How to convert a time between time zones
- Type the time, like 9:00, 17:30, 9.30 or 5:30 pm, or press Now, and pick the date. The date matters because of daylight saving time.
- Choose the zone the time is in and the zone you want it in. The list uses place names, so for IST pick India and for EST pick Eastern Time. My time zone uses your device’s setting. The arrows button between them swaps the two.
- Read the converted time, the difference between the two places, and the same moment in 30 major cities below.
Scheduling across time zones
When you set up a call with people in several countries, pick a time in one zone and check the table of cities: it shows the same moment everywhere at once, with “next day” or “previous day” where the date changes. Early morning in California is late afternoon in Europe and the evening in India, which is why many global meetings land between 7 and 10 am Pacific time.
Abbreviations can mislead
Short names like EST, CST and IST are ambiguous. CST is Central Standard Time in the US but also China Standard Time, and IST can mean India, Ireland or Israel. EST is also only correct in winter: in summer New York is on EDT. That’s why this converter uses place names, which always give the right local time.
Popular conversions
These pages open the converter set to one pair, with a table of the working day in both places and this year’s clock change dates.
- US Eastern Time: EST to IST, EST to PST, EST to CST, EST to MST, EST to GMT, EST to UTC, EST to CET
- US Pacific, Central and Mountain: PST to EST, PST to CST, PST to IST, PST to GMT, PST to UTC, CST to EST, CST to PST, MST to EST
- India: IST to EST, IST to PST, IST to GMT, IST to UTC, UTC to IST, GMT to IST, CET to IST, AEST to IST
- UTC and Europe: UTC to EST, UTC to PST, GMT to EST, GMT to PST, CET to EST
- Asia Pacific: JST to EST, AEST to EST
Any other pair works in the converter above. You can also open it with two zones already picked by adding them to the address, for example JST to IST or CET to PST.
Time zone abbreviations
What the common abbreviations stand for and their offset from UTC. Where a place uses daylight saving time, the second offset is its summer time. To convert one, pick the place in the converter.
| Abbreviation | Name | Offset | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| UTC | Coordinated Universal Time | UTC+0 | The world’s reference time, never changes |
| GMT | Greenwich Mean Time | UTC+0 | UK and Ireland in winter, Iceland, much of West Africa |
| BST | British Summer Time | UTC+1 | UK from late March to late October |
| WET / WEST | Western European Time | UTC+0 / +1 | Portugal, Canary Islands |
| CET / CEST | Central European Time | UTC+1 / +2 | Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Rome, Amsterdam |
| EET / EEST | Eastern European Time | UTC+2 / +3 | Athens, Helsinki, Bucharest, Kyiv |
| MSK | Moscow Time | UTC+3 | Moscow, no daylight saving |
| WAT | West Africa Time | UTC+1 | Lagos, Kinshasa |
| CAT / SAST | Central Africa / South Africa Standard Time | UTC+2 | Johannesburg, Harare, Maputo |
| EAT | East Africa Time | UTC+3 | Nairobi, Addis Ababa |
| GST | Gulf Standard Time | UTC+4 | Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat |
| PKT | Pakistan Standard Time | UTC+5 | Karachi, Lahore |
| IST | India Standard Time | UTC+5:30 | All of India, no daylight saving |
| NPT | Nepal Time | UTC+5:45 | Kathmandu |
| ICT / WIB | Indochina / Western Indonesia Time | UTC+7 | Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta |
| CST (China) | China Standard Time | UTC+8 | Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong (HKT) |
| SGT / PHT / AWST | Singapore, Philippine, Australian Western Time | UTC+8 | Singapore, Manila, Perth |
| JST | Japan Standard Time | UTC+9 | Tokyo |
| KST | Korea Standard Time | UTC+9 | Seoul |
| ACST / ACDT | Australian Central Time | UTC+9:30 / +10:30 | Adelaide; Darwin stays on +9:30 |
| AEST / AEDT | Australian Eastern Time | UTC+10 / +11 | Sydney, Melbourne; Brisbane stays on +10 |
| NZST / NZDT | New Zealand Time | UTC+12 / +13 | Auckland, Wellington |
| HST | Hawaii Standard Time | UTC−10 | Honolulu, no daylight saving |
| AKST / AKDT | Alaska Time | UTC−9 / −8 | Anchorage |
| PST / PDT | Pacific Time | UTC−8 / −7 | Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver |
| MST / MDT | Mountain Time | UTC−7 / −6 | Denver, Calgary; Arizona stays on MST |
| CST / CDT | Central Time | UTC−6 / −5 | Chicago, Dallas, Winnipeg; Mexico City stays on CST |
| EST / EDT | Eastern Time | UTC−5 / −4 | New York, Toronto, Miami |
| AST / ADT | Atlantic Time | UTC−4 / −3 | Halifax; Puerto Rico stays on AST |
| NST / NDT | Newfoundland Time | UTC−3:30 / −2:30 | St. John’s |
| BRT | Brasília Time | UTC−3 | São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, no daylight saving |
| ART | Argentina Time | UTC−3 | Buenos Aires |
When the clocks change
Daylight saving dates differ by region, which is why the gap between two places can change for a few weeks each spring and autumn.
- US and Canada: forward on the second Sunday in March, back on the first Sunday in November.
- UK and EU: forward on the last Sunday in March, back on the last Sunday in October, all at the same moment (1:00 UTC).
- South-east Australia: forward on the first Sunday in October, back on the first Sunday in April.
- New Zealand: forward on the last Sunday in September, back on the first Sunday in April.
- No clock changes: India, China, Japan, Korea, most of Africa, the Gulf, Brazil, Argentina, Arizona and Hawaii.
Between the US change in March and the European one a few weeks later, New York is only 4 hours behind London instead of 5. The same happens for a week in late October and early November.
Converting by hand
Adding or subtracting offsets works for any pair. Find each zone’s offset from UTC in the table, then take the difference.
- IST to UTC: subtract 5 h 30 min. UTC to IST: add 5 h 30 min.
- GMT to IST: add 5 h 30 min, or 4 h 30 min from London while the UK is on BST.
- CST to IST: add 11 h 30 min in winter, 10 h 30 min in US summer.
- PST to GMT: add 8 hours. From Los Angeles to London it’s also 8 hours for most of the year, but 7 for a few weeks in March and late October.
- CET to IST: add 4 h 30 min in winter, 3 h 30 min in summer.
If the result goes past midnight, the date changes too. The converter does all of this for you, including the weeks when only one side has switched.