Inside the working day
LinkedIn is read at work, so its window follows office hours. Sprout's data peaks from 11:00 to 17:00 and Metricool's in the late morning.
Buffer sees the window moving later: from 15:00 to 20:00 on weekdays in 2026, with mornings between 6:00 and 11:00 weaker than a year before. Hootsuite still names 8:00, so the morning is worth one test, but the afternoon has more studies behind it.
Wednesday is the safest day of the week
Wednesday is the only day every study names. Buffer adds Friday, Metricool Thursday and Friday, Sprout Tuesday and Thursday. Monday and Tuesday are Buffer's weakest weekdays.
Weekends are the weakest days in 3 of the 4 studies, and in Buffer's own LinkedIn data a Saturday or Sunday post gets less engagement than most weekdays.
Written posts early, video later
The studies disagree on the hour more than on any other platform: from Hootsuite's 8:00 to Buffer's 20:00. Hootsuite's own team suggests splitting by format, written posts in the morning and video in the afternoon.
For a founder posting as themselves, start mid-afternoon on Wednesday and add a late-morning slot on Thursday. That covers Buffer, Sprout and Metricool at once.
- BufferBest daysWed, FriBest hours15:00 to 20:00Top slotWednesday 16:00
- Sprout SocialBest daysTue to ThuBest hours11:00 to 17:00Top slotNone named
- HootsuiteBest daysTue, WedBest hours8:00Top slotNone named
- MetricoolBest daysWed to FriBest hours9:00 to 12:00Top slotNone named
How often to post on LinkedIn
Buffer's study of 2 million posts from 94,000 accounts calls 2 to 5 posts a week the sweet spot for reach and engagement. 6 to 10 a week pushes the gains further for an account that can keep it up.
Sources and method
Every window in this guide is what a study's own page says, read on the date beside it. Where a study's overview and its page for one platform disagree, we used the platform page, which is newer and narrower.
The charts count how many of the studies name each hour or day. They show where the studies agree, not how much engagement an hour gets: no study publishes its raw numbers.
Buffer, The Best Time to Post on Social Media in 2026
52 million posts from over 200,000 accounts, 2024 and 2025. Median engagement rate by the hour a post went out. Read 8 November 2026.
Sprout Social, Best times to post on social media in 2026
Nearly 2 billion engagements across about 307,000 profiles. When engagement happens, hour by hour. Read 8 November 2026.
Hootsuite, Best time to post on social media
Over 1 million posts in 118 countries, with Critical Truth. Engagement by the hour a post went out. Read 8 November 2026.
Metricool, Best time to post on social networks
Per-network studies of professional accounts, such as 24.4 million Instagram posts from 375,118 accounts. Read 8 November 2026.