Best Time to Post YouTube Shorts in India February 2026

The best time to post YouTube Shorts in India is 7-9am IST and 7-9pm IST. The morning window catches viewers during commute hours, when smartphone usage peaks as people travel to work and school on metros, trains, and buses. The evening window (7-9pm IST) catches the post-work/post-school relaxation period, which has the highest Shorts watch time of any time block.

For days of the week, Wednesday and Friday consistently outperform other days for YouTube Shorts in India. Midweek viewers are engaged but not yet in weekend mode; Friday afternoon and evening show a significant engagement spike as people wind down from the work week. Sunday evenings (8-10pm IST) are a strong secondary time slot, particularly for motivational, educational, and self-improvement content.

YouTube's Shorts algorithm uses initial engagement velocity — the views, likes, comments, and shares in the first 30-60 minutes after posting — as a key signal to determine how widely to distribute a video. Posting when your target audience is most active maximizes this initial engagement window and triggers broader distribution.

For Indian creators, the audience is predominantly on IST, so posting at 8pm IST puts your video in front of viewers during their peak viewing window. Posting at 3am IST, conversely, means your initial distribution window is wasted on a low-traffic period, and by the time Indian viewers wake up your video has aged and may receive less priority treatment from the algorithm. This timing effect is more pronounced for new and smaller channels — established channels with strong subscriber bases are less dependent on timing.

February is a strong month for YouTube Shorts performance in India. Post-Republic Day (January 26) momentum carries through February with patriotic and inspirational content performing well. Valentine's Day (February 14) creates a one-week spike in relationship, gifting, and lifestyle content. The month has no major exam breaks (board exams begin in late February), keeping the student audience active and engaged throughout the month.

For February 2026, recommended posting schedule: Monday 8pm IST (start the week strong), Wednesday 7am or 8pm IST (midweek peak), Friday 8pm IST (end-of-week spike). Additionally, Valentine's week (February 10-14) justifies a temporary increase to daily posting with relevant content tied to the occasion. Use FluxNote to pre-produce a week's worth of Valentine's themed or February-relevant short-form videos in a single batch session.