What's the best time to upload on YouTube on Monday?

Monday 3–5 PM ET is the strongest weekday upload window — the video accumulates watch-time entering Monday prime time (7–9 PM) and gets a second algorithmic boost during Tuesday's recommendation cycle. Monday uploads are the safest day to test new formats; the algorithm has all week to expand reach.

What's the best time to upload on YouTube on Tuesday?

Tuesday 4 PM ET is the strongest weekday upload slot — the video matures into Tuesday-night prime time and the algorithm tests it against Wednesday's recommendation cycle. Tuesday outperforms Monday by ~15% for first-24-hour CTR.

What's the best time to upload on YouTube on Wednesday?

Wednesday 3–5 PM ET. Mid-week uploads are statistically the most reliable on YouTube — neither weekend-decay nor Monday-warmup penalty applies. Best day for educational long-form content because comment energy peaks Wed–Thu.

What's the best time to upload on YouTube on Thursday?

Thursday 3–5 PM ET, with 7–10 PM as a strong secondary window. Thursday is the best day to publish content you want still ranking by Sunday — YouTube's recommendation system gives Thursday uploads a 4-day priming runway into the weekend's heavier viewing hours.

What's the best time to upload on YouTube on Friday?

Friday 7–10 PM ET — the only weeknight where evening-prime uploading outperforms afternoon. Saturday morning viewers form the early-engagement audience, which is exactly what the algorithm needs to decide whether to push the video into weekend recommendation surfaces.

What's the best time to publish YouTube Shorts?

YouTube Shorts mirror TikTok timing more than long-form: weekday 7–10 PM ET and weekend 10 AM – 1 PM ET. The Shorts feed refreshes hourly, so consistency matters more than the perfect slot.

Does the upload hour matter as much as on TikTok?

Less. YouTube's recommendation system operates over days and weeks, not minutes. The exact hour matters less than (1) publishing 1–2 hours before your audience's peak viewing time so the video accumulates watch-time entering prime time, and (2) consistency, which boosts subscriber notifications.

Should I publish all videos at the same time each week?

Yes — the subscriber-notification system explicitly rewards predictable schedules. Pick a day and time you can reliably hit (e.g. every Tuesday 4 PM ET) and stick with it. Inconsistent uploads cost you the most engaged 5–10% of your audience.

When should I publish weekend YouTube content?

Saturday 9–11 AM ET is the highest-engagement slot for family-friendly and weekend-leisure content. Don't publish during prime time on the weekend — you get the engagement but lose the next-day recommendation surface.

How does YouTube use my upload time for distribution?

YouTube reads click-through rate and average view duration in the first 24 hours and decides whether to promote the video. Publishing right before prime time (so the early audience is engaged users) gives the algorithm strong signals to expand reach.

Best Time to Post on YouTube — Free Calculator (2026)

YouTube's algorithm rewards consistency over hour-of-day. Best publish windows are weekday late afternoons (3–6 PM ET) so videos accumulate watch-time before evening prime time, plus Saturday and Sunday 9–11 AM ET when family/leisure viewing peaks.

Day-by-day breakdownAuto timezone detectionNo signup

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun

12 AM

6 AM

12 PM

6 PM

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

Sun

Day	Top window (Eastern)	Secondary	Avoid
Monday	3–5 PM	7–9 PM	10 AM–12 PM
Tuesday	3–5 PM	7–9 PM	10 AM–12 PM
Wednesday	3–5 PM	7–9 PM	10 AM–12 PM
Thursday	3–5 PM	7–10 PM	10 AM–12 PM
Friday	7–10 PM	2–4 PM	10 AM–12 PM
Saturday	9–11 AM	7–10 PM	8 AM–10 AM
Sunday	9–11 AM	7–10 PM	8 AM–10 AM

Day

Top window (Eastern)

Secondary

Avoid

Monday

3–5 PM

7–9 PM

10 AM–12 PM

Tuesday

3–5 PM

7–9 PM

10 AM–12 PM

Wednesday

3–5 PM

7–9 PM

10 AM–12 PM

Thursday

3–5 PM

7–10 PM

10 AM–12 PM

Friday

7–10 PM

2–4 PM

10 AM–12 PM

Saturday

9–11 AM

7–10 PM

8 AM–10 AM

Sunday

9–11 AM

7–10 PM

8 AM–10 AM

Best Time to Post on YouTube on Monday

Best time to post on YouTube on Monday: 3–5 PM Eastern. Secondary window: 7–9 PM Eastern. Avoid 10 AM–12 PM — engagement is the weakest of the day.

3–5 PM 7–9 PM 4–6 PM

Monday is a weak publish day for long-form YouTube — the audience is in catch-up mode and CTR on new uploads runs 15–20% lower than Tuesday. If your release schedule is fixed to Monday, publish 3–5 PM ET so the video matures into Monday-night prime time. Shorts perform fine Monday evening (8–10 PM ET).

Best Time to Post on YouTube on Tuesday

Best time to post on YouTube on Tuesday: 3–5 PM Eastern. Secondary window: 7–9 PM Eastern. Avoid 10 AM–12 PM — engagement is the weakest of the day.

3–5 PM 7–9 PM 4–6 PM

Tuesday at 4 PM ET is a strong publish slot for weekly long-form: it captures end-of-workday browse, evening prime time, and the early-Wednesday morning recommendation cycle. Tuesday outperforms Monday by ~15% for first-24-hour CTR.

Best Time to Post on YouTube on Wednesday

Best time to post on YouTube on Wednesday: 3–5 PM Eastern. Secondary window: 7–9 PM Eastern. Avoid 10 AM–12 PM — engagement is the weakest of the day.

3–5 PM 7–9 PM 4–6 PM

Wednesday is the optimal weekday publish slot — videos benefit from Thursday and Friday's strong engagement curves on top of midweek prime time. Tutorial and educational content over-indexes Wednesday evening viewing.

Best Time to Post on YouTube on Thursday

Best time to post on YouTube on Thursday: 3–5 PM Eastern. Secondary window: 7–10 PM Eastern. Avoid 10 AM–12 PM — engagement is the weakest of the day.

3–5 PM 7–10 PM 4–6 PM

Thursday matches Wednesday closely. Slightly stronger evening curve (7–10 PM ET) makes it the best day for entertainment-focused content where total watch-time matters more than CTR. Avoid publishing Thursday after 7 PM — you give up the Friday recommendation push.

Best Time to Post on YouTube on Friday

Best time to post on YouTube on Friday: 7–10 PM Eastern. Secondary window: 2–4 PM Eastern. Avoid 10 AM–12 PM — engagement is the weakest of the day.

7–10 PM 2–4 PM 4–6 PM

Friday afternoon (2–6 PM ET) is the strongest weekday publish window because the video has all weekend to accumulate watch-time and CTR. Friday-night viewing (7–11 PM) is the highest-volume of the week. This is the optimal slot for long-form entertainment, deep dives, and weekend-binge content.

Best Time to Post on YouTube on Saturday

Best time to post on YouTube on Saturday: 9–11 AM Eastern. Secondary window: 7–10 PM Eastern. Avoid 8 AM–10 AM — engagement is the weakest of the day.

9–11 AM 7–10 PM 12–2 PM

Saturday morning (9–11 AM ET) is the highest-engagement publish slot of the entire week for family-friendly, kids', and weekend-leisure content. Don't publish Saturday during prime time (8 PM ET) — you'll get the engagement but lose the next-day recommendation surface that Sunday morning needs.

Best Time to Post on YouTube on Sunday

Best time to post on YouTube on Sunday: 9–11 AM Eastern. Secondary window: 7–10 PM Eastern. Avoid 8 AM–10 AM — engagement is the weakest of the day.

9–11 AM 7–10 PM 12–2 PM

Sunday morning is the single best window for evergreen and tutorial content. Sunday-morning viewers are deliberate browsers (not algorithm-fed), so they tend to subscribe at higher rates than weekday viewers. Sunday evening (7–10 PM ET) is dominant for movie-length and series content.

Best time to post on YouTube — FAQ

Weekday late afternoons (3–5 PM ET) for long-form, so videos accumulate watch-time before evening prime time (7–10 PM ET). For weekend uploads, Saturday and Sunday 9–11 AM ET are strongest — family/leisure viewing peaks before noon.

Best Time to Post on YouTube — Free Calculator (2026)

Best Times to Post on YouTube, by Day of the Week

Best Time to Post on YouTube on Monday

Best Time to Post on YouTube on Tuesday

Best Time to Post on YouTube on Wednesday

Best Time to Post on YouTube on Thursday

Best Time to Post on YouTube on Friday

Best Time to Post on YouTube on Saturday

Best Time to Post on YouTube on Sunday

How YouTube's algorithm uses posting time

Best times by niche on YouTube

Gaming

Tutorials & Education

Family & Kids

Business & Finance

Shorts-first Channels

Schedule YouTube posts at your peak window — automatically

Best time to post on YouTube — FAQ

Best time to post on every platform

Related reading

More Free Tools

Fake Tweet Generator

LinkedIn Carousel Maker

Post Previewer

Instagram Downloader

X/Twitter Downloader

Instagram Grid Splitter

Grid Planner

Social Video Resizer

ROI Report Generator

Viral Hook Tester

Link Previewer

Snapchat Downloader

YouTube Thumbnail Downloader

Image Converter

Image Size Checker

Video Compressor

Video to GIF

Video Transcriber

Instagram Caption Spacer

Background Remover

Twitch Emote Resizer

Engagement Rate Calculator

Best Time to Post Calculator

Thread Splitter

QR Code Generator

YouTube Chapter Generator

Character Counter

Hashtag Generator

Trending TikTok Hashtags

Trending TikTok Songs

UTM Builder

Popular Instagram Hashtags

Instagram Caption Generator

AI Caption Generator

AI Voice Generator

YouTube Dislike Viewer

Username Checker

Twitter Shadowban Checker

Bold Text Generator

Line Break Generator