This is a list of songs that have charted in the top ten of the Billboard Adult Contemporary in 1986.
List of Billboard Adult Contemporary top ten singles which peaked in 1986| Top ten entry date | Single | Artist(s) | Peak | Peak date | Weeks in top ten | | Singles from 1985 |
|---|
| November 30 | "That's What Friends Are For" | Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder | 1 | January 11 | 13 |
| December 7 | "I Miss You" | Klymaxx | 3 | January 11 | 8 |
| December 14 | "Go Home" | Stevie Wonder | 1 | January 25 | 10 |
| December 21 | "Walk of Life" | Dire Straits | 4 | January 18 | 8 |
| December 28 | "Somewhere" | Barbara Streisand | 5 | February 15 | 10 |
| Singles from 1986 |
|---|
| January 11 | "The Sweetest Taboo" | Sade | 1 | February 8 | 9 |
| January 18 | "My Hometown" | Bruce Springsteen | 1 | February 1 | 6 |
| January 25 | "How Will I Know" | Whitney Houston | 1 | February 15 | 9 |
| February 1 | "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going" | Billy Ocean | 2 | February 15 | 7 |
| "Life in a Northern Town" | The Dream Academy | 2 | March 1 | 7 |
| February 8 | "Sara" | Starship | 1 | February 22 | 9 |
| February 15 | "Nikita" | Elton John | 3 | March 8 | 10 |
| February 22 | "These Dreams" | Heart | 1 | March 15 | 10 |
| March 1 | "Secret Lovers" | Atlantic Starr | 1 | April 5 | 9 |
| "Only One" | James Taylor | 6 | March 22 | 6 |
| March 8 | "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)" | Mike & the Mechanics | 7 | March 22 | 4 |
| March 15 | "Overjoyed" | Stevie Wonder | 1 | April 12 | 8 |
| March 22 | "Tender Love" | Force MDs | 2 | April 12 | 7 |
| "Now and Forever (You and Me)" | Anne Murray | 7 | April 5 | 4 |
| March 29 | "Bop" | Dan Seals | 10 | March 29 | 1 |
| April 5 | "I Think It's Love" | Jermaine Jackson | 5 | April 26 | 6 |
| "Whisper in the Dark" | Dionne Warwick | 7 | April 12 | 4 |
| April 12 | "Take Me Home" | Phil Collins | 2 | April 26 | 8 |
| "Greatest Love of All" | Whitney Houston | 1 | April 26 | 11 |
| April 19 | "So Far Away" | Dire Straits | 3 | May 3 | 5 |
| April 26 | "Manic Monday" | The Bangles | 10 | April 26 | 2 |
| May 3 | "Call Me" | Dennis DeYoung | 5 | May 10 | 3 |
| "Never as Good as the First Time" | Sade | 6 | May 10 | 4 |
| "Holding Back the Years" | Simply Red | 4 | May 24 | 10 |
| May 10 | "Live to Tell" | Madonna | 1 | May 31 | 9 |
| "On My Own" | Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald | 2 | May 24 | 10 |
| "Bad Boy" | Miami Sound Machine | 8 | May 24 | 3 |
| May 17 | "There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)" | Billy Ocean | 1 | June 21 | 12 |
| May 24 | "Your Wildest Dreams" | The Moody Blues | 1 | July 5 | 12 |
| "A Different Corner" | George Michael | 6 | June 7 | 7 |
| May 31 | "No One Is to Blame" | Howard Jones | 1 | June 28 | 9 |
| "Something About You" | Level 42 | 10 | May 31 | 2 |
| June 7 | "All I Need Is a Miracle" | Mike & the Mechanics | 7 | June 21 | 4 |
| June 14 | "That's Why I'm Here" | James Taylor | 8 | July 5 | 5 |
| June 28 | "Headed for the Future" | Neil Diamond | 10 | June 28 | 2 |
| July 5 | "Glory of Love" | Peter Cetera | 1 | July 19 | 11 |
| July 12 | "The Best of Me" | David Foster & Olivia Newton-John | 6 | July 12 | 2 |
| "Invisible Touch" | Genesis | 3 | July 26 | 6 |
| "Modern Woman" | Billy Joel | 7 | July 19 | 3 |
| "You Should Be Mine (The Woo Woo Song)" | Jeffrey Osborne | 2 | August 2 | 7 |
| July 19 | "Love Touch" | Rod Stewart | 5 | August 2 | 5 |
| "The Captain of Her Heart" | Double | 4 | August 23 | 8 |
| July 26 | "Words Get in the Way" | Miami Sound Machine | 1 | August 23 | 11 |
| August 2 | "Dancing on the Ceiling" | Lionel Richie | 3 | August 23 | 10 |
| "In the Shape of a Heart" | Jackson Browne | 10 | August 2 | 1 |
| August 9 | "Sweet Freedom" | Michael McDonald | 4 | August 30 | 8 |
| "Friends and Lovers" | Carl Anderson | 1 | September 6 | 12 |
| August 16 | "Taken In" | Mike & the Mechanics | 7 | August 23 | 5 |
| August 23 | "Higher Love" | Steve Winwood | 7 | September 13 | 5 |
| "Stuck with You" | Huey Lewis & the News | 1 | September 20 | 11 |
| August 30 | "Take My Breath Away" | Berlin | 3 | September 20 | 7 |
| September 13 | "Throwing It All Away" | Genesis | 1 | October 11 | 10 |
| September 20 | "Sweet Love" | Anita Baker | 3 | October 11 | 9 |
| "Love Zone" | Billy Ocean | 5 | October 4 | 5 |
| September 27 | "Love Always" | El DeBarge | 8 | October 11 | 3 |
| October 4 | "I'll Be Over You" | Toto | 1 | October 25 | 10 |
| October 11 | "Coming Around Again" | Carly Simon | 5 | November 1 | 7 |
| "True Colors" | Cyndi Lauper | 5 | October 18 | 5 |
| October 18 | "The Next Time I Fall" | Peter Cetera & Amy Grant | 1 | November 8 | 13 |
| "Love Will Conquer All" | Lionel Richie | 1 | November 22 | 12 |
| October 25 | "When I Think of You" | Janet Jackson | 10 | October 25 | 2 |
| November 1 | "Human" | The Human League | 3 | November 15 | 8 |
| November 8 | "The Way It Is" | Bruce Hornsby | 1 | December 6 | 11 |
| "True Blue" | Madonna | 5 | November 22 | 5 |
| November 15 | "California Dreamin" | The Beach Boys | 8 | November 15 | 2 |
| November 22 | "Love Is Forever" | Billy Ocean | 1 | December 20 | 12 |
| "Emotion in Motion" | Ric Ocasek | 8 | November 29 | 4 |
| November 29 | "Falling in Love (Uh-Oh)" | Miami Sound Machine | 3 | December 20 | 9 |
| "They Don't Make Them Like They Used To" | Kenny Rogers | 10 | November 29 | 1 |
| December 13 | "Stand by Me" | Ben E. King | 10 | December 13 | 2 |