Mercury Retrograde is an astrological event that happens several times a year.
When is Mercury in retrograde in 2025?
Mercury is in retrograde three times in 2025:
- March 15 to April 7: Mercury begins retrograde in Aries and moves back into Pisces. This period emphasizes slowing down impulsive communication and focusing on emotional clarity.
- July 18 to August 11: Mercury retrogrades entirely in Leo, encouraging reflection on self-expression and creative confidence.
- November 9 to November 29: Mercury starts retrograde in Sagittarius and then transitions into Scorpio, balancing optimism and deep introspection.
Mercury Retrograde 2026 Dates
When is Mercury in retrograde in 2026?
Mercury is in retrograde three times in 2026:
February 26-March 20: Mercury retrogrades entirely in Pisces.
- For the next three weeks you may feel like you’re waiting for things to come together, but you don’t know exactly what they are. Kind of like watching a row of seeds you’ve planted you hope something is happening, but it’s hard to tell. Events for you are, in fact, restructuring themselves behind the scenes, and you may be in for some surprises when all is resolved. Your best course is to make as few assumptions as possible and don’t bet on the same old horses. Be open to your own intuitive hunches and be ready to jump aboard a new bandwagon when it suddenly materializes. It may come from closer than you think and from those you might have taken for granted.
June 29-July 23
- The next three weeks may cause you to step back and rethink your course and reset your bearings to make sure you are really on the course you intended. Do not hesitate to question fundamental values in order to get to the heart of what you believe and resolve inner conflicts that may arise. Small insights can net you large gains, particularly in the future stability of your ship. Rock your own boat before others do, and you’ll be the better off for it. By the end, you may find risk reevaluation highly useful, particularly when you depend on others to evolve into what you will lean on in the future.
October 24-November 13
- If you can spend the next three weeks redeploying your debts and reallocating resources, you will not regret it. In fact, it may simply be a necessity to pick up loose ends and take a second look at whether you are unnecessarily overextended. With a little tweaking, you could be sitting in the catbird seat, but you’ll need to test the wind to get some height. Pick up on assets you’ve neglected or forgotten about, and you’ll have all you need. Make new friends, but keep the old; one is silver, but the other’s gold – in ways you hadn’t even thought about.
– Retrograde explanations from Café Astrology.
So, what is it, exactly?
When a planet goes retrograde, it just means that it appears to move backward in the sky relative to the zodiac. For Mercury, that happens three times a year.
What happens during Mercury retrograde?
In astrology, Mercury is the planet that rules our communication and thought processes. It is the planet of our everyday forms of expression and communication - the way we talk to each other and form our opinions.
During Mercury retrograde, the illusionary backward movement of the planet affects us in the same way the pull of the moon’s gravity affects the ocean tides. Instead of things going smoothly, our conversations and communication often end up muddled, distorted, and unclear. This is a time when big decisions often go awry, technology often goes wonky, and we are all generally feeling off.
What can you do to combat the energy of Mercury retrograde?
Well, since we can’t make the planet appear to go in the right direction on our way, we simply have to ride it out. During Mercury retrograde, avoid making any major decisions if you can, give yourself extra time to travel from one place to another, and don’t upgrade your IT equipment if you can help it.
Instead, use this as a time of self-reflection. Since Mercury is a planet that rules our communication and expression, think of ways that maybe you could improve those aspects in your life. Is there something you can do to help you speak more clearly?
Take the time to pause, especially when you’re faced with big decisions. Some decisions you can’t help but make during Mercury retrograde, but when you can hold off for a bit, I recommend doing so. You might find that your thoughts are clearer and easier to understand once Mercury moves out of retrograde.
Funny Story?
So, when I worked in the corporate world, I worked for a local hospital system here in Central Oregon. During a Mercury retrograde last year, our hospital system decided to upgrade its electronic medical record system. Long story short, that was a big nightmare full of technical problems, glitches, and errors.
Also, I’m getting ready to do my first ever podcast live stream on YouTube as I type out this article…so hopefully Mercury retrograde leaves my technical equipment alone! I spoke too soon. Guess who just got an e-mail that their website is experiencing technical difficulties?! This girl!
How does Mercury retrograde affect you? Do you have any other suggestions on how to avoid the nightmare that a retrograde can be if you aren’t prepared?
Retrograde starting May 10 & ending June 3, 2022!
The cute pictures made me smile- it’s the perfect thing to have close by during retrograde time! 
During the next couple of weeks anything that came up for you that you’re dealing with, you should start finding some sense of a resolution to them 
There’s been a lot going on lately, and I’d love some peaceful resolution. Time to move forwards!