friday afternoon for Shorts.

Why they disagree, and what to do about it

Each study averages other people’s audiences: different countries, industries and sizes of account, and a different measure of “did well”. That is why no two agree, and why none of them is your answer.

Use them as a first guess. Post at two or three of these times for a few weeks, then put your own results into the free best-time tool: it shows which hours and days did best for your audience, in your browser, with no account.

Social media today: check your own numbers

A time that was best across thousands of accounts says little about your followers today. For a quick answer, open your own Insights on each platform and look at the hours your followers are online now, then post just before them. A Sunday or a Thursday is not best for everyone either: check how those two days did on your own posts.

Today, and on a given day

The best time today to post on social media is the busiest hour in the platform's own analytics for the account you are posting to. No platform publishes a daily figure, and a general list cannot know your audience.

Your best Sunday time to post on social media and your best Thursday time to post on social media are found the same way: compare those days' activity in each platform's insights, then test two hours for a few weeks.

Sources

Questions

Whose time zone are these times in?

Your audience’s local time. All three studies report the time where the posts were made, not one fixed zone, so 9 a.m. means 9 a.m. where your followers are.

Is there one best time for every platform?

No. Each platform’s audience uses it at different moments, and the studies measure different things. Start from the platform’s own guide, then use your own numbers.

Try it on your own post.

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