Time Zone Converter
Convert times between any time zones worldwide. Daylight saving time is automatically adjusted based on the selected date and location.
Convert Time
How Time Zones Work
The world is divided into time zones based on longitude, each roughly 15 degrees wide. Most zones are offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) by whole hours — for example, Eastern Standard Time (EST) is UTC−5, Central European Time (CET) is UTC+1, and Japan Standard Time (JST) is UTC+9. However, some regions use half-hour or 45-minute offsets: India Standard Time (IST) is UTC+5:30, Nepal Time is UTC+5:45, and the Chatham Islands use UTC+12:45.
Daylight saving time (DST) complicates conversions further. Countries that observe DST shift their clocks forward by one hour in spring and back in autumn, temporarily changing their UTC offset. Not all countries observe DST, and those that do may switch on different dates — so the time difference between two cities can change multiple times per year. This converter handles all DST transitions automatically based on the date you select.
Common time zone abbreviations include: GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), EST/EDT (Eastern US), CST/CDT (Central US), PST/PDT (Pacific US), CET/CEST (Central Europe), IST (India), CST (China), JST (Japan), and AEST/AEDT (Eastern Australia).
Common Conversions — Right Now
Live current-time pairings for the busiest intercontinental corridors. Offsets shown are approximate and can change by one hour when either side is on DST.
New York to Los Angeles
EST/EDT → PST/PDT (−3 hours)
New York to London
EST/EDT → GMT/BST (+5 hours)
New York to Paris
EST/EDT → CET/CEST (+6 hours)
New York to Mumbai
EST/EDT → IST (+9:30 / +10:30)
New York to Tokyo
EST/EDT → JST (+13 / +14 hours)
New York to Dubai
EST/EDT → GST (+8 / +9 hours)
Los Angeles to Tokyo
PST/PDT → JST (+16 / +17 hours)
Los Angeles to Sydney
PST/PDT → AEST/AEDT (+18 / +19 hours)
Los Angeles to London
PST/PDT → GMT/BST (+8 hours)
London to Mumbai
GMT/BST → IST (+5:30 / +4:30)
London to Tokyo
GMT/BST → JST (+9 / +8 hours)
London to Shanghai
GMT/BST → CST China (+8 / +7 hours)
London to Sydney
GMT/BST → AEST/AEDT (+10 / +11 hours)
Paris to Singapore
CET/CEST → SGT (+7 / +6 hours)
UTC to New York
UTC → EST/EDT (−5 / −4 hours)
UTC to Mumbai
UTC → IST (+5:30 hours)
UTC to Tokyo
UTC → JST (+9 hours)
UTC to Sydney
UTC → AEST/AEDT (+10 / +11 hours)
World Cities Reference
Canonical standard and daylight offsets for the world's major financial and population centres. Cities marked with "—" in the DST column don't observe daylight saving and stay on the standard offset year-round.
| City | IANA zone | Standard | Daylight | Current local time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | Europe/London | GMT (UTC+0) | BST (UTC+1) | |
| Paris | Europe/Paris | CET (UTC+1) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| Berlin | Europe/Berlin | CET (UTC+1) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| Moscow | Europe/Moscow | MSK (UTC+3) | — | |
| Dubai | Asia/Dubai | GST (UTC+4) | — | |
| Mumbai / Delhi | Asia/Kolkata | IST (UTC+5:30) | — | |
| Singapore | Asia/Singapore | SGT (UTC+8) | — | |
| Shanghai / Beijing | Asia/Shanghai | CST (UTC+8) | — | |
| Hong Kong | Asia/Hong_Kong | HKT (UTC+8) | — | |
| Tokyo | Asia/Tokyo | JST (UTC+9) | — | |
| Seoul | Asia/Seoul | KST (UTC+9) | — | |
| Sydney / Melbourne | Australia/Sydney | AEST (UTC+10) | AEDT (UTC+11) | |
| Auckland | Pacific/Auckland | NZST (UTC+12) | NZDT (UTC+13) | |
| Honolulu | Pacific/Honolulu | HST (UTC−10) | — | |
| Anchorage | America/Anchorage | AKST (UTC−9) | AKDT (UTC−8) | |
| Los Angeles | America/Los_Angeles | PST (UTC−8) | PDT (UTC−7) | |
| Denver | America/Denver | MST (UTC−7) | MDT (UTC−6) | |
| Phoenix | America/Phoenix | MST (UTC−7) | — | |
| Chicago | America/Chicago | CST (UTC−6) | CDT (UTC−5) | |
| New York / Toronto | America/New_York | EST (UTC−5) | EDT (UTC−4) | |
| Mexico City | America/Mexico_City | CST (UTC−6) | — | |
| São Paulo | America/Sao_Paulo | BRT (UTC−3) | — | |
| Buenos Aires | America/Argentina/Buenos_Aires | ART (UTC−3) | — |
Daylight Saving Transitions
The specific days clocks shift in each major region. On these dates the offset between a DST region and a non-DST region changes by one hour, which is why this converter — which bakes the actual date into every calculation — produces different results for the same clock times on different days of the year.
| Region | Spring forward | Fall back | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States & Canada | Second Sunday of March at 02:00 local time | First Sunday of November at 02:00 local time | 2007 (Energy Policy Act of 2005) |
| European Union & UK | Last Sunday of March at 01:00 UTC | Last Sunday of October at 01:00 UTC | 2002 (EU Directive 2000/84/EC) |
| Mexico | Abolished (most states) | Abolished (most states) | October 2022 |
| Australia (observing states) | First Sunday of October at 02:00 local | First Sunday of April at 03:00 local | Varies by state; QLD, WA, NT do not observe |
| New Zealand | Last Sunday of September at 02:00 local | First Sunday of April at 03:00 local | 2007 |
| Chile | First Sunday of September at 00:00 local | First Sunday of April at 00:00 local | 2017 (except Magallanes Region) |
Reading IANA Time Zone Names
IANA zone names use the format Region/City, where the city is usually the largest representative settlement of a zone — not necessarily the capital. Examples: America/New_York for US Eastern (also covers Toronto, Montreal, Atlanta); Europe/Berlin for CET/CEST Germany (also covers Amsterdam's DST history if you check tzdata); Asia/Kolkata for all of India (renamed from Asia/Calcutta in 2003).
Why city names? Because the rules that apply in a location — DST start/end, offset changes over history, leap-second decisions — have to be tied to a political jurisdiction, not an abstract zone. "Pacific Time" has meant different things in different decades; "America/Los_Angeles" precisely captures what LA's clocks actually read on any given historical date.
When to use abbreviations (EST, GMT, IST…): Only in casual writing, and only when context is unambiguous. For code, APIs, database storage, or any cross-border document, prefer IANA names or explicit UTC offsets (e.g. 2026-04-17T15:30:00-04:00).
Frequently Asked Questions
The converter uses the JavaScript Intl.DateTimeFormat API, which automatically accounts for daylight saving time (DST) transitions. When you select a date and time, the conversion reflects whether DST is in effect for each time zone at that specific moment — including both sides of the "spring forward" and "fall back" transitions.
UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks. It does not observe daylight saving time, so it's the anchor every other zone is defined against. Examples: EST is UTC−5, GMT is UTC+0, IST (India) is UTC+5:30, and JST is UTC+9. UTC replaced GMT as the official reference in 1972.
While most time zones are offset from UTC by whole hours, some regions adopted half-hour or quarter-hour offsets for geographical or political reasons. India (UTC+5:30) chose a single national offset in 1947 rather than split the country into two zones. Nepal Time (UTC+5:45) was adjusted to match Kathmandu's actual solar time. The Chatham Islands (UTC+12:45) use the most unusual offset in the world.
These are pairs of winter ("standard") and summer ("daylight") variants. EST = Eastern Standard Time (winter, UTC−5); EDT = Eastern Daylight Time (summer, UTC−4). CET = Central European Time (winter, UTC+1); CEST = Central European Summer Time (summer, UTC+2). When people casually say "EST" in July they usually mean EDT — which is why IANA names like "America/New_York" are more reliable than abbreviations.
There are 24 one-hour time zones covering the 360 degrees of longitude — but in practice, IANA (the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) maintains ~400 distinct zone identifiers to cover every city's historical offset changes and DST rules. Countries like Russia, the US, Canada and Australia span multiple zones; France spans 12 zones (via its overseas territories) — the most of any country.
Abbreviations are ambiguous — "CST" can mean US Central Standard Time (UTC−6), China Standard Time (UTC+8), or Cuba Standard Time. IANA names use Region/City format and map to the complete historical record of that location's clock changes, DST rules and offset history. Every major operating system, database and programming language recognises them, which makes them the safest choice for technical work.
Most of the world doesn't. DST is mainly used in North America, Europe, and parts of the Middle East and Oceania. Nearly all of Asia, Africa and South America permanently stay on one offset year-round — Japan, China, India, most of Russia, and all sub-Saharan Africa are DST-free. In the US, Arizona (except the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii skip DST.