When is the Best Time to Post on YouTube? We Analyzed 1 Million Videos to Find Out

[ResidentialBusiness]

So many factors contribute to the success of your videos on YouTube: your video title, thumbnail, YouTube SEO, and (perhaps most importantly) the quality of your content.

It’s a lot to consider, and it’s often not easy to pinpoint what will resonate with your YouTube subscribers the most.

But thanks to our analysis of more than 1 million videos shared on YouTube, we can offer a little more concrete guidance on at least one of those factors: the best time to post on YouTube.

As we’ll get into later on, this is not a magic bullet for content success — the factors I mentioned above have an outsized impact. But compared to all the work that goes into the rest of these processes, posting your YouTube videos and YouTube shorts when you’re most likely to get views is an easy box to tick. And it could give your content the boost it deserves.

In our analysis, we compared the median views of more than a million videos shared at different times. This helped us pinpoint patterns in the posting times with the highest video views, which we recommend as the best time to post on YouTube.

Of course, these are general recommendations — in this article, I'll also walk you through how to figure out the best time to post on YouTube for your audience, whether you’re a marketer, casual content creator, or full-time YouTuber.

Jump to a section:

• The best time to post on YouTube
• The best time to post on YouTube daily at a glance
• The best and worst days to post on YouTube
• The best time to post YouTube Shorts
• Finding the best time for you to post YouTube videos and Shorts

The best time to post on YouTube

The best time to post on YouTube overall is Wednesday at 4 p.m. — we found that videos shared at that time tended to get the highest number of views. Other posting times that got high views are Thursday at 4 p.m. and Monday at 4 p.m.

🌞 Generally speaking, videos shared between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays tended to get the most views.

In the heatmap graph above, the darkest slots represent the time slots with the highest video views (the best time to post on YouTube) while the lighter blocks are the time slots with the lowest video views (the upload times probably best avoided).

You’ll see that audience behavior is pretty predictable, given that most YouTube users are working age —  more than 40% of YouTube users are between the ages of 25 and 44, per Statista.

These peak hours suggest that most YouTube users prefer to watch videos later in the day as their workday draws to a close, when they have time to watch longer videos. Views on videos posted earlier in the mornings tend to be lower, though views start to climb during midmornings, lunch breaks, and late afternoon and evening.

The worst times to post on YouTube are generally between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m., when most viewers are asleep.

That said, there still are some good times to post videos on YouTube on the other days of the week that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Here’s a closer look at the best time to post on YouTube for each day of the week.

🌍 Wait, 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. Whether you're in EST (Eastern Standard Time), PST (Pacific Standard Time), or IST (Indian Standard Time), the times apply to you.

At a glance: The best time to post on YouTube

On most days of the week, anywhere between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. is a great time to post on YouTube. Here are the best times for every day of the week:

• Monday: 4 p.m.
• Tuesday: 3 p.m.
• Wednesday: 4 p.m.
• Thursday: 4 p.m.
• Friday: 3 p.m.
• Saturday: 5 p.m.
• Sunday: 3 p.m.

The best time to post on YouTube on Monday

The best time to post on YouTube on Monday is 4 p.m., followed by 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., according to our data. YouTube content uploaded at 4 p.m. on Mondays saw the third-highest median views all week, making Monday afternoons an excellent time to post videos.

The best time to post on YouTube on Tuesday

The best time to post on YouTube on Tuesday is 3 p.m., with other peak slots at 4 p.m., then 5 p.m. As is the case with Monday, late afternoon posting times tend to be when YouTube videos get the most views.

The best time to post on YouTube on Wednesday

The best time to post on YouTube on Wednesday is at 4 p.m., followed by 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. YouTube videos posted at 4 p.m. on Wednesdays saw the highest median views of the entire week, our data found, making it the best time to post on YouTube overall. If you're looking for an excellent time to post on YouTube this is it — it's a must for your YouTube posting schedule.

The best time to post on YouTube on Thursday

The best time to post on YouTube on Thursday is 4 p.m., followed by (you guessed it) 3 p.m., and 5 p.m., respectively. Videos uploaded on Thursdays at 4 p.m. saw the second-highest median views of the week, making it a great slot for your YouTube posting schedule.

The best time to post on YouTube on Friday

The best time to post on YouTube on Friday is between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. The time slot with the highest views was 3 p.m., with other peak slots at 4 p.m., then 5 p.m.

The best time to post on YouTube on Saturday

The best time to post YouTube videos on Saturday is in the late afternoon, at 5 p.m., then 3 p.m., then 4 p.m. That said, Saturday is a slower day on the platform, so, if you can, it might be best to keep Saturday off your posting schedule.

The best time to post on YouTube on Sunday

The best time to post on YouTube on Sunday is in line with the rest of the week: 3 p.m. is the best slot, with other peak hours at 4 p.m., then 5 p.m. However, Sunday is the worst day of the week to post on YouTube — our analysis showed that videos shared on Sundays tended to get lower views than the rest of the week.

The best and worst days to post on YouTube

The best days of the week to post on YouTube are Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. According to our data, those three posting days are tied for median video views. For best results, publish YouTube videos between 3 and 5 p.m. on these days.

Sunday is the worst day of the week to post YouTube videos, followed by Saturday. Videos posted on weekends tend to get lower views than the rest of the week, so it could be worthwhile experimenting with a weekday-only posting schedule.

🌏

Just as there’s no one-size-fits-all best time to post, there’s no single best time to post across all social platforms, either. Here’s the best time to post on Instagram, the best time to post on TikTok, the best time to post on Facebook, and the best time to post on LinkedIn.

The best time to post YouTube Shorts

The best time to post YouTube Shorts is Wednesday at 4 p.m., with 4 p.m. on Thursday and 4 p.m. on Monday coming a close second and third, respectively.

Our dataset weighed the median views of all YouTube videos, including YouTube Shorts, so the graphs and data in this article apply to both long-form videos and YouTube Shorts. So, you can safely post YouTube Shorts during the time slots mentioned above, too.

⚡

Give your YouTube Shorts the best possible chance of success by scheduling them to go live at peak viewing times with Buffer. Sign up (for free!) here ➡️

Finding your best time to post on YouTube

As we often share on this blog, every audience is different. Videos with the most views are generally uploaded in the timeslots above — but they may not be the right fit for your audience and their behavior.

So, your best time to post on YouTube might be slightly different to what we've shared here. Your YouTube posting schedule, like all things in content marketing, has to be finetuned and figured out for your specific audience. But how do you do that?

The good news is that YouTube Analytics makes this pretty easy. Their metrics are extensive and updated in real-time. Here, you’ll get a good sense of when to post videos for your target audience — if you know where to look.

Here’s a step-by-step guide.

1. Go to YouTube Studio

First up, head over to YouTube Studio. While there are several routes via your YouTube channel when logged in, it’s easiest to head straight to studio.youtube.com.

If you’re just starting, it’s worth familiarizing yourself with the tool (here’s how to use YouTube Studio for newbies). In a nutshell, YouTube Studio is your channel's control room, where you’ll go to upload your videos and shorts, keep on top of your subscribers and comments, manage monetization, and monitor your video performance.

2. Check out your YouTube analytics

Of all the native social media analytics tools, YouTube Studio is one of the best. Not only does it offer you a wealth of stats and numbers, but it also does an excellent job of helping you understand and take action from all those metrics.

To access all this good stuff, click on the Analytics tab on the left-hand side of your screen. Here, you’ll find your YouTube analytics Overview, with insights into your overall viewership, watch time, subscriber growth, engagement metrics, and more.

Visiting this space should be a regular task on your social media marketing checklist.

3. Navigate to ‘Audience’

This is where things get interesting. In YouTube Studio’s Audience tab (at the top of the screen), you can dig into some fascinating info about your audience as a whole — not just your subscribers.

You’ll find insights into things like which videos are growing your audience (definitely a set of metrics to pay attention to if your goal is to grow your YouTube channel), a host of audience demographics like location, age, and gender, as well as the type of content your audience usually watches on YouTube (YouTube Shorts, Lives, or longer videos).

But when it comes to the best time to post on YouTube for you, the most helpful analytics segment is 'When your viewers are on YouTube.' To find this graph, scroll down a bit on the Audience tab.

Here, you’ll find a unique heat map set in your local time, indicating the specific times your audience is on YouTube. As with Buffer’s graphs, their most active times will be in the darkest purple and the least active times in the lightest purple. These slots are a great indicator of the best time to post on YouTube for your target audience.

You’ll see in the screenshot above that Buffer’s YouTube audience is most active around 5 p.m. on weekdays.

It’s well worth checking on these numbers regularly. The data applies to the last 28 days, so peak times may shift periodically.

Your checklist for high-performing YouTube videos and YouTube Shorts

While it might offer your channel a little boost to upload YouTube videos at the best time to post, it’s not the be-all and end-all. There are many factors to consider to give your videos the best chance of success.

For more guidance on this, check out our guide to getting more subscribers on YouTube. Here’s a quick cheat sheet to get you started:

1. Optimize your channel: Make sure you have unique, high-quality channel art (a profile picture, banner image, and video watermark), write a comprehensive channel description, and create a video spotlight or trailer for your channel.

2. Get to grips with the YouTube algorithm: The YouTube algorithm determines how your YouTube content is ranked in the platform’s various feeds. It weighs specific signals — like views, watch time, engagement, and more, to pinpoint how valuable your video content is and who to show it to. Here’s our guide to the YouTube algorithm and YouTube Short’s algorithm to walk you through it.

3. Tap into YouTube SEO: YouTube is owned by Google, and its search algorithm works similarly. Conduct keyword research with a search engine optimization (SEO) tool, and make sure you use those keywords in your channel description, video title, and video description.

4. Create thumbnails that stop the scroll: YouTube thumbnails can make or break the success of your YouTube video. Studies have shown that YouTube creators with thumbnails that feature faces and emotions, are colorful, and contain branding or text generally perform better.

5. Deliver value upfront: There's no point in uploading videos at the best time to post on YouTube if your audience is going to close the video within a few seconds. You've caught their attention, now make sure you hold it. Ditch long, winding intros and start delivering on your video’s promise from the get-go to capture viewers’ attention.

6. Use pattern interrupts: Talking-head videos get real boring, real fast. Keep your viewers engaged with subtle edits that keep things interesting — think text, transitions, b-roll footage, animations, stickers, and more.

7. Start a series: Give your audience a reason to keep coming back to your channel. Build successful videos out into a series, and, if it makes sense for your audience, deliver the next installment at regular intervals (use this 'best time to post on YouTube' guide to create your posting schedule if you're not sure when will work best).

8. Don’t sleep on YouTube Shorts: With more than 70 billion views daily, YouTube’s answer to TikTok and Instagram Reels can be a brilliant way to draw in new subscribers. Here are 15+ YouTube Shorts Ideas For Your Next Video to get you started.

9. Post consistently: Whether it’s a video or a short, keep your YouTube channel as active as possible with a consistent posting schedule. All social media platform algorithms reward their creators for consistency, YouTube included. A social media content calendar is a must-have to help you maintain your chosen cadence of quality content creation.

10. Engage with your audience: Replying to and liking viewer comments is table stakes. Go the extra mile and screenshot their comments to feature in videos, encourage discussion by asking questions in your scripts, and moderate your comments to keep your community safe and healthy. You could even ask them when they're most likely to watch videos, to help you pinpoint your best time to post on YouTube.

11. Keep going: YouTube success is a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t expect virality with your first video—it will probably need some work! And don't expect leveraging the best time to post on YouTube to do all the work for you. Take the pressure off and know that your content and video quality are improving with each upload. Stick with it, pay attention to content performance, and subscribers will come.

View the full article