Best Time to Post on Social Media

See the strongest posting windows for Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Threads, YouTube and Pinterest, converted to your time zone.

Platform

Best time to post on Instagram

Tuesday at 12:00 PM

Also strong

  • Monday at 9:00 AM
  • Thursday at 9:00 AM

Your week

Benchmark windows, shown in UTC.

  • Monday9:00 AMPeak7:00 PMStrong
  • Tuesday12:00 PMPeak
  • Wednesday11:00 AMPeak7:00 PMStrong
  • Thursday9:00 AMPeak
  • Friday10:00 AMStrong
  • Saturday10:00 AMGood
  • Sunday11:00 AMGood

Benchmarks from aggregated studies by Sprout Social (2024), HubSpot (2024) and Hootsuite (Q4 2024), measured in the audience's local time. Test them against your own analytics.

Post at these times without setting alarms

Social media studio publishes your posts to each network at the times you set, and suggests posting times while you schedule.

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When should you post? This free tool shows the strongest posting windows for Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Threads, YouTube and Pinterest, based on aggregated industry studies from Sprout Social, HubSpot and Hootsuite. The studies measure engagement in the audience's local time, so tell the tool where your audience is and which time zone you schedule in, and it converts every window for you, daylight saving included. Use it as a starting schedule, then test it against your own results.

How the best posting times are calculated

The windows come from aggregated studies of engagement by day and hour: Sprout Social (2024), HubSpot (2024) and Hootsuite (Q4 2024). Each platform has a handful of peak windows, scored by how strong engagement was relative to the platform's best slot.

These are the same benchmark values Social media studio uses as a starting point for new accounts. They describe audiences in general, not yours, so treat them as a first draft of your schedule rather than a rule.

Why your audience's time zone matters

A 9:00 peak means 9:00 where your followers live. If you are in London and your audience is in New York, posting at 9:00 your time reaches them at 4:00 in the morning.

Set the audience's time zone and your own, and every window is shown in your local time, so you can schedule directly. The conversion uses the dates of the coming week, so daylight-saving changes between the two zones are taken into account.

What the benchmarks say, platform by platform

In the benchmark data, Instagram's strongest windows are weekday mornings and middays, led by Tuesday at 12:00. LinkedIn and X peak on Wednesday at 9:00, with the rest of the working week close behind and weekends far weaker.

Facebook is strongest in the early afternoon midweek. TikTok and Threads lean towards evenings, with Wednesday at 19:00 the top slot for both. YouTube and Pinterest reverse the pattern: their best windows fall on Friday and the weekend, with Saturday at the top.

Turn benchmarks into your own schedule

Post in the suggested windows for two to four weeks, keeping the type of content roughly the same, then compare reach and engagement in your analytics. Keep the windows that work, and move the ones that don't an hour or two either way.

Your own followers' habits beat any industry average. Once you have a few weeks of results, let your data decide.

Tips for getting the most from this tool

  • Post 15–30 minutes before a peak so the post is fresh when your audience arrives.
  • Schedule for your audience's time zone, not yours.
  • Test one change at a time: move the time, keep the content type.
  • Weekend windows matter most for YouTube and Pinterest.
  • Review your results monthly: audiences shift with seasons and school terms.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best time to post on Instagram?

In the benchmark data, Tuesday at 12:00 is the strongest window, followed by Monday and Thursday at 9:00, all in your audience's local time. Weekend windows score lower.

What is the best time to post on TikTok?

Wednesday at 19:00 is the top benchmark window, with Tuesday at 9:00 and Monday at 18:00 close behind. TikTok engagement leans towards evenings more than most networks.

What is the best time to post on LinkedIn?

Wednesday at 9:00 leads the benchmarks, with Tuesday at 8:00 and Thursday at 9:00 next. Weekday mornings are consistently strongest; weekends are the weakest of any platform here.

Are these times personalised to my account?

No. They are industry benchmarks for audiences in general. Your own analytics are the best guide once you have a few weeks of posts to compare.

Which time zone are the times in?

The studies measure the audience's local time. The tool converts each window from the audience time zone you choose into the time zone you schedule in.

Can I schedule posts for these times automatically?

Yes. A scheduler such as Social media studio publishes your posts to each network at the times you set, so you don't have to be online at the peak.

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