The best times to post YouTube Shorts are Monday from 10 AM to 1 PM, Friday from 4 to 7 PM and Sunday from 8 to 11 AM, in your local time. In our data from 6,500+ Shorts scheduled with PostEverywhere, Friday at 5 PM was the best single hour: Shorts posted then got 42% more views than the same channel's usual Short. The evening, which most advice recommends, came out below average.
This guide is part of PostEverywhere's Best Time to Post Study 2026, an original data study of 6,500+ YouTube Shorts scheduled with PostEverywhere, built on our own data rather than other people's studies.
Every number comes from Shorts that real creators and businesses posted to YouTube through PostEverywhere between December 2025 and October 2026. We compared each Short's views with the same channel's usual Short, so one big channel can't make an hour look good on its own. The method is explained at the end.
TL;DR: Best Times for YouTube Shorts
- Best windows: Monday 10 AM to 1 PM (+21%), Sunday 8 to 11 AM (+14%) and Friday 4 to 7 PM (+12%).
- Best single hour: Friday at 5 PM, with 42% more views than usual. Sunday at 9 AM was next, at 35%.
- Best days: Monday and Friday, only slightly ahead. Every day sits within 11% of a channel's usual Short.
- Weakest day: Thursday, 11% below usual.
- Surprise: 6 to 9 PM, the busiest time for Shorts in our data, did 8% worse than usual. For every platform side by side, see our best time to post hub.
PostEverywhere finds your best time to post on YouTube for you. It learns from when your own posts do best and suggests those times as you schedule. Until your account has enough results, it shows what works on YouTube across PostEverywhere. See your best times in PostEverywhere.
Why YouTube Shorts Timing is Different
On long-form YouTube, a video lives on search and suggestions for months, and subscribers get a notification. Shorts live in a swipe feed. YouTube shows a new Short to some viewers and widens its reach if people watch and keep watching. YouTube says its recommendations are shaped by how people watch, what they like and dislike, and how satisfied they say they are.
Timing doesn't decide whether a Short is good, but it affects how fast it gets going. YouTube's own performance FAQ puts it plainly: "publish time is not known to impact a video's long-term performance", but posting when your audience is active "can be beneficial for early viewership". Our data agrees.
The best hours give a Short a clear lift, but no day of the week is more than 11% away from average. A great hook in the first two seconds matters more than any slot on this page.
Our guide to how the YouTube algorithm works covers the rest of the signals.
Best Times to Post Shorts (Day-by-Day)
"Lift" is how many more views Shorts in that window got than the same channel's usual Short. All times are the poster's local time.
| Day | Best window | Lift in that window | Day overall | Shorts (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 10 AM-1 PM | +21% | +4% | 1,000 |
| Tuesday | 3-6 PM | +8% | -9% | 1,100 |
| Wednesday | 9 AM-noon | +5% | -7% | 1,000 |
| Thursday | 8-11 PM | 0% | -11% | 950 |
| Friday | 4-7 PM | +12% | +3% | 1,000 |
| Saturday | 8-11 PM | +12% | -1% | 900 |
| Sunday | 8-11 AM | +14% | -1% | 750 |
| Day (6,500+ Shorts) | 6-9 AM | 9 AM-noon | Noon-3 PM | 3-6 PM | 6-9 PM | 9 PM-midnight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | +12% | +10% | +10% | 0% | -3% | -10% |
| Tuesday | -22% | -9% | -13% | +8% | -7% | +1% |
| Wednesday | -2% | +5% | -3% | -8% | -21% | -18% |
| Thursday | -15% | -4% | -12% | -4% | -14% | -13% |
| Friday | +8% | -2% | +2% | +13% | +1% | -11% |
| Saturday | -2% | -6% | -10% | +5% | +3% | +1% |
| Sunday | -7% | +11% | -2% | +8% | -14% | +11% |
Best time to post YouTube Shorts on Monday
10 AM to 1 PM, the strongest three-hour window of the week. Shorts posted then got 21% more views than usual, from about 200 Shorts, and noon on its own did 30% better.
Monday was also one of the two best days overall, so it is a good day for your strongest Short.
Best time to post YouTube Shorts on Tuesday
3 to 6 PM. Tuesday was one of the weaker days, 9% below usual, but its late afternoon did 8% better, and 4 PM did 24% better. Tuesday mornings were among the weakest slots of the week.
Best time to post YouTube Shorts on Wednesday
9 AM to noon, at 5% better than usual, or 1 PM, which did 20% better on its own. Wednesday evenings were weak, about 21% below usual, so avoid them.
Best time to post YouTube Shorts on Thursday
Thursday was the weakest day in our data, 11% below a channel's usual Short, and no window on it came out ahead. The late evening, from 8 to 11 PM, was the best of it and only matched an average Short.
Thursday at 7 PM was one of the worst hours of the week. If you can, move a Thursday Short to Friday.
Best time to post YouTube Shorts on Friday
4 to 7 PM. Friday afternoon Shorts got 12% more views than usual, and 5 PM was the best single hour of the whole week, at 42% better. Friday was also one of the two best days overall.
Post your best Short of the week here or on Monday.
Best time to post YouTube Shorts on Saturday
8 to 11 PM. Saturday evening Shorts did 12% better than usual, and 3 PM did 32% better on its own. Saturday mornings and lunchtimes were slightly below average.
Best time to post YouTube Shorts on Sunday
8 to 11 AM. Sunday morning Shorts got 14% more views than usual, and 58% of them beat their channel's usual Short, against about half of Shorts overall. 9 AM was the second-best hour of the week, at 35% better, from about 90 Shorts.
Sunday from 8 to 11 PM did well too, at 18% better, but 6 PM was one of the weakest hours of the week.
Best time of day to post YouTube Shorts
Here is every part of the day across all 6,500+ Shorts, from best to worst:
| Time of day | Lift vs the channel's usual Short | Shorts (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Overnight, midnight-5 AM | +4% | 250 |
| Afternoon, 3-6 PM | +2% | 950 |
| Morning, 9 AM-noon | 0% | 1,400 |
| Lunchtime, noon-3 PM | -4% | 1,300 |
| Early, 5-9 AM | -5% | 850 |
| Late evening, 9 PM-midnight | -7% | 400 |
| Evening, 6-9 PM | -8% | 1,500 |
No part of the day wins on its own, which is why the specific day-and-hour windows above matter more than a general rule. The overnight result rests on few Shorts, so don't read much into it.
The clearer finding is the evening: more Shorts go out between 6 and 9 PM than at any other time, and they do slightly worse than usual, probably because each one has more competition in the feed.
Shorts vs Long-Form Video Timing
Shorts and long videos follow a similar rhythm: across all YouTube uploads in our data, Sunday morning and Friday late afternoon come out on top, the same as for Shorts.
YouTube's own advice for long videos is to publish when your viewers are online, which the When your viewers are on YouTube report shows. See our guide to the best time to post on YouTube for all uploads.
A common pattern is to publish a long video and then a Short cut from it a few hours later. The Short reaches new viewers in the Shorts feed and can send them to the full video, which has had time to collect its first views.
Our YouTube Shorts strategy guide covers how to plan the two together.
Publish Shorts at 5 PM on Friday without being at your desk. PostEverywhere schedules your YouTube Shorts with titles, descriptions and thumbnails, alongside TikTok, Reels and every other top platform. Start your 7-day free trial. Plans start at $9 a month.
International Audience Timing
Every time on this page is local, so if your viewers are in India, the Philippines or Brazil, post in their time zone, not yours.
If you are building a US audience from somewhere else, Friday at 5 PM on the US East Coast is about 9 to 10 PM in London, 2:30 to 3:30 AM on Saturday in India and 5 to 6 AM on Saturday in Manila, depending on daylight saving.
Check where your viewers are in YouTube Studio under Analytics and Audience, then schedule your Shorts for their time rather than staying up. Our guide to scheduling Shorts in Studio or in bulk shows each step.
If your audience is split across regions, post for the largest one. YouTube will still show a strong Short to viewers elsewhere when they are active, which is why a global audience usually needs one well-timed upload rather than several.
Here is what our two best Shorts slots on the US East Coast look like in other countries, for creators targeting a US audience from abroad:
| Where you are | Friday 5 PM in New York is about | Sunday 9 AM in New York is about |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Friday 9-10 PM | Sunday 1-2 PM |
| Germany | Friday 10-11 PM | Sunday 2-3 PM |
| Spain | Friday 10-11 PM | Sunday 2-3 PM |
| India | Saturday 2:30-3:30 AM | Sunday 6:30-7:30 PM |
| Philippines | Saturday 5-6 AM | Sunday 9-10 PM |
The ranges cover daylight saving changes.
Best time to post Shorts to go viral
There is no hour that makes a Short go viral, but the windows above give it the best first day. YouTube says publishing when your audience is most active "can be beneficial for early viewership", and it adds that publish time isn't known to affect a video's long-term viewership, so a slow start is not the end of a Short.
Our YouTube video size guide covers the vertical format Shorts need.
How to Find Your Best Time
Open YouTube Studio, then Analytics, then the Audience tab.
Check "When your viewers are on YouTube". YouTube's help page says this report shows when your viewers were online across YouTube in the last 28 days.
Compare your Shorts. The Content tab in YouTube Analytics has a separate Shorts view. Note when your top ten Shorts by views went out.
Test three slots for three weeks: Monday at noon, Friday at 5 PM and Sunday at 9 AM, keeping the type of Short similar.
Compare views after 48 hours and keep the winners. A posting queue makes this easy: set your Shorts slots once and every new Short drops into the next free one.
Common YouTube Shorts Timing Mistakes
- Assuming evenings are best. In our data, 6 to 9 PM was the busiest time for Shorts and one of the weakest. Test a late-morning slot.
- Saving your best Short for Thursday. Thursday was the weakest day of the week. Monday and Friday were the strongest.
- Holding back a finished Short for the perfect hour. Every day came within 11% of a channel's usual result. Posting regularly matters more than hitting one exact slot.
- Blaming the clock for a weak hook. If viewers swipe away in the first two seconds, no time slot will save the Short. Fix retention first, then fine-tune timing. A sharp title helps too; AI Studio can draft a few to choose from.
Getting Started: YouTube Shorts Timing Checklist
- Post your best Short of the week on Friday between 4 and 7 PM, or Monday between 10 AM and 1 PM.
- Use Sunday morning, around 9 AM, as your weekend slot.
- Move Thursday Shorts to another day where you can.
- Check your audience report once a month.
- Batch a week of Shorts and let the PostEverywhere YouTube scheduler post them.
Let PostEverywhere suggest your best times
PostEverywhere works out your best times the same way we built this guide, from your own uploads. For YouTube it compares the views on each upload with your channel's usual results, then ranks the days and hours that come out on top.
Until your channel has about 30 uploads with results from the last 90 days, it shows what is popular on YouTube across PostEverywhere instead.
Ask Claude or ChatGPT to schedule your next Short at your best time and it picks the next slot. If you also post the same clip to TikTok and Reels, see the best time to post on TikTok and the best time for Instagram Reels: each app has its own best times. See how best-time suggestions work.
Batch a week of Shorts in one sitting. Queue them up, let PostEverywhere suggest your best times, and every Short goes out on schedule. See how best times work, or start your free trial.
How we worked this out
- The Shorts: 6,500+ YouTube Shorts published through PostEverywhere between December 2025 and October 2026, from channels with at least 15 Shorts that had results. A Short here means a square or vertical video of up to three minutes, read from the video file.
- The measure: each Short's views, collected at least three days after it went out, compared with the median of the same channel's 20 nearest Shorts. A Short scoring +50% got half as many views again as that channel's Shorts usually do.
- The times: the poster's local day and hour, from their PostEverywhere profile. Channels still on the default time zone were left out, because we can't tell when their Shorts really went out.
- The limits: we only name an hour when it has at least 20 Shorts from several channels behind it. What you post matters far more than when. Pew Research found that 84% of US adults use YouTube, so audiences vary hugely by niche and country: test your own slots.
How to cite this study: PostEverywhere, Best Time to Post Study 2026: YouTube Shorts, based on 6,500+ YouTube Shorts scheduled with PostEverywhere, December 2025 to October 2026. https://posteverywhere.ai/blog/best-time-to-schedule-youtube-shorts
FAQ
What is the best time to post YouTube Shorts?
Monday from 10 AM to 1 PM, Friday from 4 to 7 PM and Sunday from 8 to 11 AM, in your local time. In our data from 6,500+ Shorts, Friday at 5 PM was the best hour, with 42% more views than usual.
What is the best day to post YouTube Shorts?
Monday and Friday, though only slightly. In our data every day came within 11% of a channel's usual Short. Thursday was the weakest day, 11% below usual.
What is the best time to post YouTube Shorts on Sunday?
Between 8 and 11 AM, with 9 AM the best hour. Sunday morning Shorts got 14% more views than usual in our data, and 9 AM did 35% better. Sunday at 6 PM was one of the weakest hours of the week.
Is the best time different for Shorts and long videos?
Not much. Across all YouTube uploads in our data, Sunday morning and Friday late afternoon come out on top, the same as for Shorts. For long videos, check YouTube's When your viewers are on YouTube report.
Does posting time matter for YouTube Shorts?
A little. The best hours gave Shorts a clear lift in our data, but every day came within 11% of average. YouTube says publish time is not known to affect long-term performance, so retention and the first two seconds matter more.
What is the best time to upload YouTube Shorts for a US audience?
Friday around 5 PM or Sunday around 9 AM, US time. Friday at 5 PM Eastern is about 2:30 to 3:30 AM on Saturday in India and 5 to 6 AM in Manila, so schedule the upload in advance.
Sources
Every outside fact in this article comes from the pages below, mostly the platforms' own help centres. Our own figures come from posts scheduled with PostEverywhere, as explained in How we worked this out.
For every platform side by side, compare all our timing guides.
- YouTube: How YouTube recommendations work
- YouTube Help: YouTube performance FAQ & Troubleshooting
- YouTube Help: Understand your YouTube audience - Computer
- YouTube Help: Understand your YouTube content performance - Computer
- Pew Research Center: Americans' Use of Social Media in 2026
Founder & CEO of PostEverywhere. Writing about social media strategy, publishing workflows, and analytics that help brands grow faster.
