How to convert time between time zones
Enter the date and time in the original city, choose the city it's in under From, and the city you want to convert to under To. The converter starts with your own time zone in From. "Show the steps" lists the same moment in a dozen major cities, which is handy for planning a call with several countries.
The date matters because of daylight saving time (DST). The gap between two cities changes when one of them moves its clocks and the other doesn't, or when they change on different dates.
Worked example: 9:00 a.m. in New York on 14 October 2026 (UTC−4, daylight time) is 13:00 UTC, 2:00 p.m. in London (UTC+1), 6:30 p.m. in New Delhi (UTC+5:30) and 10:00 p.m. in Tokyo (UTC+9). Two weeks later the answer changes: Europe ends daylight saving on 25 October, the US on 1 November, so for one week New York is only 4 hours behind London instead of 5.
UTC and time zone offsets
Every time zone is defined as an offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the world's reference time. New York is UTC−5 in winter and UTC−4 in summer; India is UTC+5:30 all year; Nepal uses UTC+5:45. To convert, subtract the original offset to get UTC, then add the new offset.
Time in B = time in A − offset of A + offset of B
| Abbreviation | Name | Offset |
|---|---|---|
| PST / PDT | Pacific Standard / Daylight Time | UTC−8 / UTC−7 |
| EST / EDT | Eastern Standard / Daylight Time | UTC−5 / UTC−4 |
| GMT / BST | Greenwich Mean Time / British Summer Time | UTC+0 / UTC+1 |
| CET / CEST | Central European (Summer) Time | UTC+1 / UTC+2 |
| IST | India Standard Time | UTC+5:30 |
| ICT | Indochina Time (Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Hanoi) | UTC+7 |
| CST (China) | China Standard Time | UTC+8 |
| JST | Japan Standard Time | UTC+9 |
Abbreviations are ambiguous (CST is both US Central and China Standard Time, IST is India, Ireland and Israel), which is why this converter uses city names instead.
Tips for scheduling across time zones
- Always state the time zone in invitations, ideally with a city: "10:00 New York time".
- Watch the DST weeks in March–April and October–November, when gaps between countries shift.
- Check the date, not just the time. An evening call in the Americas is the next morning in Asia.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert time between time zones?
Pick the date, the time and the two cities above. The converter uses the time zone database built into your browser, so daylight saving time and historical rule changes are applied automatically.
What is the time difference between New York and London?
Usually 5 hours: London is ahead. For a week or two in March and in late October, when the US and Europe change their clocks on different dates, the difference is 4 hours.
What does UTC mean?
Coordinated Universal Time, the reference time for all time zones. It's essentially the same as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) but defined by atomic clocks. Time zones are written as offsets such as UTC+7.
Does every country use daylight saving time?
No. Most of Asia, Africa and South America don't change their clocks. The US, Canada, most of Europe, parts of Australia and New Zealand do, on different dates.
Conversions use your browser's time zone database. Governments occasionally change time zone rules at short notice; keep your browser up to date.