Timezone Converter

How This Timezone Converter Works

Pick a date and time, select the timezone you're converting from, then choose the timezone you want to convert to. The tool shows you the exact equivalent time at the destination, including any daylight saving time (DST) adjustment that applies on that specific date.

It uses the IANA Time Zone Database — the same authoritative data that operating systems and browsers rely on — so the results are accurate even near DST transitions and for timezones that have changed their rules over time.

A Practical Example

You're based in New York and need to join a meeting scheduled for 3:00 PM London time. Here's how you'd use the converter:

If the same meeting were scheduled in summer (British Summer Time, GMT+1), the result would shift to 9:00 AM New York time. The converter handles this automatically — you don't need to know whether DST is active on the date you're checking.

Why Timezone Abbreviations Are Not Reliable

You might be tempted to type "IST" into a timezone field and assume it means India Standard Time. The problem is that IST could equally refer to Irish Standard Time or Israel Standard Time — three entirely different UTC offsets.

This converter uses IANA city names (like Asia/Kolkata, America/New_York, and Europe/Dublin) rather than abbreviations. City-based names are unambiguous and carry the full historical DST rules for that location, which prevents errors near timezone transitions and for countries that have changed their offset over the years.

Daylight Saving Time — Why It Complicates Things

Daylight Saving Time (DST) moves clocks forward in spring and back in autumn. Not every country uses it, and those that do switch on different dates. Here are three common patterns:

• United States — Clocks go forward on the second Sunday in March and back on the first Sunday in November.
• European Union — Clocks go forward on the last Sunday in March and back on the last Sunday in October.
• India, China, Japan — These countries don't observe DST at all, so their UTC offset stays the same all year.

This is why the time difference between New York and Mumbai isn't always the same number. India's offset never changes, but the US shifts by an hour twice a year. This converter accounts for all of that — you don't need to track which countries are currently "on" DST.

Scheduling Across Three or More Timezones

When you need to find a meeting time that works for people in multiple locations, the simplest approach is to use UTC as a common reference point. UTC has no DST offset and never changes — everyone can convert independently from the same UTC anchor time.

Practical tip: Propose a meeting in UTC (e.g., "13:00 UTC on Tuesday"), then ask each participant to run their local conversion. This prevents confusion that can arise when one participant's country has just changed clocks and another's hasn't yet.

For just two locations, use this converter twice — once to check the first person's local time, once for the second. Or convert both locations to UTC and compare the offsets directly.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Typing an abbreviation instead of picking a city — This tool works from IANA zone names (e.g., Asia/Kolkata), not abbreviations. Typing "CST" is ambiguous — it could mean Central Standard Time (US), China Standard Time, or Cuba Standard Time, each with a different offset.
• Not checking the date when DST is involved — The offset between two zones can change by an hour depending on the date, because DST start/end dates differ by country. Always convert using the actual date of your event, not "today," if it's scheduled for a different time of year.
• Missing the date change — A conversion can land on the next day or the previous day once the time crosses midnight. Always read the full date-and-time result, not just the clock time.
• Assuming India, China, or Japan shift for DST — These countries keep a fixed offset all year. If you're converting to or from one of them, remember only the other side of the conversion may shift with the seasons.
• Relying on a remembered offset — Time zone rules occasionally change by government decision. Recalculate rather than trusting an offset you memorised months ago.

Frequently Asked Questions