# The best time to post on Facebook in 2026, for every day of the week

Canonical: https://postmesh.app/blog/best-time-to-post-on-facebook

By PostMesh team. Published 2026-10-26; updated 2026-10-31.

Weekday mornings and middays are the safest start: Buffer's 2026 study of 14 million posts ranks Thursday at 9 a.m. highest, Hootsuite finds 5 to 8 a.m. strongest across the week, and Sprout Social's 2026 peak is Tuesday and Wednesday from 12 to 8 p.m., all in your audience's local time. Weekends are weak in Sprout Social's and Buffer's data, so test a weekday slot against the Active times Meta Business Suite suggests for your Page.

Three large studies published Facebook timing data for 2026, and they split into two camps. Buffer and Hootsuite find early mornings strongest. Sprout Social finds midday and afternoon strongest. This guide gives every study's times for each day of the week, shows exactly where they agree, works through the time zone question with real examples, and explains how to find your own Page's best time in Meta Business Suite, followed by a two-week test you can run without any extra tools.

## The short answer

Post on a weekday, in your audience's local time. If you want a morning slot, try Thursday at 9 a.m.: it's Buffer's best slot of the week, and Buffer's whole Thursday list sits in the morning, as does Hootsuite's Thursday time of 6 a.m. If your audience is more of an afternoon crowd, Sprout Social's Tuesday and Wednesday window from 12 to 8 p.m. is the alternative, and Buffer's Wednesday 6 p.m. sits inside it. Saturday is the weakest day in Buffer's data and has no peak in Sprout Social's. Then let Meta Business Suite's Active times and Audience insights tell you when your own followers are around.

**Which Facebook posting time should you test first?**
- No Page insights yet → Thursday at 9 a.m. local time: Buffer's top slot of the week, on a day Hootsuite also picks a morning time.
- Your posts do better later in the day → Wednesday at 6 p.m.: inside Sprout Social's 12 to 8 p.m. peak and one of Buffer's best Wednesday times.
- You schedule in Meta Business Suite → Click Active times for suggestions from the past seven days, then test one against a study slot.
- Your audience spans the US → Try 5:30 p.m. Eastern, which Later suggests for nationwide US audiences and which lands in Sprout Social's Tuesday and Wednesday window in all four zones.

*Starting points from the Buffer, Hootsuite, Sprout Social and Later studies.*

| Study | Data | Best days | Top times (local) | Weakest |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Buffer, October 2026 | 14 million+ posts, median engagement | Wednesday, then Thursday and Tuesday | Thu 9 a.m.; Wednesday and Sunday mornings | Saturday, then Sunday |
| Sprout Social, March 2026 | About 2 billion engagements, 307,000 profiles, Nov 2025 to Feb 2026 | Monday to Thursday | Tue and Wed 12–8 p.m. | Weekends |
| Hootsuite, 2025 data | Over 1 million posts, page updated October 2026 | Tuesday | Tue 5 a.m.; 5–8 a.m. across the week | Not stated |
| Later, January 2026 | Sample and method not published | Not stated | 6 a.m.–12 p.m. Pacific | Not stated |

- 14M+: Facebook posts in Buffer's 2026 study
- 307,000: social profiles in Sprout Social's 2026 data
- 1M+: posts in Hootsuite's analysis
- 1 to 2: posts a day, Sprout Social's suggested frequency

*Sprout Social's data covers six networks, not only Facebook.*

## What do the 2026 Facebook studies say?

All three data-backed studies report times in the audience's local time. Later's Facebook page gives one window in Pacific time. Here is each study in turn.

### Buffer, October 2026

[Buffer's Facebook study](https://buffer.com/resources/best-time-to-post-on-facebook/), published October 19, 2026, analyzed more than 14 million Facebook posts sent through Buffer by businesses, creators and influencers, and reports median engagement, which it defines as reactions, comments, shares and likes. Buffer says it normalized results to local time, so 9 a.m. means 9 a.m. wherever your audience is. The single best time is Thursday at 9 a.m., with Wednesday and Sunday mornings also strong. Wednesday is the best day overall, then Thursday and Tuesday. Saturday is the worst day, and Sunday is slightly better than Saturday.

### Sprout Social, March 2026

[Sprout Social's 2026 analysis](https://sproutsocial.com/insights/best-times-to-post-on-facebook/), published March 31, 2026, covers nearly 2 billion engagements across 307,000 social profiles on six networks, from more than 30,000 customers, collected between November 27, 2025 and February 27, 2026. All times are local. The best times are Tuesday and Wednesday from 12 to 8 p.m., the best days are Monday to Thursday, and weekends are the worst. By day: Monday 12 to 1 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday 12 to 8 p.m., Thursday 12 to 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Friday at midday with no specific hours. It finds no peak on Saturday and calls Sunday hard to define because engagement is universally low.

### Hootsuite, 2025 data

[Hootsuite's guide](https://blog.hootsuite.com/best-time-to-post-on-facebook/), published November 19, 2025 and updated October 14, 2026, comes from an analysis of more than 1 million social posts with the data science agency Critical Truth, with times localized across the 118 countries in the sample. It names Tuesday at 5 a.m. the best overall time and says Facebook activity peaks between 5 and 8 a.m. across the week. Its day-by-day table: Monday 5 p.m., Tuesday 5 a.m., Wednesday to Saturday 6 a.m., and Sunday 8 a.m.

### Later, January 2026

[Later's Facebook page](https://later.com/blog/best-time-to-post-on-facebook/), published January 15, 2026, says the best time is generally between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m. Pacific. It doesn't give a sample size, a method or any day-by-day breakdown, so it's a weaker source than the other three. It does offer one useful example: for a nationwide US audience, it suggests 5:30 p.m. Eastern.

**Early-morning camp**
- Buffer and Hootsuite
- Hootsuite: 5 to 8 a.m. peak
- Buffer: Thursday 9 a.m. best
- Agree on 6 a.m. Friday and Saturday

**Midday camp**
- Sprout Social
- Tuesday and Wednesday 12 to 8 p.m.
- Monday to Thursday strongest
- No peak at weekends

**Later**
- 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. Pacific
- No days given
- No method published
- 5:30 p.m. Eastern for US-wide audiences

*Where the 2026 Facebook studies land. Times are the audience's local time except Later's.*

## What is the best time to post on Facebook each day?

For each day, here's what Buffer, Sprout Social and Hootsuite say, in your audience's local time, and where they meet. Buffer lists three times per day, best first. Later doesn't give days, so it isn't included here.

### Best time to post on Facebook on Monday

Sprout Social says 12 to 1 p.m. Hootsuite says 5 p.m., the only weekday where it doesn't pick an early morning. Buffer's best Monday times are all in the evening: 9 p.m., 10 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Monday has no overlap at all: noon, late afternoon and late evening each have one study behind them. It's a good day to run your own test rather than trust a number. Try 12 p.m. against 7 p.m.

### Best time to post on Facebook on Tuesday

Hootsuite's best time of the entire week is Tuesday at 5 a.m. Buffer's best Tuesday times are 8 a.m., 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. Sprout Social says 12 to 8 p.m., one of its two best days.

Two overlaps here. Buffer's 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. sit close to Hootsuite's early-morning peak, and Buffer's 7 p.m. falls inside Sprout Social's window. So Tuesday gives you a morning option and an evening option, each with two studies behind it.

### Best time to post on Facebook on Wednesday

Buffer calls Wednesday the best day of the week, with 8 a.m., 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. its best times. Sprout Social says 12 to 8 p.m. Hootsuite says 6 a.m.

Buffer's 6 p.m. falls inside Sprout Social's window, and its 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. are two to three hours after Hootsuite's 6 a.m. If you post once a week, Wednesday at 6 p.m. is the slot with the most combined support.

### Best time to post on Facebook on Thursday

Buffer's single best slot of the week is Thursday at 9 a.m., followed on Thursday by 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Hootsuite says 6 a.m. Sprout Social says 12 to 2 p.m., plus 8 p.m.

Thursday morning is where Buffer and Hootsuite come closest to agreeing, and Buffer's whole Thursday list sits between 8 and 10 a.m. Sprout Social is the outlier with midday. Thursday at 9 a.m. is the best-supported weekday morning slot in this guide.

### Best time to post on Facebook on Friday

Buffer's best Friday times are 8 a.m., 7 a.m. and 6 a.m. Hootsuite says 6 a.m. Sprout Social says midday without giving specific hours.

This is the cleanest match in the Facebook data: Buffer's third-best Friday time and Hootsuite's Friday time are both exactly 6 a.m., and all three of Buffer's Friday times fall between 6 and 8 a.m. If you post on Fridays, post early.

### Best time to post on Facebook on Saturday

Buffer calls Saturday the worst day of the week to post on Facebook; its best Saturday times are 10 p.m., 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. Sprout Social finds no peak time on Saturday. Hootsuite says 6 a.m.

Two of three studies agree Saturday is weak. If you post anyway, 6 a.m. is named by both Buffer and Hootsuite. For many Pages, skipping Saturday and adding a weekday post instead is the simpler choice.

### Best time to post on Facebook on Sunday

Buffer's best Sunday times are 10 a.m., 9 a.m. and 8 a.m., and it lists Sunday mornings among its strong slots. Hootsuite says 8 a.m. Sprout Social says Sunday's best time is hard to define because engagement is universally low.

Buffer and Hootsuite meet at 8 a.m. Buffer ranks Sunday slightly ahead of Saturday, so if you want one weekend post, Sunday morning between 8 and 10 a.m. is the better bet.

## Facebook posting times by day and hour: the full table

The first table lists each study's times for each day. The second sorts them into windows of the day. All times are your audience's local time.

| Day | Buffer 2026 | Sprout Social 2026 | Hootsuite (2025 data) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monday | 9 p.m., 10 p.m., 7 p.m. | 12–1 p.m. | 5 p.m. |
| Tuesday | 8 a.m., 7 p.m., 7 a.m. | 12–8 p.m. (best) | 5 a.m. (best overall) |
| Wednesday | 8 a.m., 9 a.m., 6 p.m. (best day) | 12–8 p.m. (best) | 6 a.m. |
| Thursday | 9 a.m. (best slot), 8 a.m., 10 a.m. | 12–2 p.m. and 8 p.m. | 6 a.m. |
| Friday | 8 a.m., 7 a.m., 6 a.m. | Midday, no hours given | 6 a.m. |
| Saturday | 10 p.m., 6 a.m., 9 p.m. (worst day) | No peak | 6 a.m. |
| Sunday | 10 a.m., 9 a.m., 8 a.m. | Universally low | 8 a.m. |

| Day | 12–6 a.m. | 6 a.m.–12 p.m. | 12–6 p.m. | 6 p.m.–12 a.m. |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Monday | None | None | Sprout Social, Hootsuite | Buffer |
| Tuesday | Hootsuite | Buffer | Sprout Social | Sprout Social, Buffer |
| Wednesday | None | Buffer, Hootsuite | Sprout Social | Sprout Social, Buffer |
| Thursday | None | Buffer, Hootsuite | Sprout Social | Sprout Social |
| Friday | None | Buffer, Hootsuite | Sprout Social (midday) | None |
| Saturday | None | Buffer, Hootsuite | None | Buffer |
| Sunday | None | Buffer, Hootsuite | None | None |

> Mornings from Wednesday to Sunday have both Buffer and Hootsuite behind them; Tuesday and Wednesday evenings have Buffer and Sprout Social. No window has all three studies.

## What time zone are Facebook's best times in?

### Whose time zone the studies use

Buffer, Sprout Social and Hootsuite all give times in your audience's local time. Buffer says its 9 a.m. means 9 a.m. wherever your audience is; Sprout Social lists all times in local time; Hootsuite localized across 118 countries. Later's 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. window is Pacific time, which is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the US East Coast.

### How to convert a study time for your Page

1. **Find where your followers are**: In Meta Business Suite, the Audience tab in Insights shows where your audience lives, along with age, gender and interests.
2. **Pick a slot in their time**: Choose a time from the tables above, for example Thursday at 9 a.m. for followers in Denver.
3. **Work out the gap on the posting date**: Use the gap that applies on the day the post goes out, since some places change their clocks on different dates.
4. **Schedule and check**: Enter the converted time in your scheduler's time zone, then read back the time it shows on the scheduled post.

### A worked example: a New York manager and a Denver Page

Say you're in New York and you run a Page for a Denver business whose followers are local. [time.gov](https://www.time.gov/) lists Eastern standard time as UTC minus 5 and Mountain as UTC minus 7, so Denver is 2 hours behind you. To hit Buffer's Thursday 9 a.m. in Denver, schedule for 11 a.m. your time. To hit Hootsuite's Friday 6 a.m. in Denver, schedule for 8 a.m. your time.

### One time for a US-wide audience

Later suggests 5:30 p.m. Eastern for a nationwide US audience. Here's how that lands in each zone, and how it compares with Sprout Social's Tuesday and Wednesday window of 12 to 8 p.m.

| Zone | Local time at 5:30 p.m. Eastern | Inside Sprout Social's Tue and Wed 12–8 p.m.? |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Eastern | 5:30 p.m. | Yes |
| Central | 4:30 p.m. | Yes |
| Mountain | 3:30 p.m. | Yes |
| Pacific | 2:30 p.m. | Yes |

So on a Tuesday or Wednesday, 5:30 p.m. Eastern sits inside Sprout Social's peak in all four mainland zones. It misses Buffer's and Hootsuite's morning peaks everywhere, which is why it's worth testing against a morning slot rather than adopting outright.

### Watch for clock changes

If your audience is in another country, the gap can shift for a week or more. In 2026 the UK put its clocks back on October 25, per [GOV.UK](https://www.gov.uk/when-do-the-clocks-change), and the US on November 1, per [NIST](https://www.nist.gov/pml/time-and-frequency-division/popular-links/daylight-saving-time-dst). For that week London was 4 hours ahead of New York instead of the usual 5, so a post scheduled from London for Buffer's Thursday 9 a.m. in New York needed to go out at 1 p.m., not 2 p.m.

## How do I find my own best time to post on Facebook?

Meta Business Suite has two features that answer this for your own Page: Active times when you schedule, and the Audience tab in Insights.

### Active times when you schedule

Meta's page on [creating posts in Meta Business Suite on desktop](https://www.facebook.com/business/help/942827662903020) says you need full control of the Page, or content permission for it, to create a post. When scheduling, it says to click Active times under Scheduling options to pick recommended times based on when your followers were most active on Facebook and Instagram over the past seven days.

1. **Open Create post**: Go to Meta Business Suite and click Create post, from the home page or the Content tab.
2. **Choose the Page**: Under Post to, select your Facebook Page, plus your Instagram profile or a group if you want.
3. **Add media and text**: Add photos under Media and write the post under Post details.
4. **Open Scheduling options**: Select the date and time you want, or click Active times to pick from the recommended times.
5. **Schedule it**: Click Schedule. Publish and Finish later are the other choices.

### The Audience tab in Insights

Meta's [About Insights](https://www.facebook.com/business/help/700570830721044) page says the Audience tab shows your audience's age, gender, interests and where they live, plus trends such as how many new followers you've gained and when followers are more active on the platform. The Overview tab focuses on the past 28 days.

Meta Business Suite: Account menu, top left › Select your Page › Insights › Audience

*From Meta's Business Help Center. You need permission to view insights for the Page.*

1. Pick your Page from the top-left menu
2. Click Insights, then Audience
3. Note where followers live and when they're active
4. In Create post, click Active times
5. Compare both with a study slot

*Both features are in Meta Business Suite on desktop.*

### Seven days, 28 days and why they differ

Active times looks back only seven days, so a holiday or one busy post can tilt it. The Insights overview covers 28 days. When the two disagree, trust the longer view for your regular schedule and use Active times as a quick check before you post.

### Active doesn't mean best

Both features show when your followers are on Facebook and Instagram, not when your posts got the most engagement. The studies measure the second thing. Use both, then let a test decide. In the Content tab, Meta says you can also see a table of results for individual posts, which makes it easy to check when your best posts went out.

### Check when your best posts went out

Meta's About Insights page describes a Content tab with a table of results for individual posts, and a content overview where you can find your top content for a chosen metric. Sort by views or interactions, then write down the day and hour each of your top ten posts went out. If several cluster in one window, that window is a strong candidate for your test, even if it isn't when your followers are most active.

> If you can't see Insights, Meta says you need permission to view insights for that Page. Ask a Page admin to give you access.

### Pages, profiles and groups

Every study here is built from posts their customers published through each company's tool; Buffer describes its sample as businesses, creators and influencers. If you're timing posts to a personal profile or a group, your audience's habits may differ from a typical Page's, so lean harder on your own results. Meta Business Suite lets you post to a Page, an Instagram profile or a Facebook group from the same Create post screen.

## How often should you post on Facebook?

| Source | What it says about frequency |
| --- | --- |
| Sprout Social, 2026 | Most brands see the best results posting one to two times a day. |
| Later, 2026 | Keep a consistent schedule, with some flexibility. |
| Buffer, 2026 | No frequency recommendation on its Facebook timing page. |
| Hootsuite, 2025 data | No frequency recommendation on its Facebook timing page. |

Sprout Social's one to two a day is a ceiling for busy brands, not a floor. A small Page can start with three to five posts a week and add more only when it can keep up. More posts also means more chances to test different times.

### Which slots to use for 3, 4 or 5 posts a week

Put each post in a slot that more than one study supports. These come from the day-by-day overlaps above, in your followers' local time.

| Posts a week | Suggested slots | Why these |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 3 | Wednesday 6 p.m., Thursday 9 a.m., Friday 6 a.m. | Wednesday 6 p.m. is Buffer inside Sprout Social's window; Thursday 9 a.m. is Buffer's best slot; Friday 6 a.m. is named by Buffer and Hootsuite |
| 4 | Add Tuesday 7 p.m. | One of Buffer's Tuesday times, inside Sprout Social's Tuesday peak |
| 5 | Add Sunday 8 a.m. | Named by Buffer and Hootsuite, and Buffer ranks Sunday above Saturday |

This mix deliberately includes both morning and evening slots, so after a month you'll know which half of the day your followers prefer. Drafting several posts at once is easier with the [Facebook post generator](/tools/facebook-post-generator) as a starting point, edited into your own words.

## Does the best time to post on Facebook change by industry?

Sprout Social and Hootsuite both break their Facebook data down by industry. Their groups differ, and their answers often do too. All times are local.

| Industry | Sprout Social 2026 | Hootsuite (2025 data) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Education | Weekday mid-mornings, about 10 a.m.–12 p.m. | Monday 1–3 p.m., Tuesday 5 p.m., Thursday 11 a.m.–1 p.m. |
| Financial services | Weekdays, around 9–10 a.m. and 3–6 p.m.; avoid weekends | Tuesday 4–6 p.m., Wednesday 3 p.m., Thursday 9 a.m.–12 p.m. |
| Food, dining and hospitality | Weekdays, late morning to early afternoon; Tuesday and Friday 10 a.m.–3 p.m. | Sunday 10 a.m.–12 p.m. |
| Government | Tuesday to Thursday 12–6 p.m. | Saturday 9 a.m.–6 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m.–12 p.m. |
| Healthcare | Monday to Wednesday, mainly 10 a.m.–1 p.m. | Saturday 11 a.m.–1 p.m. |
| Nonprofit | Tuesday to Thursday, roughly 9 a.m.–6 p.m. | Monday to Wednesday 10 a.m.–4 p.m. |
| Retail | Weekdays, mainly 9 a.m.–2 p.m. | Tuesday and Thursday 5–6 p.m., Wednesday to Saturday 8–10 a.m. |
| Technology | Weekday mornings, about 7–11 a.m. | Wednesday 12 p.m., Thursday 11 a.m.–5 p.m. |
| Travel and hospitality | Monday to Thursday, mainly 10 a.m.–2 p.m. | See dining, hospitality and tourism |

The government row is the starkest disagreement: Sprout Social says midweek afternoons, Hootsuite says weekends. Hootsuite also lists construction, mining and manufacturing (Thursday 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.), marketing agencies (Thursday 2 to 6 p.m.), media and entertainment (early morning on Thursday and Saturday), professional services (Thursday 5 p.m.) and utilities and energy (Monday 3 to 5 p.m.).

## Why is there no single best time to post on Facebook?

- The studies disagree on the shape of the day. Buffer and Hootsuite find mornings strongest; Sprout Social finds noon to evening strongest. Both can be true for different sets of accounts.
- They use different customers and measures. Buffer counts reactions, comments, shares and likes in a median. Sprout Social counts engagements across 30,000 customers' profiles. Each reflects the kind of Pages that use that tool.
- They cover different periods. Sprout Social's data runs from late November 2025 to late February 2026, a stretch that includes the winter holidays. Buffer's page doesn't state its period.
- Global averages hide local peaks. When Hootsuite splits its data by time zone, its best Facebook times in Eastern time are 7 to 9 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, and in Pacific time 5 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays. Its global table says early mornings. Same study, very different answers.
- Later's window has no published method, so you can't tell what it measured.

Use the studies to choose two good candidates, one morning and one later in the day, and let your own Page's results pick the winner.

## How to test your best Facebook posting time in two weeks

1. **Choose a morning and a later slot**: For example 9 a.m. as slot A (Buffer's best Thursday time, in the morning stretch Buffer and Hootsuite favor) and 6 p.m. as slot B (one of Buffer's Wednesday times, inside Sprout Social's window). Or take slot B from Active times.
2. **Keep the posts comparable**: Same format each time, all photos or all links, similar topics and length. Change only the time.
3. **Alternate over 14 days**: Publish 6 posts on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of each week, 3 in each slot, swapping which slot gets which day in week two.
4. **Record results at a fixed delay**: 24 hours after each post, note its views and content interactions from the Content table in Insights.
5. **Compare medians**: Use the middle value for each slot so one unusually popular post doesn't decide it.
6. **Keep the winner, test again**: Make the winner your default, then test it against a new slot next fortnight.

- Day 1: Pick a morning slot and a later slot
- Days 2 to 14: Publish 6 comparable posts, alternating slots
- 24 hours after each: Log views and content interactions
- Day 15: Compare each slot's median
- Day 16 onward: Keep the winner and test a new challenger

*Uses only Meta Business Suite's Content table and a notes app.*

| Post | Day | Slot | Followers' time | Views at 24 h | Interactions at 24 h |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Week 1, Tue | A | 9 a.m. |  |  |
| 2 | Week 1, Wed | B | 6 p.m. |  |  |
| 3 | Week 1, Thu | A | 9 a.m. |  |  |
| 4 | Week 2, Tue | B | 6 p.m. |  |  |
| 5 | Week 2, Wed | A | 9 a.m. |  |  |
| 6 | Week 2, Thu | B | 6 p.m. |  |  |

Turn the raw counts into a rate so posts with different reach compare fairly. The free [engagement rate calculator](/tools/engagement-rate-calculator) does it, the [engagement rate guide](/blog/social-media-engagement-rate) explains the formulas (the glossary has a short definition of [engagement rate](/glossary/engagement-rate)), and the glossary explains [reach vs impressions](/glossary/reach-vs-impressions) if you're unsure which number to divide by.

**Before you trust the result**
- [ ] Each slot got the same number of posts
- [ ] All test posts used the same format
- [ ] Results were logged at the same delay
- [ ] You compared medians, not totals
- [ ] No post in the test was boosted
- [ ] Times were set in your followers' time zone

*Boosted posts get paid reach, so leave them out of a timing test.*

## How do I post to Facebook at the time I picked?

Meta Business Suite schedules Page posts for free, with Active times built in. If the same post also goes to Instagram, LinkedIn, X or other networks, [PostMesh](/platform/facebook) publishes text, photo and video posts to the Facebook Pages you manage through the official Pages API, at the time you pick, up to 30 days ahead. Facebook doesn't let apps post to personal profiles, so PostMesh posts to Pages only.

Before you schedule, check the post fits with the [Facebook character counter](/tools/facebook-character-counter). If posting fails outright, [why can't I post on Facebook](/blog/why-cant-i-post-on-facebook) covers the common causes. And since every network has its own peak hours, compare the best time to post on [Instagram](/blog/best-time-to-post-on-instagram), [LinkedIn](/blog/best-time-to-post-on-linkedin), [TikTok](/blog/best-time-to-post-on-tiktok) and [YouTube](/blog/best-time-to-post-on-youtube) before you send one post everywhere at once; [how to cross-post to multiple platforms](/blog/how-to-cross-post-to-multiple-platforms) covers adapting it for each.

## Common mistakes and what to do next

- Reading Later's window as local time. It's Pacific, which is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern.
- Trusting a seven-day Active times reading over 28 days of Insights.
- Testing a boosted post against an organic one.
- Posting on Saturday because it's free time for you. Two of three studies find it weak.
- Changing the time, format and topic all at once.
- Forgetting that clocks change on different dates in different countries.

Next step: schedule three posts at 9 a.m. and three at 6 p.m. across Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in your followers' time zone, then compare medians after two weeks. If you run ads too, the [Meta Ads Library guide](/blog/meta-ads-library) shows how to see what other Pages in your space are running.

## Questions

### What is the best time to post on Facebook?

Buffer's 2026 data puts Thursday at 9 a.m. first, Hootsuite finds 5 to 8 a.m. strongest, and Sprout Social's 2026 peak is Tuesday and Wednesday from 12 to 8 p.m., all in your audience's local time.

### What is the best day to post on Facebook?

Wednesday in Buffer's study, followed by Thursday and Tuesday. Sprout Social names Monday to Thursday, with Tuesday and Wednesday strongest.

### What is the worst day to post on Facebook?

Saturday is Buffer's worst day and has no peak in Sprout Social's data. Sprout Social also calls Sunday engagement universally low.

### Is morning or evening better for Facebook posts?

Buffer and Hootsuite favor mornings, especially 6 to 9 a.m., while Sprout Social favors noon to 8 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday. Test one of each.

### What time should I post on Facebook on a weekend?

Sunday between 8 and 10 a.m., where Buffer and Hootsuite overlap. On Saturday both name 6 a.m., but Buffer calls Saturday the worst day.

### Are Facebook best times in my time zone or my audience's?

Your audience's for Buffer, Sprout Social and Hootsuite. Later's 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. window is Pacific time.

### How do I see when my Facebook followers are online?

In Meta Business Suite, open Insights and the Audience tab, or click Active times when scheduling a post for suggestions based on the past seven days.

### How often should a Facebook Page post?

Sprout Social says most brands see the best results at one to two posts a day. A small Page can start with three to five a week and build up.

### Can I schedule posts to my personal Facebook profile with PostMesh?

No. Facebook only lets apps post to Pages, so PostMesh publishes to Pages you manage.

### How long should I test a Facebook posting time?

Two weeks with three posts in each of two slots gives a first answer. Compare medians and repeat before making a big change.

## Sources

- [Buffer: Best time to post on Facebook (October 2026)](https://buffer.com/resources/best-time-to-post-on-facebook/)

- [Sprout Social: Best times to post on Facebook (March 2026)](https://sproutsocial.com/insights/best-times-to-post-on-facebook/)

- [Hootsuite: The best time to post on Facebook [2025 data] (updated October 2026)](https://blog.hootsuite.com/best-time-to-post-on-facebook/)

- [Later: Best time to post on Facebook (January 2026)](https://later.com/blog/best-time-to-post-on-facebook/)

- [Meta Business Help Center: Create and manage posts in Meta Business Suite on desktop](https://www.facebook.com/business/help/942827662903020)

- [Meta Business Help Center: About Insights in Meta Business Suite on desktop](https://www.facebook.com/business/help/700570830721044)

- [time.gov (NIST and US Naval Observatory): US time zones](https://www.time.gov/)

- [GOV.UK: When do the clocks change?](https://www.gov.uk/when-do-the-clocks-change)

- [NIST: Daylight saving time](https://www.nist.gov/pml/time-and-frequency-division/popular-links/daylight-saving-time-dst)