Exact ephemeris dates for every sign Mercury occupies in 2026, with entry and exit times, retrograde stations and combustion windows. Mercury stays about two to three weeks per sign.
•Mercury is in Sagittarius from 29 December 2025 to 17 January 2026 (19 days). Mercury entered Sagittarius before this year and stays until 17 January 2026.
•Mercury is in Capricorn from 17 January 2026 to 3 February 2026 (17 days). Mercury enters and leaves Capricorn within this year.
•Mercury is in Aquarius from 3 February 2026 to 11 April 2026 (2 months). Mercury enters and leaves Aquarius within this year.
•Mercury is in Pisces from 11 April 2026 to 30 April 2026 (19 days). Mercury enters and leaves Pisces within this year.
•Mercury is in Aries from 30 April 2026 to 15 May 2026 (14 days). Mercury enters and leaves Aries within this year.
•Mercury is in Taurus from 15 May 2026 to 29 May 2026 (14 days). Mercury enters and leaves Taurus within this year.
•Mercury is in Gemini from 29 May 2026 to 22 June 2026 (24 days). Mercury enters and leaves Gemini within this year.
•Mercury is in Cancer from 22 June 2026 to 7 July 2026 (14 days). Mercury enters and leaves Cancer within this year.
•Mercury is in Gemini from 7 July 2026 to 5 August 2026 (29 days). Mercury enters and leaves Gemini within this year.
•Mercury is in Cancer from 5 August 2026 to 22 August 2026 (16 days). Mercury enters and leaves Cancer within this year.
•Mercury is in Leo from 22 August 2026 to 7 September 2026 (15 days). Mercury enters and leaves Leo within this year.
•Mercury is in Virgo from 7 September 2026 to 26 September 2026 (18 days). Mercury enters and leaves Virgo within this year.
•Mercury is in Libra from 26 September 2026 to 2 December 2026 (2 months). Mercury enters and leaves Libra within this year.
•Mercury is in Scorpio from 2 December 2026 to 22 December 2026 (19 days). Mercury enters and leaves Scorpio within this year.
•Mercury is in Sagittarius from 22 December 2026 to 10 January 2027 (18 days). Mercury enters Sagittarius and remains there into 2027.
Dates are calculated once from the ephemeris and displayed in your local time zone. A sign listed twice is a retrograde step back into the earlier sign, not a second separate transit.
Mercury sign changes in 2026
Each row is one continuous period in a single sign. Mercury slows down and appears to reverse direction partway through, so a sign can appear twice.
Mercury transit sign changes with entry and exit dates in 2026
Sign
Enters
Leaves
Duration
Notes
Sagittarius
19 days
Combust partBegan in 2025
Capricorn
17 days
Combust part
Aquarius
2 months
Retrograde partCombust part
Pisces
19 days
Direct
Aries
14 days
Combust part
Taurus
14 days
Combust part
Gemini
24 days
Direct
Cancer
14 days
Retrograde partCombust part
Gemini
29 days
Retrograde partCombust part
Cancer
16 days
Combust part
Leo
15 days
Combust part
Virgo
18 days
Combust part
Libra
2 months
Retrograde partCombust part
Scorpio
19 days
Combust part
Sagittarius
18 days
Combust partEnds in 2027
Mercury sign, month by month in 2026
A quick month-by-month view. Highlighted rows are the months in which Mercury changes sign.
Mercury zodiac sign in each month of 2026
Month
Mercury in
Sign change
Station
Combust
Jan
SagittariusCapricorn
to Capricorn on
No
Combust
Feb
CapricornAquarius
to Aquarius on
Retrograde
Combust
Mar
Aquarius
No
Progressive
Combust
Apr
AquariusPiscesAries
to Aries on
No
No
May
AriesTaurusGemini
to Gemini on
No
Combust
Jun
GeminiCancer
to Cancer on
Retrograde
No
Jul
CancerGemini
to Gemini on
Progressive
Combust
Aug
GeminiCancerLeo
to Leo on
No
Combust
Sep
LeoVirgoLibra
to Libra on
No
Combust
Oct
Libra
No
Retrograde
Combust
Nov
Libra
No
Progressive
Combust
Dec
LibraScorpioSagittarius
to Sagittarius on
No
Combust
Mercury retrograde and direct stations in 2026
Mercury appears to reverse direction and then turns direct again. During retrograde motion it can step back into the sign it has just left. Shadow planets never turn retrograde, so this table appears only when the ephemeris reports a station.
Mercury retrograde and direct station dates in 2026
Date
Event
Sign
Longitude
Retrograde
Aquarius
328.34°
Progressive
Aquarius
314.27°
Retrograde
Cancer
92.03°
Progressive
Gemini
82.09°
Retrograde
Libra
206.75°
Progressive
Libra
190.80°
Mercury combustion periods in 2026
Mercury is combust when it passes too close to the Sun to be seen. Traditional astrology treats a combust Mercury as weakened.
Mercury combustion periods in 2026
Starts
Ends
Duration
Sign
1 month
Scorpio → Aquarius
1 month
Scorpio → Aquarius
1 month
Scorpio → Aquarius
13 days
Aquarius
25 days
Aries → Taurus
25 days
Aries → Taurus
16 days
Cancer → Gemini
16 days
Cancer → Gemini
30 days
Cancer → Virgo
30 days
Cancer → Virgo
30 days
Cancer → Virgo
11 days
Libra
2 months
Scorpio → Capricorn
2 months
Scorpio → Capricorn
Which house Mercury sits in, from your Moon sign
Find your birth Moon sign on the left. Read across to see which house Mercury occupies
that year. In 2026 Mercury moves through Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces.
House occupied by Mercury from each birth Moon sign during 2026
Your birth Moon sign
Mercury in Aries
Mercury in Taurus
Mercury in Gemini
Mercury in Cancer
Mercury in Leo
Mercury in Virgo
Mercury in Libra
Mercury in Scorpio
Mercury in Sagittarius
Mercury in Capricorn
Mercury in Aquarius
Mercury in Pisces
Aries
1st house
2nd house
3rd house
4th house
5th house
6th house
7th house
8th house
9th house
10th house
11th house
12th house
Taurus
12th house
1st house
2nd house
3rd house
4th house
5th house
6th house
7th house
8th house
9th house
10th house
11th house
Gemini
11th house
12th house
1st house
2nd house
3rd house
4th house
5th house
6th house
7th house
8th house
9th house
10th house
Cancer
10th house
11th house
12th house
1st house
2nd house
3rd house
4th house
5th house
6th house
7th house
8th house
9th house
Leo
9th house
10th house
11th house
12th house
1st house
2nd house
3rd house
4th house
5th house
6th house
7th house
8th house
Virgo
8th house
9th house
10th house
11th house
12th house
1st house
2nd house
3rd house
4th house
5th house
6th house
7th house
Libra
7th house
8th house
9th house
10th house
11th house
12th house
1st house
2nd house
3rd house
4th house
5th house
6th house
Scorpio
6th house
7th house
8th house
9th house
10th house
11th house
12th house
1st house
2nd house
3rd house
4th house
5th house
Sagittarius
5th house
6th house
7th house
8th house
9th house
10th house
11th house
12th house
1st house
2nd house
3rd house
4th house
Capricorn
4th house
5th house
6th house
7th house
8th house
9th house
10th house
11th house
12th house
1st house
2nd house
3rd house
Aquarius
3rd house
4th house
5th house
6th house
7th house
8th house
9th house
10th house
11th house
12th house
1st house
2nd house
Pisces
2nd house
3rd house
4th house
5th house
6th house
7th house
8th house
9th house
10th house
11th house
12th house
1st house
Read it as: “if my Moon sign is Aries, then when Mercury is in
Aries it sits in my 1st house.”
The 1st house is your Moon sign itself, the 7th is the opposite sign, and the 10th is the sign
three places after it.
Budh Vakri and the retrograde calendar
Mercury is the fastest orbiting planet and takes about a year to circle the zodiac, so it crosses a sign in two to three weeks and turns retrograde three times a year. Because Mercury never strays far from the Sun in the sky, it is always combust near a solar sign, and its retrograde periods are among the most searched-for dates in Vedic astrology.
What Vakri affects in practice
Traditional astrology associates Mercury retrograde with errors in speech, documents, travel and trade, and with the re-reading and re-signing of contracts. It is a timing signal rather than a verdict: the natal Mercury sign, house and strength decide how strongly it is felt.
Combustion and retrograde together
Mercury is combust within roughly 14 degrees of the Sun, which is why its retrograde phases almost always sit beside a solar sign change. The combustion windows for the selected year are listed on this page so you can see when both conditions overlap.
Mercury transit questions
When is Mercury retrograde?
Mercury goes retrograde three times a year for about three weeks each time. The exact station dates for the selected year are listed in the retrograde table above, in your local time zone.
How long does Mercury stay in one sign?
Between two and three weeks on average. Because it moves quickly, it can appear in the same sign twice in a year, separated by a short retrograde step back.
Is Mercury retrograde a Vedic concept?
Yes. The concept is called Vakri, and classical texts such as the Jataka and Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra describe the direct and retrograde motion of Mercury, Venus and Mars. Mercury is the most frequently retrograde of the three.
Are these transit dates the same for every city?
Yes. The instant a body changes sign is an astronomical fact, not a local one, so the underlying UTC date is identical everywhere on Earth. This page converts those instants to your selected city for display, so changing your location changes the clock time you see but never the date, and never triggers a new calculation.
Enter your birth date, time and place to see Mercury’s sign, house and Nakshatra, the running Dasha period, and every transit currently affecting your chart.