Best Time to Post on LinkedIn in 2026 (Day and Hour)

Short answer: midweek, Wednesday to Friday. Buffer's 2026 study of 4.8 million posts puts the top slot at Wednesday 4 p.m., while Sprout Social's 2026 data favours Tuesday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Both say weekends are weakest. All times are in your audience's local time, so use them as a first test, then check your own analytics.

Best time to post on LinkedIn in 2026: what the studies say

The two biggest 2026 studies agree on the days and disagree on the hours. Buffer's peak sits in the late afternoon and early evening; Sprout's sits around lunch and the early afternoon. The overlap, roughly 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday to Friday, is the safest place to start.

Study	Sample	Best slots	Best days	Weakest
Buffer, published Sep 9, 2026	4.8 million posts sent through Buffer	Wed 4 p.m., Fri 3 p.m., Fri 4 p.m.	Wednesday, then Thursday and Friday	Monday, Tuesday, mornings, weekends
Sprout Social, published Mar 31, 2026	About 2 billion engagements across 307,000 profiles	Tue 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wed 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thu 1 to 5 p.m.	Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday	Saturday and Sunday

Why the gap? The samples differ. Sprout measured brand profiles managed in its platform between November 27, 2025 and February 27, 2026. Buffer measured posts its users scheduled, which includes many individual creators. Buffer also notes that its 2025 peak sat inside working hours and moved later in 2026, so the answer shifts from year to year.

Best time to post on LinkedIn by day

If you post on a particular day, here are each study's best hours for it. Buffer lists its three best times per day in order; Sprout lists its peak windows.

Day	Buffer, best three hours	Sprout Social, peak window
Monday	10 p.m., 5 p.m., 9 p.m.	1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Tuesday	4 p.m., 5 p.m., 10 p.m.	11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Wednesday	4 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m.	11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Thursday	5 p.m., 7 p.m., 9 p.m.	11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Friday	3 p.m., 4 p.m., 5 p.m.	11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Saturday	9 a.m., 6 p.m., 10 p.m.	Avoid
Sunday	10 p.m., 9 p.m., 6 a.m.	Avoid

Sources: Buffer and Sprout Social. Buffer says its hours are normalised to local time, so 4 p.m. means 4 p.m. where your audience lives. Sprout also lists its times in local time.

What is the best day to post on LinkedIn?

Wednesday is the best day in Buffer's data, followed by Thursday and Friday. Sprout names Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as the days with the longest peak windows. So Wednesday and Thursday are the two days both studies rate highly.

Monday and Tuesday are where they part ways. Buffer found Monday and Tuesday had the lowest weekday engagement, while Sprout rates Tuesday as a peak day. If you only post once a week, Wednesday is the safe pick.

Is it good to post on LinkedIn on weekends?

Usually not. Sprout calls Saturday and Sunday the worst days because LinkedIn is a work network, and Buffer found weekend posts got less engagement than most weekdays. If you have to post on a weekend, Buffer's best slots were Saturday at 9 a.m. and Sunday around 10 p.m.

What time to post on Sunday? In Buffer's data, 10 p.m., 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. were Sunday's best three times. A Sunday evening post lands as people plan their week, but expect less reach than a weekday slot.

Best time to post on LinkedIn for B2B and B2C

Sprout breaks its 2026 LinkedIn data down by industry. Every industry it lists does best on weekdays and worst on weekends; what changes is the hour.

Industry (Sprout, 2026)	Strongest windows
Technology and software	Tue 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wed 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thu 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Financial services	Tue 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wed 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Thu 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Healthcare	Wed 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thu 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Education	Tue 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wed 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Retail	Wed 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Thu 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Fri 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Nonprofit	Mon to Thu 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wed until 4 p.m.

Source: Sprout Social.

The pattern is useful even if your industry is not listed. B2B audiences such as tech, finance and healthcare cluster in business hours, with finance starting earliest. Consumer brands like retail get a wider spread, including Friday mornings. If you sell to consumers on LinkedIn, test Buffer's evening slots too, because people browsing after work are not bound to office hours.

How to find your own best time to post on LinkedIn

Studies average millions of accounts. Your audience may sit in another time zone or keep different hours, so run a short test.

1. Pick two slots. One from each study, for example Wednesday at 12 p.m. (Sprout) and Wednesday at 4 p.m. (Buffer).
2. Keep everything else steady. Same format, similar length, same topic type, so the time is the only change.
3. Post at each slot for about four weeks. This is a practical rule of thumb, not a figure from the studies. Post less often and you will need longer.
4. Compare engagement, not just impressions. Check reactions, comments and reposts on each post in LinkedIn's post analytics, and look at the first hours separately, since that is where timing helps most.
5. Keep the winner and test the next pair. Try a different day next.

If most of your followers live in another region, use their local time, not yours. LinkedIn converts scheduled times to UTC from your device's time zone, according to LinkedIn Help, so set the slot in the time zone you mean.

What is LinkedIn golden hour?

Golden hour is a creator term for the first hour after you publish. The idea is that early comments and replies help a post reach more people. Whatever weight it carries, the practical advice is the same: post at a time when you can stay around for an hour to answer comments. A great slot you cannot attend is worse than a decent one you can.

How to schedule LinkedIn posts for the best time

You do not need to be at your desk at 4 p.m. LinkedIn's own scheduler lets you schedule a post between 10 minutes and 3 months ahead (LinkedIn Help). Our step-by-step guide covers it: how to schedule LinkedIn posts.

If you post to several networks, SociaHive's content scheduler schedules to LinkedIn personal profiles alongside Instagram, Facebook, X, Threads, Bluesky and more from one calendar, with 30 free posts a month. Draft the post with the LinkedIn post generator, add bold text and bullets with the LinkedIn text formatter, size images with our LinkedIn image sizes guide, and plan the month with the social media calendar. To compare LinkedIn with other networks, see the best time to post on social media and our guide to the best time to post on X, Threads, Pinterest and Bluesky.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best hour to post on LinkedIn?

There is no single hour. Buffer's 2026 top slot is Wednesday at 4 p.m., and Sprout Social's strongest window is Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Late afternoon, around 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday to Friday, falls inside both studies' strong periods, so it is a good first test.

Is 6 a.m. a good time to post on LinkedIn?

Not according to the 2026 studies. Buffer found mornings before noon had weaker engagement than late afternoon and evening, and Sprout's peaks start at 11 a.m. on most days. The one early slot in Buffer's top three is Sunday at 6 a.m. If your audience commutes early, test it, but start with an afternoon slot.

How often should I post on LinkedIn?

Buffer says two to five posts a week is where most creators and brands start to see results, and that accounts posting more consistently tend to see stronger impressions per post over time. Pick a pace you can keep for months.

Do these times apply to my time zone?

Yes. Buffer normalised its hours to local time and Sprout lists local times, so 4 p.m. means 4 p.m. for the people you want to reach. If your audience is spread across regions, choose the region where most of them live.

Is video content good for LinkedIn?

Neither study above measures format by time, so we cannot give you a video-specific hour. Post video in the same windows, and compare it with your image and text posts in your own analytics before you change your mix.

Sources

1. Buffer, The Best Time to Post on LinkedIn in 2026: 4.8 Million Posts Analyzed, published September 9, 2026
2. Sprout Social, Best times to post on LinkedIn in 2026, published March 31, 2026
3. LinkedIn Help, Schedule posts