The best time to post long YouTube videos is weekend and weekday mornings, with Sunday at 10am the strongest slot, according to Buffer's 2026 study of 1.8 million videos. Shorts are the opposite: evenings between 6pm and 9pm do best, with Friday at 4pm the top slot. For your own channel, check when your viewers are on YouTube in YouTube Studio and publish shortly before that peak.
That split between long videos and Shorts is the most useful thing to know, and most older guides miss it. Below are the times for every day, why they differ, and how to find the best time for your channel. Everything was checked on 10 November 2026.
Best times to post on YouTube at a glance
| Long videos | Shorts | |
|---|---|---|
| Best day | Sunday | Friday |
| Best single slot | Sunday 10am | Friday 4pm |
| Best time of day | Mornings, roughly 8am to 11am | Evenings, roughly 6pm to 9pm |
| Next-best days | Tuesday, Monday | Saturday, Thursday |
| Weakest days | Thursday, Wednesday | Tuesday, Monday |
| Weakest times | Weekday early afternoons | Mornings |
Times are in your audience's local time. Source: Buffer, "The Best Time to Post on YouTube", median engagement across about 1.8 million long videos and Shorts, published July 2026.
Best time to upload to YouTube for each day of the week
The three strongest hours for each day, best first.
| Day | Long videos | Shorts |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 9am, 10pm, 7am | 8pm, 5pm, 6pm |
| Tuesday | 9am, 11am, 8am | 8pm, 9pm, 7pm |
| Wednesday | 7am, 3pm, 5pm | 7pm, 8pm, 9pm |
| Thursday | 5pm, 6pm, 7am | 7pm, 8pm, 9pm |
| Friday | 12pm, 11am, 3pm | 4pm, 6pm, 7pm |
| Saturday | 12pm, 10am, 3pm | 7pm, 11am, 6pm |
| Sunday | 10am, 9am, 12pm | 7pm, 8pm, 5pm |
If you post one long video a week, the simplest rule from this data is Sunday morning, or Tuesday morning if weekends don't suit you. If you post Shorts, post them in the evening, any day, with Friday a little ahead. There's more in our guide to the best time to post YouTube Shorts.
Why long videos and Shorts have opposite peaks
They're watched differently.
Long videos are chosen. People pick a 15-minute video when they have 15 minutes: weekend mornings, a weekday breakfast, a lunch break. A video published in the morning is indexed, notified to subscribers and recommended by the time those viewing windows open. Weekday early afternoons are the weak spot, when most people are working.
Shorts are scrolled. The Shorts feed fills the gaps in people's evenings, the same way TikTok and Reels do. Evening uploads land in front of the most scrollers. Buffer also notes that YouTube keeps resurfacing Shorts over time, so the upload time matters less for a Short than for a long video.
Does it matter when you upload to YouTube?
Less than on X or TikTok, but it helps a new video start well.
YouTube recommends videos for weeks or months after they go out, so a good video posted at an odd hour can still find its audience. What timing changes is the first day: your subscribers get notified, the video appears on their home page, and how they respond tells YouTube who else to show it to. A video that goes out while your audience is asleep starts slower.
Two practical things matter more than the exact hour:
- Upload early, publish later. HD and 4K versions can take a while to process. Upload hours ahead, set the video to go public at your chosen time, and it'll be ready in full quality when viewers arrive.
- Be consistent. Viewers and YouTube both learn your rhythm. The same day and time each week beats a perfect slot you hit once.
How to find the best time to post for your channel
YouTube Studio shows you when your own viewers are on YouTube:
- Open YouTube Studio and go to Analytics.
- Open the Audience tab.
- Find When your viewers are on YouTube. It's a heat map of days and hours, based on your viewers' activity across all of YouTube (not just your channel) in the last 28 days. The darker the block, the more of your viewers are online.
Channels need enough viewers for the report to appear. Once it does:
- For long videos, publish one to two hours before the darkest blocks, so the video is processed, notified and starting to be recommended as your viewers arrive.
- For Shorts, publish at the start of the dark evening blocks.
- Check your geography. Under Audience you can also see the top countries. If most of your viewers are in the US and you're in Europe, your "morning" is their middle of the night.
Then test it: post a few videos in your chosen slot and compare views in the first 24 to 48 hours with your usual times. Change one thing at a time.
Best time to post on YouTube in EST, CST and PST
The study's times are local to your viewers. If your audience is spread across the US, aim at Eastern time, the most populous time zone, and check what that means for the West Coast:
| Eastern (ET) | Central (CT) | Pacific (PT) | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10am Sunday | 9am | 7am | Long videos: the top slot in the East, early on the West Coast |
| 12pm Saturday | 11am | 9am | Long videos: a weekend slot that suits all US time zones |
| 8pm any day | 7pm | 5pm | Shorts: evening in the East, late afternoon in the West |
For a mostly West Coast audience, flip it and post at the Pacific time instead.
How to schedule a YouTube video for the right time
In YouTube Studio, upload the video, fill in the details, and at the Visibility step choose Schedule and pick the date and time. The video stays private until then and goes public automatically. Our guide to scheduling YouTube videos and Shorts covers it step by step, including Premieres and time zones.
If the same video also goes to TikTok, or you want your uploads on one calendar with your other posts, Postbase can schedule it: upload the video once, set the YouTube title, thumbnail, visibility and made-for-kids setting, pick the slot you found above, and it's published at that time.
Available channels
Customize per channel
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For every other network's best times, see the best time to post on social media in one table, or convert them to your time zone with our free best time to post tool. For TikTok specifically, see the best time to post on TikTok.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best time to post on YouTube?
For long videos, mornings, with Sunday at 10am the strongest slot in Buffer's 2026 study of 1.8 million videos. For Shorts, evenings between 6pm and 9pm, with Friday at 4pm the top slot. Use your audience's local time.
What is the best day to upload on YouTube?
Sunday for long videos, followed by Tuesday and Monday. Friday for Shorts, followed by Saturday and Thursday. Thursday and Wednesday were the weakest days for long videos.
What is the best time to post YouTube Shorts?
Evenings, around 6pm to 9pm in your viewers' time zone, with Friday at 4pm the single best slot in Buffer's data. Shorts keep being resurfaced, so the exact hour matters less than posting regularly.
Should I upload YouTube videos in the morning or at night?
Long videos do best in the morning, between about 8am and 11am, and at midday on weekends. Shorts do best in the evening. If you upload the night before, schedule the video to go public the next morning.
How long before my viewers' peak should I post?
A common rule is one to two hours before the peak shown in YouTube Studio's "When your viewers are on YouTube" report, so the video is fully processed and already being recommended when most of your viewers are online.
Does the time you upload affect views on YouTube?
It affects the first day or two, when subscribers are notified and YouTube decides who else to show the video to. Over weeks and months, the video's quality, title and thumbnail matter much more.
Is it bad to post on YouTube at night?
Not for Shorts, which do best in the evening. For long videos, a late-night upload starts slower because fewer of your viewers are awake; schedule it for the next morning instead.
How often should I post on YouTube?
One long video a week, or every other week, on a schedule viewers can rely on is a good start, and three Shorts a week. There's more in how often to post on social media.
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