Best Time to Post YouTube Shorts Tutorials (2026)

The best times to post on YouTube for Shorts tutorials are 6 PM, 7 PM and 12 PM UTC, based on our editorial baseline (built from published industry research), shown until enough posts published through TimeToPost clear our minimum sample.

Best window

6 PM

UTC · score 100

2nd best window

7 PM

UTC · score 96

3rd best window

12 PM

UTC · score 92

YouTube engagement by hour (UTC)

Data mode: editorial baseline ( see methodology).

Hourly engagement scores
Time (UTC)	UTC hour	Engagement score	Posts analyzed
12 AM	00:00 UTC	30	N/A
1 AM	01:00 UTC	24	N/A
2 AM	02:00 UTC	18	N/A
3 AM	03:00 UTC	14	N/A
4 AM	04:00 UTC	12	N/A
5 AM	05:00 UTC	14	N/A
6 AM	06:00 UTC	22	N/A
7 AM	07:00 UTC	34	N/A
8 AM	08:00 UTC	48	N/A
9 AM	09:00 UTC	62	N/A
10 AM	10:00 UTC	78	N/A
11 AM	11:00 UTC	88	N/A
12 PM	12:00 UTC	92	N/A
1 PM	13:00 UTC	86	N/A
2 PM	14:00 UTC	78	N/A
3 PM	15:00 UTC	74	N/A
4 PM	16:00 UTC	80	N/A
5 PM	17:00 UTC	90	N/A
6 PM	18:00 UTC	100	N/A
7 PM	19:00 UTC	96	N/A
8 PM	20:00 UTC	84	N/A
9 PM	21:00 UTC	66	N/A
10 PM	22:00 UTC	50	N/A
11 PM	23:00 UTC	38	N/A

Post how-to Shorts for problem-solving intent

A how-to Short is watched by someone with a problem in front of them right now, not someone looking to be entertained, and that single fact gives it a flatter, more search-driven engagement curve than the typical entertainment Short lives on.

Late morning tends to be strong for this kind of content, because that is when people are actively in the middle of trying to fix something: a piece of software behaving oddly, a home repair gone slightly wrong, a recipe step that is not working, a gear setting nobody explained properly. The Short does not need the evening leisure peak that a joke or a trend depends on, because the viewer isn't browsing for fun, they are searching for a fast, specific answer.

Publish the how-to Short whenever the underlying problem tends to occur, title it around the exact task rather than a vague topic, and make the first second show the outcome so a distracted, mid-problem viewer knows immediately this is the right video. Save the evening leisure slot for tutorials that lean hobbyist or entertainment-adjacent, cooking for fun rather than fixing dinner, since those genuinely do behave more like the platform's usual entertainment content.

YouTube timing splits between subscription behavior and search behavior. Long-form videos benefit from being live before viewers settle into a planned session, while Shorts need enough active viewers for the first test batch to produce watch-time signals. Tutorials and product demos can peak during work or problem-solving hours; entertainment Shorts skew later, when viewers are in a low-commitment scroll mode.

Use the chart and schedule generator to turn these YouTube windows into a weekly plan. TimeToPost's public everyday scheduler currently supports X, with more platforms coming soon, so this YouTube page is timing guidance rather than a claim that TimeToPost can publish to YouTube.

Generate a weekly schedule: Want this translated into a weekly queue? Use the best time to post calculator to turn the post how-to shorts for problem-solving intent into a concrete schedule for YouTube.

Turn these windows into a weekly plan

Use the free generator to plan YouTube timing without implying that TimeToPost currently publishes to this platform.

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Free best-time tool

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Methodology & timezone notes

Read how these numbers are built. Times on this page are shown in UTC.

Frequently asked questions

Do how-to Shorts need the same posting time as entertainment Shorts?

No. How-to Shorts have a flatter, more search-driven curve because viewers are actively trying to solve a problem, not browsing for leisure. Late morning tends to work well for this kind of intent.

Why doesn't a tutorial Short need the evening leisure peak?

Because the viewer is searching for a specific answer to an active problem, not scrolling to be entertained, so the content needs to be available when the problem occurs, not just when viewing is highest.

When should a tutorial use the evening slot instead?

When it's hobby or entertainment-adjacent rather than urgent, like cooking for enjoyment instead of fixing something broken. That kind of content behaves more like standard entertainment Shorts.