The best time to post on Facebook: what three big studies say, and where they disagree
The best time to post on Facebook is Tuesday to Thursday, but the studies split on the hour: early morning (roughly 6 to 10 a.m.) according to Buffer and Hootsuite, or midday into the evening (12 to 8 p.m.) according to Sprout Social. Two of the three rate the weekend lowest; none of them knows your audience.
Below: what each study found, day by day, where they contradict each other, and how to work out your own best time. These are industry-wide averages, not wedding-specific data, because no wedding-specific study exists. Last checked 25 October 2026.
What is the best time to post on Facebook?
Early weekday mornings, or weekday midday to evening, depending on which study you trust. Buffer's analysis of more than 14 million posts puts the peak between 6 and 11 a.m. on most weekdays; Sprout Social's puts it at 12 to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Buffer's study, published 19 October 2026, names Thursday at 9 a.m. as the single best slot of the week, with Thursday at 8 and 10 a.m. close behind. Hootsuite's 2025 study of over a million posts goes even earlier: Tuesday at 5 a.m. is its top slot. Sprout Social's 2026 data, from nearly 2 billion engagements across 307,000 profiles, sits on the other side: "Tuesdays and Wednesdays 12–8p.m."
So the honest answer is a choice between two windows, not one clock time. If you're starting from nothing, test one morning slot and one afternoon-to-evening slot midweek and keep whichever does better for you.
What is the best day to post on Facebook?
Wednesday, according to Buffer, with Thursday and Tuesday close behind. Sprout Social doesn't pick a single winner: it says Monday to Thursday "consistently show the highest engagement".
Buffer also says Monday "ranks among the lower-performing days of the week", which is where it and Sprout part ways: Sprout counts Monday among its four best days. Hootsuite doesn't name a best or worst day at all, only best times within each day.
What is the best time to post on Facebook on each day?
Every study gives a different hour for almost every day; Tuesday to Thursday is the only stretch where the studies broadly agree it's worth posting. The table shows each study's own words, in local time.
| Day | Sprout Social (2026) | Buffer (2026) | Hootsuite (2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 12–1 p.m. | 9 p.m., then 10 p.m., then 7 p.m. | 5 p.m. |
| Tuesday | 12–8 p.m. | 8 a.m., then 7 p.m., then 7 a.m. | 5 a.m. (its best slot of the week) |
| Wednesday | 12–8 p.m. | 8 a.m., then 9 a.m., then 6 p.m. (best day) | 6 a.m. |
| Thursday | 12–2 p.m., and 8 p.m. | 9 a.m. (its best slot), then 8 and 10 a.m. | 6 a.m. |
| Friday | Midday | 8 a.m., then 7 and 6 a.m. | 6 a.m. |
| Saturday | No peak time | 10 p.m., then 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. (worst day) | 6 a.m. |
| Sunday | Hard to define; engagement low | 10 a.m., then 9 and 8 a.m. | 8 a.m. |
| Best of the week | Tuesday and Wednesday, 12–8 p.m. | Thursday, 9 a.m. | Tuesday, 5 a.m. |
Sources: Sprout Social (data from 27 November 2025 to 27 February 2026), Buffer (14 million+ posts sent through Buffer; no date range given) and Hootsuite (1 million+ posts, analysed with the agency Critical Truth). All read on 25 October 2026.
Or skip the clock-watching. With WedSchedulePro, one click in Lightroom sends your photos to your queue, and the queue posts at the days and times you set for each account. See how it works →
Where do the studies disagree?
Mostly on midday: Sprout Social's best hours are Buffer's worst. Sprout puts Tuesday and Wednesday's peak at 12 to 8 p.m.; Buffer says "afternoons (12 p.m. – 5 p.m.) consistently show the lowest engagement".
They also disagree on late nights. Hootsuite says to "avoid posting late at night (after 10 PM) when activity flattens", while Buffer's best Saturday slot is 10 p.m. and its best Monday slots are 9 and 10 p.m. Each study measures different accounts, in different ways, over different months, so a disagreement this size is normal. It tells you the hour matters less than the averages make it look, and that your own audience decides it.
Is the weekend a bad time to post on Facebook?
Usually, yes: Sprout Social calls weekends "the worst days to post", and Buffer calls Saturday "the worst day of the week". Buffer rates Sunday "slightly better", but still behind every weekday.
That's the one point the studies come closest to agreeing on. Hootsuite still lists a best time for both weekend days (6 a.m. Saturday, 8 a.m. Sunday), so a weekend post isn't wasted; it just starts with fewer people around.
Which time zone are these times in?
Local time, in every study, so 9 a.m. means 9 a.m. where your audience lives, not 9 a.m. in New York. Each study words it slightly differently, which matters if your followers are spread across time zones.
- Sprout Social says its data "is recorded in the user's local time", and tells you to schedule for the hours listed "in their respective local time zones", meaning your audience's.
- Buffer says "times are in your local time zone" and that its team made the times "universally applicable. In other words, no need to convert."
- Hootsuite says the time of day "was localized across 118 countries where sample data came from". It also lists separate times for a set of named time zones; UK time is not one of them.
If most of your followers live where you do, post by your own clock. If they're mostly somewhere else, which can happen with destination weddings, post by theirs.
What is the best time to post on Facebook in the UK?
The same local-time windows: Tuesday to Thursday, early morning or midday to evening, by UK clock. None of the three studies publishes UK-only figures, so anyone quoting you a UK-measured hour should be able to tell you where it came from.
Because every study works in local time, a 9 a.m. peak applies as 9 a.m. in Manchester just as it does in Chicago. What we can't tell you is whether UK audiences behave differently from the global average; no study we found has measured that.
How do you find your own best time to post on Facebook?
Look at when your own past posts got the most reactions, comments and shares, and test against that. The studies give you a starting point; your Page's own numbers are the only data about your audience.
A simple way: pick one morning slot and one afternoon-to-evening slot, say Wednesday at 8 a.m. and Wednesday at 6 p.m., and alternate between them for a few weeks with similar posts. Compare reactions, comments and shares, then keep the winner and test the next day. Change one thing at a time, or you won't know what made the difference. Our best-time-to-post tool puts these studies side by side if you want a starting slot for your other accounts too.
What should wedding businesses test on Facebook?
Test the two windows the studies argue about, midweek morning against midweek evening, because no study has measured wedding audiences on their own. Sprout, Buffer and Hootsuite all report general industry data, so treat every figure in this guide as a starting point, not a wedding rule.
What's specific to you is who follows your Page. Couples who are planning, couples you've already shot, their families, and other suppliers may all keep different hours, and only your own numbers will show which group reacts. A few things worth testing, one at a time:
- Morning versus evening, on the same weekday, with similar photos.
- A weekday against Sunday, since the studies rate weekends low but your audience may not match the average.
- Posting soon after the wedding against a week or two later, if you share galleries or highlights.
If you're also posting the same photos elsewhere, our Instagram post size guide covers how to keep them uncropped there.
