Find your best time to post on Instagram

• Monday: afternoon to early evening. Sprout Social's study gives 2 to 4 p.m., Hootsuite's gives 3 to 9 p.m., and Buffer's best Monday time is 7 p.m. ^[1][2][3]
• Tuesday is the closest the three studies come to agreeing: Sprout Social's window is 1 to 7 p.m., Hootsuite's is 3 to 7 p.m., and Buffer's best Tuesday times are 7, 3 and 5 p.m. ^[1][2][3]
• Wednesday: midday into the evening, where Sprout Social's window runs from 12 to 9 p.m. and Buffer's best Wednesday times are 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. ^[1][3]
• Thursday is where they differ most, with Buffer's data at 9 a.m., Sprout Social's study at 12 to 2 p.m. and Hootsuite's at 4 to 5 p.m. ^[3][1][2]
• From Friday to Sunday, Sprout puts weekends last ^[1] and Buffer puts Friday and Saturday last ^[3], though Hootsuite still gives daytime slots on both weekend days ^[2].

Every time here is local time. Sprout lists its times in local time ^[1], Buffer adjusted its times so they apply in any timezone ^[3], and Hootsuite localised the time of day across 118 countries ^[2]. So read 7 p.m. as 7 p.m. on your followers' clock. If most of your clients are in Singapore, that's 7 p.m. Singapore time.

Each study measured a different set of accounts over different months: Sprout counted engagements across about 307,000 profiles ^[1], Buffer scored posts sent through Buffer by their median engagement rate ^[3], and Later's posts are all from 2024 ^[5]. Different accounts and different sums put the peaks in different places.

Buffer and Later contradict each other on the small hours. Buffer found 1 to 5 a.m. the weakest time to post ^[3]; Later, looking at different accounts in 2024, found posts sent from 3 to 6 a.m. did better than its average ^[5].

None of them is about your followers. Sprout says as much: test these times against your own account's performance ^[6]. A coach whose clients scroll after the kids are in bed and an agent whose buyers check listings at lunch will never share a best time.

The studies split on Reels. Buffer, which looked at all post types together, suggests 6 to 11 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday ^[3]. Later, which counted Reels on their own, found 12 a.m. on Monday best ^[5].

Sprout Social doesn't split Reels out either. Its figures cover all post types, so its best Reels times are the same windows as in the day table ^[1].

So the Reels data runs from midnight to the evening. Start a Reel in one of the day slots above, then judge it on its own numbers. Instagram's insights for each Reel show watch time and how many accounts followed you after viewing it ^[7].

Instagram's help pages say more about reach than about the hour. Suggested Reels are picked from the accounts a viewer follows and the Reels they've recently watched, liked or engaged with ^[8]. Instagram recommends Reels that are filmed vertically and use music from its library or original audio, and shows fewer that are blurry, carry watermarks or are mostly covered in text ^[8]. Reels over 3 minutes aren't recommended to new audiences ^[9].

Trial reels answer a different question: is the Reel itself any good? A trial Reel is shown to people who don't follow you first, and your followers won't see it in their feed or Reels tab ^[10]. About 24 hours later you see its views, likes, comments and shares, and you can let Instagram share it with your followers if it does well on views in its first 72 hours ^[10]. You need a professional account to use them ^[11].

Instagram already tracks this for you. Its insights are for public accounts ^[4], and the followers view includes the times your followers are most active on Instagram ^[4].

1. Open your profile and go to your insights.
2. Open your followers. You'll need at least 100 followers for this view ^[4].
3. Find the times your followers are most active on Instagram ^[4].
4. Write down the busiest hour on the days you plan to post.

Under 100 followers, that view isn't there yet ^[4]: use the study times above as a starting point and lean on your own results instead.

The insights tell you when people are around. Only your posts tell you when they respond. So test it.

1. Pick two times: your followers' busiest hour, and one a few hours earlier.
2. Post the same kind of post at the first time for a week, then at the second time for a week.
3. Compare reach and interactions for each post. For Reels, compare watch time too ^[7].
4. Keep the winner, and test again in a few months.

Instagram lets you look back over any timeframe in the past 90 days ^[4], so two weeks of posts are easy to compare.

Postmosis reads the numbers you log for each post and shows which day and hour your posts did best, per network once it has five posts with numbers. Write and the calendar can then suggest that time for your next post. See the audit and analytics

A best time only helps if you post at it. Pick your two or three slots a week and keep them, so posting stops being a daily decision.

Once you know your time, schedule the week's posts in Postmosis for that hour, in your own time zone, to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube or Threads. See scheduling