Each Mercury retrograde lasts about three weeks, and the exact length changes from one to the next. The one running now, in Scorpio, is on the short side at about 20 days.
How long is this Mercury retrograde?
Mercury stations retrograde on 24 October 2026 at about 07:15 UTC, at about 21° Scorpio. It stations direct on 13 November 2026 at about 15:50 UTC, at about 5° Scorpio. A station is the moment a planet seems to stand still before it changes direction.
- R24
- D13
- Oct31
31 − 24 = 7 days left in October, then 7 + 13 = 20 days, then 15:52 − 07:15 = 8 h 37 min.
This retrograde lasts about 20 days and 9 hours.
The times are in UTC, so your local start and end dates can differ by a day.
How long has Mercury retrograde lasted in other years?
Between about 20 and 24 days. The table lists every Mercury retrograde from 2025 to 2027.
| Starts | Ends | Length | Sign at start | Sign at end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Mar 2025 | 7 Apr 2025 | 23 days | Aries | Pisces |
| 18 Jul 2025 | 11 Aug 2025 | 24 days | Leo | Leo |
| 9 Nov 2025 | 29 Nov 2025 | 20 days | Sagittarius | Scorpio |
| 26 Feb 2026 | 20 Mar 2026 | 23 days | Pisces | Pisces |
| 29 Jun 2026 | 23 Jul 2026 | 24 days | Cancer | Cancer |
| 24 Oct 2026 | 13 Nov 2026 | 20 days | Scorpio | Scorpio |
| 9 Feb 2027 | 3 Mar 2027 | 22 days | Pisces | Aquarius |
| 10 Jun 2027 | 4 Jul 2027 | 24 days | Cancer | Gemini |
| 7 Oct 2027 | 28 Oct 2027 | 21 days | Scorpio | Libra |
Lengths are rounded to the nearest day.
Across all 63 Mercury retrogrades from 2020 to 2039, the shortest lasts 19.8 days and the longest 24.2 days. Wikipedia's table of retrograde figures gives a similar range for Mercury, 19.85 to 24.19 days, about 22 on average. All dates here come from Astronomy Engine, an open-source library (version 2.1.19, geocentric, tropical zodiac).
How often does Mercury go retrograde?
Mercury goes retrograde about every 116 days. It circles the Sun every 88 Earth days, but Earth moves too, so Mercury takes about 116 days to catch up and pass between Earth and the Sun again. Each pass brings one retrograde. From Earth, Mercury only looks as if it moves backwards; the planet keeps going forward in its orbit.
A year of 365 days divided by 116 gives about 3.1, so a calendar year has three, sometimes four. From 2020 to 2039, three years have four: 2022, 2029 and 2036.
What this means for your day
For your day
Do
Convert the UTC start and end times to your own time zone.
Don't
Don't assume every Mercury retrograde lasts exactly three weeks.
Questions people ask
When does this Mercury retrograde end?
On 13 November 2026, at about 15:50 UTC, when Mercury stations direct at about 5° Scorpio. In time zones well ahead of UTC, such as eastern Australia, it is already 14 November.
When is the next Mercury retrograde?
The next one starts on 9 February 2027 in Pisces and ends on 3 March 2027 in Aquarius (UTC dates). It lasts about 22 days.
Is Mercury retrograde the same length for everyone?
Yes. The stations happen at one moment for the whole Earth; only the local clock time and date change.
Sources
- NASA Science: Mercury facts. Mercury orbits the Sun every 88 Earth days.
- NASA StarChild: What does it mean for Mercury to be in retrograde?. Retrograde motion is apparent: the planet does not move backwards in its orbit.
- Wikipedia: Apparent retrograde motion. Retrograde tied to inferior conjunction; 116-day synodic period; 19.85 to 24.19 days.