The best time to post on Facebook is midweek, on a weekday, from morning to mid-afternoon in your audience's time zone. Sprout Social's 2026 data points to Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 12 p.m. and 8 p.m. Buffer's analysis of more than 14 million posts found the single best slot is Thursday at 9 a.m., with Wednesday the strongest day overall.
The weakest days fall on the weekend. Sprout Social calls Sunday the worst day to post on Facebook, while Buffer gives that title to Saturday. Hootsuite's latest Facebook study, published in November 2025, leans earlier than both: it found activity peaks between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m., with Tuesday at 5 a.m. on top.
Those are averages across thousands of Pages. Your Page has its own rhythm, and Meta shows it to you for free. Use the research to pick two or three test slots, then let your Page's results choose the winner. Below you will find the data by day, why the studies disagree, and how to find your own best time in Meta Business Suite.
Best times to post on Facebook: what the research says
| Study | What they analyzed | Best times | Best day(s) | Worst day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sprout Social (updated March 2026) | Nearly 2 billion engagements across about 307,000 profiles, Nov 2025 to Feb 2026 | Tuesday and Wednesday, 12–8 p.m. | Monday to Thursday | Sunday (weekends lowest overall) |
| Buffer (February 2026) | More than 14 million Facebook posts from businesses, creators and influencers | Thursday at 9 a.m. (single best slot) | Wednesday | Saturday |
| Hootsuite (November 2025) | Over 1 million posts, analyzed with Critical Truth and localized to 118 countries | 5–8 a.m.; Tuesday at 5 a.m. is the top slot | Not ranked | Not stated |
All three express times in local time, so you do not need to convert. Hootsuite's Facebook research is the oldest of the three, so weigh it a little less.
Best time to post on Facebook by day
Buffer lists its top three times for each day in order. Sprout Social reports windows. Hootsuite gives one time per day.
| Day | Sprout Social | Buffer (top 3) | Hootsuite (2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 12–1 p.m. | 9 p.m., 10 p.m., 7 p.m. | 5 p.m. |
| Tuesday | 12–8 p.m. | 8 a.m., 7 p.m., 7 a.m. | 5 a.m. |
| Wednesday | 12–8 p.m. | 8 a.m., 9 a.m., 6 p.m. | 6 a.m. |
| Thursday | 12–2 p.m. and 8 p.m. | 9 a.m., 8 a.m., 10 a.m. | 6 a.m. |
| Friday | Midday, with engagement dropping | 8 a.m., 7 a.m., 6 a.m. | 6 a.m. |
| Saturday | No clear peak | 10 p.m., 6 a.m., 9 p.m. | 6 a.m. |
| Sunday | Lowest of the week | 10 a.m., 9 a.m., 8 a.m. | 8 a.m. |
Two patterns stand out. Weekday mornings from 6 to 9 a.m. show up repeatedly in Buffer and Hootsuite. Sprout Social's data instead favors noon onward. If you only test two slots, test one of each: Thursday at 9 a.m. and Wednesday at 1 p.m.
Best days to post on Facebook
Midweek wins. Sprout Social names Monday through Thursday as the best days, and Buffer ranks Wednesday first. Engagement tends to drop on Friday and falls further over the weekend.
The studies split on which weekend day is worse. Buffer says Saturday, with engagement dropping sharply compared to midweek. Sprout Social says Sunday. Either way, weekend posts start with a smaller audience, so save them for content that belongs on a weekend, like events, restaurant specials or weekend sales.
Why Facebook timing studies disagree
- Morning versus afternoon. Buffer and Hootsuite both lean toward early mornings. Sprout Social's peaks start at noon. Your audience will match one pattern more than the other.
- Different customers. Each study only sees accounts that use that company's tool. A base of small businesses behaves differently from a base of enterprise brands.
- Different measures. Buffer counts reactions, comments and shares. Sprout Social counts total engagements across its customers' profiles. They can rank the same hour differently.
- Different dates. Sprout Social's data runs to February 2026, while Hootsuite's Facebook study is from 2025.
Facebook's Feed is also ranked rather than strictly chronological, so a post can keep reaching people for hours. Timing mostly shapes the first wave of reactions, which is why it helps but rarely makes or breaks a post on its own.
7 tips for choosing your Facebook posting time
1. Start with Tuesday to Thursday
Every study puts its strongest results in the middle of the week. If you post three times a week, those three days are your default.
2. Test a morning slot against a midday slot
Because the studies split on morning versus afternoon, the fastest way to find your pattern is a head-to-head test. Post similar content at 9 a.m. one week and 1 p.m. the next, and compare reach per post.
3. Use your industry as a starting point
Hootsuite's Facebook study breaks results down by industry. A few examples from its 2025 unsafe-data:
- Retail: 5–6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, or 8–10 a.m. Wednesday to Saturday.
- Finance: 4–6 p.m. on Tuesdays, 3 p.m. on Wednesdays, or 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursdays.
- Healthcare: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.
- Nonprofits: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Wednesday.
- Construction and manufacturing: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Thursdays.
4. Post for your followers' time zone
If your audience is in Chicago and you are in London, 1 p.m. for them is 7 p.m. for you. Check where your followers are in your Page's audience insights and schedule in their time.
5. Save weekends for weekend content
Weekend engagement is lower on average, but a Saturday market or a Sunday brunch post can still beat a generic Tuesday update. Post on the weekend when the content is about the weekend.
6. Judge results per post, not per week
Compare reach and engagement for individual posts at each time slot. A busy week can hide a weak slot, and a viral post can make a bad slot look good.
7. Let your Page data have the final word
The studies give you a shortlist. Your own Page data picks from it. The next section shows where to find it.
How to find your best time in Meta Business Suite
Meta gives you two places to look, both free:
- Active times when scheduling. In Meta Business Suite, create a post and open the scheduling options. Meta can suggest active times based on when your followers have recently been on Facebook. Pick one of the suggested slots that also matches the research.
- Insights. Open Insights in Business Suite and look at your recent content. Sort by reach, then note the day and hour of your best performers. Look for days and hours that keep showing up near the top.
Meta renames and moves these menus often. If you cannot find them, search the Meta Business Help Center for "active times."
Schedule Facebook posts with ViralFarm
Once you have your slots, scheduling them every week is the easy part to automate. ViralFarm publishes to Facebook along with Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Threads, Pinterest, YouTube and X, so you can plan one week across every channel from a single queue and calendar. Each channel gets its own caption, and you can bulk schedule a batch of posts at once.
ViralFarm's AI also writes text posts and builds carousels from a link, a topic or pasted text, which helps when you have the time slots but not the content. If you work in Claude or ChatGPT, connect ViralFarm through MCP and ask your agent to schedule posts for Thursday at 9 a.m. The free plan includes 2 channels and 20 published posts a month. For Instagram timing, see our guide to the best time to post on Instagram.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best time to post on Facebook?
Midweek, between morning and mid-afternoon in your audience's time zone. Buffer's single best slot is Thursday at 9 a.m., and Sprout Social's strongest windows are Tuesday and Wednesday from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
What is the best day to post on Facebook?
Wednesday. Buffer ranks it first, and Sprout Social gives Wednesday and Tuesday its widest windows of the week. Thursday is strong too: it holds Buffer's single best slot.
What is the worst day to post on Facebook?
The weekend. Buffer's data names Saturday as the worst day, and Sprout Social names Sunday. Weekend posts still work for weekend-specific content.
Is it better to post on Facebook in the morning or the afternoon?
It depends on your audience. Buffer and Hootsuite found strong early-morning results, while Sprout Social found the best engagement from noon onward. Test one morning slot and one midday slot for a few weeks to see which your followers prefer.
Do I need to post at the exact time?
No. The studies describe windows, not exact minutes. Posting within the window is enough, and scheduling ahead makes it easy to hit it every week.
How do I see when my Facebook followers are online?
Use Meta Business Suite. When you schedule a post, Meta can suggest active times based on your followers' recent activity, and Insights shows which of your past posts reached the most people.
Start with Tuesday to Thursday, test a morning slot against a midday one, and let your Page data pick the winner. Then queue the whole week in one place. Start free with ViralFarm, no credit card required.