Best time to post on YouTube: long videos and Shorts by day
Long-form videos and Shorts peak at almost opposite times. Here are the best upload times for each day of the week, and how to find the right ones for your channel.
By PostVIA Team
Short answer: long videos and Shorts need different schedules. In Buffer's analysis of millions of YouTube videos (published July 2026), long-form videos did best in the morning, with Sunday at 10 a.m. as the top slot of the week, while Shorts did best in the evening, with Friday at 4 p.m. on top. Use these as a starting point, then check when your own viewers are online.
Best time to post long YouTube videos by day
- Monday: 9 a.m., then 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
- Tuesday: 9 a.m., then 11 a.m. and 8 a.m. — the 8–11 a.m. window is strong.
- Wednesday: 7 a.m., then 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
- Thursday: 5 p.m., then 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. Thursday was the weakest day for long videos.
- Friday: 12 p.m., then 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
- Saturday: 12 p.m., then 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
- Sunday: 10 a.m., the best slot of the whole week, then 9 a.m. and 12 p.m.
Best days for long videos: Sunday, then Tuesday and Monday.
Best time to post YouTube Shorts by day
- Monday: 8 p.m., then 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.
- Tuesday: 8 p.m., then 9 p.m. and 7 p.m.
- Wednesday: 7 p.m., then 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.
- Thursday: 7 p.m., then 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.
- Friday: 4 p.m., then 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. — the three best Shorts slots of the week.
- Saturday: 7 p.m., then 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.
- Sunday: 7 p.m., then 8 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Best days for Shorts: Friday, then Saturday and Thursday.
Why long videos and Shorts peak at different times
Long videos are usually watched on purpose: people sit down with a coffee on a weekend morning or before work. Shorts are snacked on in free minutes, and those minutes come in the evening. Because the peaks barely overlap, you can publish long videos in the morning and Shorts in the evening without competing with yourself.
How to find your channel's best time
- In YouTube Studio, open Analytics and the Audience tab.
- Find the chart that shows when your viewers are on YouTube.
- Publish long videos one to two hours before the busiest hours, so the video is processed and ready when viewers arrive.
- Check your audience's countries: the study times are local times, so shift them to your viewers' time zone.
- Keep the same days and times for a few weeks and compare views in the first 48 hours.
Keep a steady upload schedule
Regular uploads help viewers know when to come back. Scheduling makes that easy:
- in PostVIA, add the video, set the YouTube title, description and privacy setting, and choose the date and time;
- for a series of long videos or Shorts, use Bulk Video Scheduling to queue up to 50 videos at a fixed interval, for example every day at 7 p.m. for Shorts;
- publish the same Short to TikTok and Instagram in the same step, with a separate caption for each.
For a step-by-step guide, see how to schedule YouTube videos.
FAQ
What is the best time to post on YouTube today?
Find today in the lists above — morning for long videos, evening for Shorts — then compare with the viewer activity chart in YouTube Studio.
What is the best day to post on YouTube?
For long videos, Sunday performed best in the study, followed by Tuesday and Monday. For Shorts, Friday was best.
Should I post YouTube Shorts and long videos at the same time?
No. Their peaks are different, so posting long videos in the morning and Shorts in the evening works better.
How often should I post on YouTube?
As often as you can keep quality high. Many channels publish one long video a week plus a few Shorts.
Study data: Buffer, "Best time to post on YouTube", published July 24, 2026, based on millions of videos. [Read the study](https://buffer.com/resources/best-time-to-post-on-youtube/).
Before you schedule, check your caption with the free YouTube character counter, and see how PostVIA publishes to YouTube.
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