Mercury Retrograde 2026: Dates, Signs and Stations

The first window: 26 February to 21 March, in Aquarius

Mercury stations retrograde on 26 February 2026 at 28°21′ Aquarius, in Purva Bhadrapada, and stations direct on 21 March 2026 at 14°16′ Aquarius, in Shatabhisha. Between the two stations it travels back 14.1° of the zodiac over 23 days.

28°21′ Aquarius, the 26 February station, is in Purva Bhadrapada pada 3, the Gemini navamsa. 14°16′ Aquarius, the 21 March station, is in Shatabhisha pada 3, the Aquarius navamsa. The arc between them spans 5 padas, from Shatabhisha pada 3 up to Purva Bhadrapada pada 3, and Mercury crosses every degree of it three times: forward before 26 February, backward until 21 March, and forward again afterwards. Mercury is in a neutral sign in Aquarius.

The whole 14.1° lies inside Aquarius, so for the 26 February retrograde of 2026 there is no sign change to date: Mercury in Aquarius covers all 23 days.

Inside the window Mercury also backs across a nakshatra boundary: into Shatabhisha on 10 March 2026.

Venus on 28 February 2026 at 28° Aquarius, the Sun on 7 March 2026 at 22° Aquarius and Mars on 15 March 2026 at 15° Aquarius are the conjunctions the table records for Mercury during these 23 days. The meeting with the Sun is the inferior conjunction, when Mercury passes between the Earth and the Sun, and it is the reason this retrograde happens when it does.

One caution on the direct station of this window: it falls close to midnight IST, so another ephemeris, or a listing kept in another time zone, can put 21 March 2026 on the neighbouring day without either being wrong.

It begins 108 days after the previous Mercury retrograde began on 10 November 2025, and 89 days after that one ended.

The second window: 29 June to 24 July, in Cancer and Gemini

Mercury stations retrograde on 29 June 2026 at 2°02′ Cancer, in Punarvasu, and stations direct on 24 July 2026 at 22°05′ Gemini, still in Punarvasu. Between the two stations it travels back 9.9° of the zodiac over 24 days.

2°02′ Cancer, the 29 June station, is in Punarvasu pada 4, the Cancer navamsa. 22°05′ Gemini, the 24 July station, is in Punarvasu pada 1, the Aries navamsa. The arc between them spans 4 padas, from Punarvasu pada 1 up to Punarvasu pada 4, and Mercury crosses every degree of it three times: forward before 29 June, backward until 24 July, and forward again afterwards. Mercury is in an enemy's sign in Cancer and in its own sign in Gemini.

That arc crosses a sign boundary, so the 29 June retrograde of 2026 begins in Cancer and ends in Gemini. The DE421 table puts Mercury’s backward re-entry into Gemini on 7 July 2026, 8 days after it turned. Read Mercury in Gemini for that stretch, not Mercury in Cancer.

The Sun on 13 July 2026 at 26° Gemini is the one conjunction the table records for Mercury during these 24 days. The meeting with the Sun is the inferior conjunction, when Mercury passes between the Earth and the Sun, and it is the reason this retrograde happens when it does.

One caution on the retrograde station of this window: it falls close to midnight IST, so another ephemeris, or a listing kept in another time zone, can put 29 June 2026 on the neighbouring day without either being wrong.

It begins 123 days after the previous Mercury retrograde began on 26 February 2026, and 100 days after that one ended.

The third window: 24 October to 13 November, in Libra

Mercury stations retrograde on 24 October 2026 at 26°44′ Libra, in Vishakha, and stations direct on 13 November 2026 at 10°48′ Libra, in Swati. Between the two stations it travels back 15.9° of the zodiac over 20 days.

26°44′ Libra, the 24 October station, is in Vishakha, close enough to a pada edge that the pada depends on the ayanamsa. 10°48′ Libra, the 13 November station, is in Swati pada 2, the Capricorn navamsa. The arc between them spans 6 padas, from Swati pada 2 up to Vishakha pada 3, and Mercury crosses every degree of it three times: forward before 24 October, backward until 13 November, and forward again afterwards. Mercury is in a friend's sign in Libra.

The whole 15.9° lies inside Libra, so for the 24 October retrograde of 2026 there is no sign change to date: Mercury in Libra covers all 20 days.

Inside the window Mercury also backs across a nakshatra boundary: into Swati on 3 November 2026.

The Sun on 4 November 2026 at 17° Libra is the one conjunction the table records for Mercury during these 20 days. The meeting with the Sun is the inferior conjunction, when Mercury passes between the Earth and the Sun, and it is the reason this retrograde happens when it does.

It begins 117 days after the previous Mercury retrograde began on 29 June 2026, and 92 days after that one ended.