You can usually take a home pregnancy test from the first day of your missed period, but waiting a bit longer gives a more reliable answer. Many healthcare and fertility sources suggest that results are most accurate about 1 week after a missed period , and some recommend up to 1–2 weeks after for the highest certainty, especially if your cycles are irregular.

Quick Scoop

  • If your cycle is regular and you know when your period was due, you can test on the first day your period is late.
  • For a more accurate result, especially if you’ve had negatives or your cycle flips around, try testing 7 days after your missed period.
  • If you don’t track your cycle or it’s very irregular, many guidelines say to test at least 21 days after unprotected sex.
  • Some very sensitive tests claim to work a few days before your missed period, but false negatives are more likely then because hCG may still be low.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.