Every year, we embark on a fun (fascinating!) project: uncovering the best time to post on social media across all major platforms.
As part of Buffer’s 2026 State of Social Media Engagement report, we analyzed over 52 million posts across major platforms. Our data scientist uncovered the time slots with the highest median engagement across Instagram, Facebook, Threads, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, and X— and found some pretty convincing patterns.
The result: our data-backed recommendations on the best time to post on social media in 2026. 🥳 Use these times as a starting point in your social media marketing strategy to give your content the best possible chance of success.
Before I get into this, an important caveat: sharing your social media posts at the ‘right’ time is not the secret sauce for content success. (If there were a secret sauce, it would be consistency. But more on that in a sec.)
Each platform’s algorithm considers tons of different factors — engagement, watch time, user preferences, location, and more. Post timing is likely just one small piece of a pretty complex puzzle.
Still, if you feel like you’re hitting all the right notes with your content and want to give your social media strategy a helpful little boost, it’s worth testing the best time to post on the platforms you use.
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Is there an overall best time to post on social media?
There is no single best time to post on social media that applies to all social media platforms. They’re all used for different reasons, by very different users.
For example, unlike other social media platforms, LinkedIn is used for professional networking and thrives during late afternoon working hours. TikTok is more focused on entertainment, so videos and carousels there are more likely to get views after hours. Facebook is used for catching up with friends, and X and Threads, for news, meaning folks are likely to check them early in the day.
As you’ll see from all our graphs, there’s not much overlap.
So, while we can’t be as specific as we can on a per-platform basis, we can make broad recommendations that are largely common sense. For example, content posted in the middle of the night tends to perform poorly. Perhaps less obviously, posts shared on weekends also tend to get less engagement (on every platform but TikTok).
With all that in mind, you’re far better off with a digital marketing plan and social media calendar with a unique posting schedule for each platform. Let’s get into our recommendations for all of them.
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What time zone? To make this data easier to understand, our data scientist Bufferoo has done some mathematical magic to make the recommended time zones universally applicable. In other words, no need to convert — consider all the recommendations local time. Whether you’re in EST (Eastern Standard Time), PST (Pacific Standard Time), or IST (Indian Standard Time), the times apply to you.
Quick guide to the best time to post on social media
Here’s a cheat sheet for the best time to post on social media (it’s worth scrolling down for more options, too)
| Platform | Best Time to Post |
|---|---|
| 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. (weekdays) | |
| 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. (weekdays) | |
| 3 p.m. – 6 p.m. (Wed–Sun) | |
| TikTok | 6 p.m. – 11 p.m. (daily) plus weekend mornings |
| YouTube Shorts | 4 p.m. – 7 p.m. (Fri–Sat) |
| YouTube (long-form) | 6 p.m. – 10 p.m. (Sun–Tue) |
| X (Twitter) | 8 a.m. – 11 a.m. (weekdays) |
| Threads | 7 a.m. – 12 p.m. (weekdays) |
This is where a social media management tool like Buffer really shines. Experiment by scheduling posts at the recommended times and tracking post performance to see what works best for your target audience.
Best time to post on Facebook
The best time to post on Facebook is 9 a.m. on Thursday. That 9 a.m. slot tends to get the most engagement, but Thursday mornings take the top spots overall.
In general, the morning hours are where the magic happens on Facebook. Engagement levels tend to rise through mid-morning, peak around midday, and gradually taper off until another spike in the early evening.
When it comes to the best day to post on Facebook, Wednesday leads the pack in terms of overall engagement, followed closely by Thursdays.
Engagement takes a noticeable dip on posts on social media on weekends, with Saturday coming in as the quietest day on the platform.
Best time to post on Instagram
The best time to post on Instagram is 9 a.m. on Thursday; interestingly, the same time as Facebook. After analyzing nearly 10 million posts, we found that this time slot consistently got the highest reach.
Early mornings on both Wednesday and Thursday are strong, with another spike in the early evening on most days of the week. If you look at the heatmap above, you’ll notice that Instagram engagement generally hits its stride at 6 p.m. on most days.
Weekends, however, tell a different story. Reach tends to dip on Fridays and only starts to recover on a Monday. While there is more activity on a Sunday, it doesn’t quite match the performance of weekday posts.
In general, weekdays are a safe bet for solid reach on Instagram — but Wednesday comes out on top with higher engagement than the rest of the week.
At the other end of the scale? Friday is the worst day to post on Instagram, where we see a notable dip in post performance over the weekend.
Best time to post on LinkedIn
The best times to post on LinkedIn are 4 p.m. on Wednesday, 4 p.m. on Friday, and 3 p.m. on Friday.
In the nearly 5 million LinkedIn posts we analyzed, we found a noticeable change from 2025, when peak posting times sat firmly within the workday.
While the platform is still rooted in professional use, more people are now interacting with content outside of office hours — whether that’s on the way home, while unwinding in the evening, or doing a quick scroll before bed.
As the data shows, engagement starts building in the afternoon and holds steady well into the evening. Unlike other social platforms where evenings have long been high-performing, this shift is relatively new for LinkedIn.
Meanwhile, posts published in the early part of the day (6 a.m.–11 a.m.) are now seeing comparatively lower engagement than those shared later on.
When it comes to the best day to post on LinkedIn, Wednesday edges out the other days of the week (again), closely followed by Thursday and Friday. Surprisingly (for a professional platform), posts shared on Saturday and Sunday get noticeably more engagement than the early weekdays.
Best time to post on TikTok
The single best time to post is Sunday at 9 a.m., followed by Monday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
Videos, carousels, and even text-based posts shared during those slots tended to pull in the most views across the week.
In general, views on TikTok tend to climb in the evening, with the strongest performance between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. Afternoons (12 p.m.–5 p.m.) are usually a bit quieter across most days. TikTok also sees strong performance across Saturdays and Sundays.
Saturday is the best day to post on TikTok, closely followed by Monday. Unlike the other platforms we’ve already covered, Wednesday is the worst day to post on TikTok.
Best time to post on YouTube
Because YouTube Shorts behave so differently from long-form videos — both in how they’re consumed and how the algorithm distributes them — we’ve looked at each separately to give a clearer, more accurate picture of what works.
Best time to post YouTube Shorts
When it comes to YouTube Shorts, Friday at 4 p.m. comes out on top. Shorts posted at this time tend to see the highest engagement, with 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Fridays also performing really well.
In general, evenings (6 p.m. to 11 p.m.) during the week are when shorts get the most traction.
This makes sense for how people use shorts — it’s quick, easy content that fits perfectly into those in-between moments after work, when people are scrolling to unwind. Afternoon slots (12 p.m. to 5 p.m.) are usually a bit quieter, although things start to pick up later in the day.
Overall, afternoons tend to be the weakest time to post, when most people are still busy or not in scroll mode yet.
Looking at the week as a whole, Friday, Saturday, and Thursday are your strongest days. Friday leads the pack, with Saturday close behind. For best results, aim to post in the evening on these days — with Friday at 4 p.m. standing out as the single best time.
Earlier in the week is a bit slower. Tuesday tends to see the lowest engagement, followed by Monday, so it may be worth focusing more on the mid- to late-week window, from Wednesday through Saturday.
Best time to post long-form YouTube videos
For longer YouTube videos, evenings (6 p.m. to 10 p.m.) are generally still the sweet spot for engagement.
Unlike shorts, longer videos rely more on dedicated viewing time, so it makes sense that people tend to watch in the evenings or over the weekend, when they’re more likely to settle in and watch for longer. That said, there are also a few standout morning and midday spikes (particularly on weekends), showing that viewing habits can vary more than expected.
Afternoons, especially midweek, are typically the weakest window, when most people are busy or not in the mindset for longer-form content.
Sunday stands out as the strongest day overall, with consistently high engagement across the board. Tuesday and Monday also perform well, while midweek — especially Wednesday and Thursday — tends to be quieter.
For best results, aim to publish in the evening — particularly toward the end of the week and over the weekend, when viewers are most likely to have the time and attention to engage.
Again, it depends on the type of content. If you create how-to videos that show people how to use some work-related software, for example, perhaps it’s better to post during the week.
Best time to post on X (formerly Twitter)
The best time to post on Twitter/X is 9 a.m. on Tuesday. That’s when content sees the highest engagement, according to our analysis of more than 8 million posts.
The next-best times are Wednesday at 10 a.m., followed closely by Wednesday at 9 a.m.
In general, though, weekday mornings are your best bet. Engagement starts picking up early — typically around 8 a.m. — and hits its peak between 9 and 11 a.m. From there, activity tends to taper off into the afternoon as people shift gears into the rest of their workday.
Most of the top-performing time slots land in this morning window, so if you’re looking to get more eyes on your tweets, try scheduling them before lunchtime.
Wednesday is the best day to post on Twitter/X. Posts shared on Tuesday and Thursday also perform well, making the middle of the week a great time to show up on the platform.
Engagement tends to drop off on posts shared on the weekend. Saturday is the quietest day on Twitter, with Sunday not far behind, so you’re generally better off keeping your strongest content for the workweek.
Best time to post on Threads
The best time to post on Threads is 9 a.m. on a Thursday (interestingly, the same as Facebook, Instagram, and X). Posts published then had the highest median engagement — that is likes, replies, and reposts — across all the data we analyzed.
The next-best times were 7 a.m. – 12 p.m. on weekdays. Generally speaking, most weekday mornings are great windows to aim for.
Wednesday is the best day to post on Threads (again, the same as many of the other platforms), based on overall engagement. It’s followed by Thursday and Tuesday — midweek is clearly prime Threads time.
On the flip side, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday see the lowest engagement. If you’re batch-scheduling content for the week, you might want to give those weekend and Monday posts a second thought.
Get an optimized posting schedule in Buffer
Want to work smarter, not harder? (Love this for you!) You can get all the latest best times to post, right in Buffer.
You can automatically set these recommended times for all your social media platforms in Buffer. Bonus: we update these times regularly, so Buffer will always have the most up-to-date best posting times we have. 🤓
They’ll appear as posting slots in your queue and calendar, like this:
It’s genuinely one of my favorite Buffer features right now. And it’ll take you less than a minute to set up:
- Click on the platform you want to set a schedule for on your channels list on the left.
- Click on the gear icon at the top of the page, next to your platform handle.
Under Posting Times, click the Generate New Posting Times button, then Use Recommended Posting Times.
The schedule will automatically update to include the best posting times for the week, based on our latest analysis of millions of posts.
The next time you schedule a post, you can easily choose one of these high engagement slots. No more guessing!
How to find your best times to post in Buffer
I can’t promise that posting your content at precisely these times will guarantee social media success — I wish it were that simple. It’s important to remember that audience behavior can vary. For example, optimal posting times for Buffer’s social media audience probably won’t work for my personal target audience, and vice versa.
Using your social media metrics to guide you can be really helpful here. Some social media platforms, like Instagram and YouTube, will include high-engagement times in their native analytics. For the ones that don’t, you can do a bit of manual work by analyzing your best-performing posts to make some educated guesses on your personal best time to post on social media.
Click on the platform-specific guides I’ve linked above to find step-by-step instructions to help you access them all.
Of course, there is an easier way. A good social media management tool can do this hard work for you. Buffer’s analytics will crunch the numbers of all your historical data and recommend the following:
- The best time/day of the week for you to post
- The best content format to post (image, video, text, or link)
- How often to post per day or week
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Note: Buffer Analytics is available in our paid plans for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, and LinkedIn Pages. Our Answers feature can recommend the best days and times for Instagram posts and the best days to post for Facebook, Twitter/X, and LinkedIn Pages.
To find the numbers:
- Ensure the social network you want to analyze is connected to Buffer (here’s a guide to connecting all our available channels). Note that if this channel has just been connected to Buffer, it may take about a week for us to gather all the required data.
- Click on the Analyze tab at the top left.
- Here, you’ll see how your content has performed over the period you set with the date dropdown on the top right.
- Click on the Answers tab. You’ll find all of the recommendations I mentioned above in this window.
Choose the platform you want answers for in the column on the left.
Timing matters — but it isn’t everything
As I mentioned earlier, finding the best time to post on social media might help boost content performance, but it’s not the magic bullet that will make your content go viral.
Using optimal posting times on your chosen social media platforms is an easy box to tick, but your time and energy are best spent on making sure your content resonates with your target audience and will nudge you toward your social media marketing goals.
Not sure where to begin? Here’s our guide to building a solid social media strategy from scratch — along with a template to get you started.
What have you found most helpful when determining your best time to post on social media? Let us know @buffer on all our social media accounts.
FAQ about the best time to post on social media
Is there an overall best time to post on social media?
No — there’s no single best time that works across all platforms. Each network has different user behavior and intent, so posting times that work on LinkedIn won’t necessarily work on TikTok.
What are the best days to post on social media?
Midweek tends to perform best overall. Wednesdays see higher engagement across most platforms we looked at, but again, it’s very platform-specific. Some platforms like TikTok and YouTube can still perform well on weekends.
Why does posting time matter?
Posting at the right time helps your content reach people when they’re most active, which can lead to stronger early engagement — an important signal for social media algorithms.
Is posting at the “best” time enough to guarantee success?
No — timing helps, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Factors like content quality, consistency, audience relevance, and platform algorithms all play a much bigger role. Posting regularly and creating content that resonates with your audience will have a bigger impact than hitting the exact “perfect” time.
Should I follow these posting times exactly?
Think of them as a starting point. The best results come from testing and adjusting based on your own audience data and performance.
How can I find the best time to post for my audience?
Use your analytics. Most platforms provide insights into when your audience is most active, or you can use a tool like Buffer to view them all in one place. You can also experiment with different posting times and track what performs best over time.