Channel growth & SEO

The Best Time to Post on YouTube: What Actually Matters

Search for the best time to post on YouTube and you'll find charts promising a perfect hour. YouTube's own answer is different — and more useful. Here's what publish time does and doesn't change, when it really matters, and how to pick a schedule for your channel.

By Daniel · Updated · 4 min read

On this page
  1. What YouTube says about publish time
  2. When timing really does matter
  3. How to find when your viewers are online
  4. A simple way to choose a schedule
  5. What about those "best time to post" charts?
  6. Frequently asked questions

Key takeaways

  • YouTube says publish time is not known to affect a video's long-term performance.
  • Timing does matter for Premieres, live streams and time-sensitive topics.
  • Use the "When your viewers are on YouTube" report to plan those — and a schedule you can keep for everything else.

What YouTube says about publish time

In its performance FAQ, YouTube answers this question directly: "Publish time is not known to impact a video's long-term performance." Recommendations keep surfacing videos for weeks, months or years after upload, based on how viewers respond to them, so the hour you hit publish has little to do with how a video does over its lifetime.

The same FAQ adds the exception: publish time is important for formats such as Premieres and live streams, where people need to be there at a set moment. For those, YouTube points to a specific report in YouTube Analytics.

When timing really does matter

  • Live streams. The audience can only watch live if they're awake and free. Go live when the most viewers are on YouTube.
  • Premieres. A Premiere is a scheduled watch party with live chat, so its start time works like a live event.
  • Time-sensitive videos. News, trends, game updates, product launches and sports results lose value by the hour. Publish as soon as the video is ready.
  • Collaborations and promotions where another channel, a newsletter or a brand is announcing your video at a particular time.

How to find when your viewers are online

  1. Open YouTube Studio and go to Analytics.
  2. Select the Audience tab and find the report "When your viewers are on YouTube".
  3. Read the chart: it shows days and hours in your local time, and darker bars mean more of your viewers were on YouTube at that hour.
  4. Check where they are. YouTube Analytics also shows which countries your viewers come from. If many are in another time zone, keep that in mind when you plan a live stream.

New channels may not have enough viewers for the report to show. Until it does, think about who your viewers are: students, office workers and parents are on YouTube at very different times.

A simple way to choose a schedule

  • Publish when the video is ready — don't sit on a finished video for days waiting for a "perfect" slot.
  • Pick days you can sustain. A regular rhythm helps you plan and helps returning viewers know when to expect something new. Consistency you can keep beats an ambitious schedule you abandon.
  • Optional: publish a little before your audience's busy hours, so a new video is already there when your regular viewers open YouTube. It's a convenience, not a ranking trick.
  • Schedule uploads instead of publishing by hand: upload the video as private, open the Schedule card, and choose the date, time and time zone.

The date shown under a video is based on Pacific Time. If the exact date matters — for example, a video for a specific holiday — schedule it for that date in Pacific Time.

What about those "best time to post" charts?

Charts that recommend a single best hour are usually averages across many channels and audiences. Your viewers may live in other time zones, have different routines or watch on weekends rather than weekdays. Your own "When your viewers are on YouTube" report is a better guide than anyone else's average — and even that report matters mostly for live streams and Premieres.

Where the effort pays off: the things that do affect a video's performance are the ones viewers react to — the title and thumbnail, how well the video keeps their attention, and whether it answers what they searched for. See thumbnails and CTR, how to get more watch hours and YouTube SEO.

Frequently asked questions

Does the time I post affect the YouTube algorithm?

According to YouTube, publish time isn't known to affect a video's long-term performance. How viewers respond to the video matters far more than the hour it went live.

What is the best day to post on YouTube?

There's no single best day for every channel. Choose days you can stick to, and use your audience report if you're planning a live stream or Premiere.

When should I go live on YouTube?

When most of your viewers are on YouTube. Check the "When your viewers are on YouTube" report in the Audience tab of YouTube Analytics, and keep your audience's time zones in mind.

Should I delete and re-upload a video posted at a bad time?

No. Since publish time isn't known to affect long-term performance, re-uploading only throws away the views, comments and history the video already has.

Sources

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