Best Time to Post on YouTube: Where to Find Yours

There is no single best time to post on YouTube. YouTube Help describes a report called "When your viewers are on YouTube" in YouTube Analytics, which shows when your viewers are online across YouTube in the last 28 days Source [1]. Your best time is whatever that report shows for your audience, not a time taken from someone else's chart.

Autonomah also makes vertical video with voice, 15 to 30 seconds, for Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts, depending on the plan Source [2].

Where to find the report

The page lists three steps Source [1]:

1. Sign in to YouTube Studio.
2. In the left menu, select Analytics.
3. From the top menu, select Audience, and open the report "When your viewers are on YouTube."

YouTube says you can use the report to help build your community, to decide when to schedule a Premiere, or to plan your next live stream Source [1].

What the report covers, and what it does not

The report looks at the last 28 days Source [1]. It describes when your viewers are online across YouTube, which is a statement about their habits on the platform Source [1]. The page also warns that some data in YouTube Analytics, such as geography, traffic sources or gender, may be limited Source [1].

Our read: the page names Premieres and live streams, not regular uploads. It is reasonable to use the same report to choose an upload slot, but that is our inference, not something YouTube states. The page we read also gives no minimum audience size for the report to show data, so a very small channel may have little to look at.

To compare time slots with your own numbers, our guide to the best time to post on Instagram lays out a rotation test that you can run here with YouTube's figures.

Premieres and live streams

A Premiere and a live stream both start at a time you choose, and they are the two uses YouTube names for the report Source [1]. For these two formats the report answers the question directly: it shows when your viewers are online, so the slot you schedule can be one of the busy ones. Choosing the slot for each Premiere, live stream or upload is a scheduling decision, and in Autonomah what the team approves is published on the date of each campaign Source [2].

Why the 28-day window matters

The report looks back 28 days from the day you open it Source [1]. Our read: if you changed your format or your schedule less than 28 days ago, the window still includes the audience from before the change, so give a change a full 28 days before you read the report again.

Shorts, long videos and live streams

YouTube counts a view the moment a video starts to play, across Shorts, long-form videos and live streams Source [1]. The Audience tab also has a report called "Formats your viewers watch on YouTube". It covers the last 28 days and shows whether people are watching videos, Shorts or live streams, and YouTube says to use it to adapt your content to the format they watch the most Source [1]. Our read: choose the format first and the slot second, and compare a Short with a Short and a live stream with a live stream.

How Autonomah does it

We make Autonomah, an artificial creative and advertising brain that thinks, creates and publishes each brand's advertising Source [2]. Video is included in the Growth and Pro plans and not in Starter Source [2]. The plans section of its home page lists what each one covers.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best time to post a song on YouTube?

YouTube Help gives no hour for music or anything else. For a Premiere, which is the scheduled format the page names, it points to the same report, which shows when your viewers are online across YouTube in the last 28 days Source [1].

How far back does the "When your viewers are on YouTube" report look?

It looks at the last 28 days Source [1].

Do Shorts views count in YouTube Analytics?

Yes. Views are counted the moment a video starts to play across all formats, including Shorts, long-form videos and live streams Source [1].

Where can I see which formats my viewers watch?

In the Audience tab, in the report "Formats your viewers watch on YouTube", which covers videos, Shorts and live streams over the last 28 days Source [1].