Our free Time Zone Converter makes it easy to convert times between different time zones around the world. Whether you're scheduling international meetings, coordinating with remote teams, or planning travel, this tool helps you avoid confusion and ensure everyone is on the same page.
Time zones were established in the late 19th century to standardize timekeeping across regions. The world is divided into 24 primary time zones, each roughly 15 degrees of longitude apart. UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) serves as the reference point, with other zones expressed as offsets (e.g., UTC+5:30 for India).
UTC/GMT: Coordinated Universal Time / Greenwich Mean Time
EST/EDT: Eastern Standard/Daylight Time (US)
PST/PDT: Pacific Standard/Daylight Time (US)
IST: India Standard Time / Irish Standard Time
JST: Japan Standard Time
AEST: Australian Eastern Standard Time
Many regions observe DST, advancing clocks by one hour in spring and reverting in fall. This practice affects time zone conversions and can cause confusion during transition periods. Our converter automatically handles DST adjustments based on the selected date.
Time zone awareness is critical for global businesses. Common use cases include: scheduling video conferences, coordinating software deployments, planning marketing campaigns, managing customer support hours, and ensuring SLA compliance across regions.
Always store times in UTC in databases and convert to local time only for display. Use ISO 8601 format (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ) for APIs. Consider using libraries like Luxon or date-fns for complex time zone operations.
When working with distributed teams, establish a "team time zone" for meetings and deadlines. Many teams use UTC or a central time zone as their reference. Always include the time zone when communicating times, and consider using tools that show multiple time zones simultaneously.
Store in UTC: Always store timestamps in UTC to avoid DST issues.
Convert on Display: Convert to local time only when showing to users.
Use IANA Names: Prefer "America/New_York" over "EST" for accuracy.
Test Edge Cases: Test your app during DST transitions and at year boundaries.